BACKGROUND

[0001] Fingerprint scanners have become commonly used to allow users to access secure resources. Some fingerprint scanners use prisms and free-space optics. Other types of fingerprint scanners include capacitive sensing and optical sensing touch-type scanners. Usually, touch-type sensors have a sensing area that is generally the same as the area of the finger being scanned. For the case of silicon backplane touch-type sensors, these sensors are rarely larger than a half-inch along any dimension due to the drop in yield for larger silicon dies. The result is that low-cost capacitive silicon fingerprint sensors are available for button-type sensors and are used commercially for access control for laptops, cell phones and doorknobs. However, such sensors are typically around 9 x 9 mm or smaller and are not economically available for larger scanning areas.

SUMMARY

[0002] In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a method that includes generating a first signal responsive to a first portion of a hand placed on a first portion of a sensor platen. The method further includes guiding, by a waveguide, the first signal from the first portion of the sensor platen to a first sensor and, responsive to receiving the first signal by the first sensor, computing a measurement using the first signal. The method generates, based on the computed measurement, an image indicative of a ridge topology of the first portion of the hand that is placed on the first portion of the sensor platen.

[0003] In some aspects, the measurement is a first measurement. In such cases, the method further includes: guiding one or more signals indicative of a second portion of the hand being scanned at a second portion of the sensor platen from a second waveguide to a second sensor positioned underneath the second waveguide, the second waveguide being positioned underneath the second portion of the sensor platen; collecting the one or more signals by the second sensor; and processing the one or more signals collected by the second sensor to arrive at a second measurement indicative of the second portion of the hand placed on the second portion of the sensor platen.

[0004] In some aspects, the first sensor is part of a first small-area sensor component including a first collection of sensors, and the second sensor is part of a second smallarea sensor component including a second collection of sensors, the second small-area sensor component being a separate physical component from the first small-area sensor component. In some aspects, the second small-area sensor component is separated from the first small-area sensor component by a specified distance, and a size of the first small-area sensor component is 9mm or less.

[0005] In some aspects, the waveguide includes two or more waveguide bundles that are linked together to bridge a sensing gap between the first and second sensors. In some aspects, the first sensor includes a sensor pixel that is offset from the first portion of the hand. In some aspects, the method further includes registering and tiling data from the first and second sensors to form a composite image.

[0006] In some aspects, the method further includes: accessing calibration data associated with the first and second sensors; and performing, based on the composite image and the calibration data, error correction for pixel sensitivity or sampling errors at a seam between the first and second waveguides. In some aspects, the waveguide includes one or more transmissive cores and one or more claddings.

[0007] In some aspects, the first signal includes an optical signal, and the waveguide includes one or more fiberoptic bundles. In some aspects, the method further includes illuminating the sensor platen using light generated by a light source. In some aspects, the light originates from at least one of underneath the first sensor, a side of the waveguide, or a middle of the waveguide, and the light source includes a light emitting diode (LED).

[0008] In some aspects, the method further includes reflecting the light from the first portion of the hand back through the waveguide towards the first sensor. In some aspects, the method further includes computing brightness of the reflected light as the measurement. In some aspects, the method further includes generating an image of the first portion of the hand representing the computed brightness.

[0009] In some aspects, the first signal includes an electrical signal and the waveguide includes one or more conductors. In some aspects, the method further includes measuring capacitance between the first sensor and the first portion of the hand to compute the measurement. In some aspects, the waveguide includes a glass hole array filled with metal material that has a lower melting point than a melting point of the glass hole array.

[0010] In some cases, a system and non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising non-transitory computer-readable instructions are provided for performing the above methods.

[0011] In some examples, a live print scanner is provided. The live print scanner includes a platen upon which a biometric object (e.g., a finger) being scanned is placed. The live print scanner includes a first waveguide positioned underneath a first area of the platen; a first sensor positioned underneath the first waveguide; and a processor. Signals indicative of the biometric object being scanned at the first platen area are guided from the first waveguide to the first sensor. The signals collected by the first sensor are processed by the processor to arrive at a first set of data indicative of the biometric object placed on the first area of the platen.

[0012] In some examples, the live print scanner includes a second waveguide positioned underneath a second area of the platen and a second sensor positioned underneath the second waveguide. Signals indicative of the biometric object being scanned at the second platen area are guided from the second waveguide to the second sensor. The signals collected by the second sensor are processed by the processor to arrive at a second set of data indicative of the biometric object placed on the second area of the platen.

[0013] In some examples, the first and second areas of the platen are abutting each other (e.g., touching each other or may have a pixel or two size gap). In some cases, the processor stitches or combines the first and second sets of data to arrive at a single data set indicative of the biometric object placed on the second area of the platen. In some cases, the first and/or second waveguide is tilted and/or tapered.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. l is a block diagram of example typical fingerprint scanning systems.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of example fingerprint scanning systems, according to some embodiments. [0016] FIGS. 3 and 4 are example configurations of waveguides for the fingerprint scanning systems, according to some embodiments.

[0017] FIG. 5 illustrates example operations of the fingerprint scanning systems, according to some embodiments.

[0018] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardware architectures herein described. [0019] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine or apparatus, according to some example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Example methods and systems for fingerprint scanning are described. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of example embodiments. It will be evident, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. While the disclosed examples are discussed in relation to scanning a fingerprint, similar techniques can be applied to scan any other portion or region of a skin.

[0021] Typical touch-type sensors have a sensing area that is generally the same as the area of the finger being scanned. For touch sensors that are fabricated on a silicon backplane, these sensors are rarely larger than a half-inch along any dimension due to the drop in yield for larger silicon dies. The result is that low-cost capacitive silicon fingerprint sensors are available for button-type sensors. Such sensors are typically around 9 x 9 mm or smaller in size and are not generally available for larger scanning areas, such as those needed to fully scan a large adult’s finger or thumb completely, let alone to scan a palm or multiple fingers simultaneously. To address this issue, typical systems use other more complex and expensive solutions involving thin-film transistors (TFTs) or free-space optics technologies to enable scanning of larger surface areas, such as a palm of the hand. This leads to increased expenses and such solutions cannot easily be implemented in a mobile device setting, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and so forth.

[0022] The disclosed embodiments provide an intelligent solution that addresses the above technical problems and challenges. The disclosed solution allows fingerprint sensors that are based upon a silicon backplane (e.g., capacitive or optical sensors) or any other technology that might be restricted in sensing size to have multiple of the sensors tiled together to form a larger effective scanning area using a waveguide. Particularly, according to the disclosed techniques, multiple small-scale sensors can be tiled together to sense a larger area by using a waveguide to guide signals from a skin surface being scanned (e.g., a portion of a hand) toward the sensing devices (e.g., electrical or optical sensors). The sensing devices, in this way, do not necessarily need to be placed directly underneath the surface of the skin being scanned because the corresponding signals are guided to the sensor using the waveguide. This allows multiple small-scale and/or low-cost sensors to be tiled or cascaded together or distributed in different areas of a system while still scanning a skin surface from a single sensor platen. In this way, a larger skin surface area can be scanned to generate a scan friction ridge topology of the skin at a lower cost than typical devices. Also, by utilizing small-scale sensors that are implemented based on a silicon backplane, a system that can scan an area larger than a fingertip (e.g., multiple fingers, a palm, or other hand portions) can be implemented with minimal added complexities on small-scale devices, and with the benefits of economies of scale for mobile devices including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Using the waveguides of the present disclosure, the scanning of even single fingers can benefit. For example, multiple FAP10 or FAP20 sensors can be combined to create a FAP30 size fingerprint sensor where the FAP 10, FAP20 and FAP30 scan areas are defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Biospecs to be 0.50” x 0.65” [12.7 x 16.5mm], 0.6” x 0.8” [15.2 x 20.3mm], 0.8” x 1.0” [20.3 x 25.4mm], respectively.

[0023] In some embodiments, the disclosed technical solution generates, by a sensor platen, a first signal responsive to a first portion of a hand placed on a first position of the sensor platen. The disclosed technical solution guides, by a first waveguide, the first signal from the first position of the sensor platen to a first sensor that is at a first position, potentially offset laterally from the first position of the first portion of the hand. The disclosed technical solution, responsive to receiving the first signal by the first sensor, computes a measurement using the first signal and generates, based on the computed measurement, a ridge topology of the first portion of the hand that is placed on the first position of the sensor platen. As such, the disclosed techniques provide a low- cost solution to performing fingerprint scanning to enable access to a secure or protected resource.

[0024] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of example typical fingerprint scanning systems 100 and 109. The fingerprint scanning systems 100 and 109 (and those discussed below in connection with FIGS. 2-4) can be implemented on or as part of a client device. The client device can include any one or a combination of an loT device, a database, a website, a server hosting a website at a URL address, a physical access control device, logical access control device, governmental entity device, ticketing event device, and residential smart lock and/or other Bluetooth or NFC or UWB based smart device. The client device may be, but is not limited to, an NFC powered microcontroller device like a smart card or USB dongle, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), tablet, ultrabook, netbook, laptop, multi-processor system, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, or any other communication device that a user may use to access a secure resource.

[0025] The client device can protect a secure area, asset or resource and can be configured to receive a digital credential or digital credentials from the fingerprint scanning system. The client device can verify that the received digital credential or digital credentials is/are authorized to access the secure area, such as by communicating with an authentication server. In response, the client device can grant access to the secure area or protected resource. The client device itself or by communication with the authentication server can verify whether the digital credential or digital credentials is/are authorized to access the identified secure resource. If so, the client device can grant access (e.g., by unlocking an electronic door lock) for an individual associated with the client device.

[0026] A memory of the client device can comprise a computer-readable medium that can be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, or transport data, program code, or instructions for use by or in connection with client device. The computer- readable medium can be, for example but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples of suitable computer-readable medium include, but are not limited to, an electrical connection having one or more wires or a tangible storage medium such as a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), any solid-state storage device, in general, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical or magnetic storage device.

[0027] A processor of the client device can correspond to one or more computer processing devices or resources. For instance, the processor can be provided as silicon, as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), any other type of Integrated Circuit (IC) chip, a collection of IC chips, or the like. As a more specific example, the processor can be provided as a microprocessor, Central Processing Unit (CPU), or plurality of microprocessors or CPUs that are configured to execute instruction sets stored in an internal memory and/or memory (carrier signals) of the client device.

[0028] A communication module of the client device can be configured to communicate according to any suitable communications protocol with one or more different systems or devices either remote or local to the client device, such as one or more other client devices over a communications network. In some cases, the communication module communicates over a secure channel (e.g., secure BLE or NFC channel), in which case all of the exchanged data is encrypted (e.g., end-to-end). In some cases, the communication module communicates over an unsecure channel (e.g., unsecure, public or open BLE or NFC channel), in which case all or a portion of the exchanged data is unencrypted.

[0029] A network interface device of the client device includes hardware to facilitate communications with other devices over a communications network, utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks can include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, wireless data networks (e.g., IEEE 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In some examples, network interface device can include an Ethernet port or other physical jack, a Wi-Fi card, a Network Interface Card (NIC), a cellular interface (e.g., antenna, filters, and associated circuitry), or the like. In some examples, network interface device can include a plurality of antennas to wirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques.

[0030] A user interface of the client device can include one or more input devices and/or display devices. Examples of suitable user input devices that can be included in the user interface include, without limitation, one or more buttons, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch-sensitive surface, a stylus, a camera, a microphone, etc. Examples of suitable user output devices that can be included in the user interface include, without limitation, one or more LEDs, an LCD panel, a display screen, a touchscreen, one or more lights, a speaker, and so forth. It should be appreciated that the user interface can also include a combined user input and user output device, such as a touch-sensitive display or the like. [0031] The fingerprint scanning system 100 represents capacitive sensing pixels. Note that for simplicity, other components, such as one or more processors, transistors, power and communication lines to the sensor pixels 106a have not been drawn in the fingerprint scanning system 100 but can be included as part of the fingerprint scanning system 100. In such a fingerprint scanning system 100, the fingerprint topology is generated based on electrical signals generated and captured responsive to skin touching platen 103 that covers one or more capacitive sensor pixels 106a. For example, the skin of, for example a user’s fingertip or other hand portion, is placed onto platen 103 of a scanner 104a. The skin may be that of a finger, fingers, hand, palm or other parts of skin where the 3D topology of the skin is to be mapped. The skin can have ridges 101 and valleys 102 that are mapped into a 3D topology or image by the sensor pixels 106a. Once mapped, the 3D topology or image is compared against one or more predetermined or known 3D topologies or images. In response to determining that the 3D topology or image generated based on the detected ridges 101 and valleys 102 corresponds to the one or more predetermined or known 3D topologies or images (e.g., a difference between the two topologies is less than a threshold), a match is determined and access to a secure resource can be granted. The generation and comparison of the 3D topologies can be performed by one or more processors (not shown) coupled to or embedded in the fingerprint scanning system 100. [0032] The scanner 104a can include a series of sensitive sensor pixels 106a arranged in an array on a backplane 105 and with a protective cover 107 (such an SiO2 film, planarizing polymer layer, or a thin glass cover). The protective cover 107 is generally needed to protect the underlying sensor electronics from environmental conditions such as mechanical abrasion, electrostatic discharge (ESD), and a variety of cleaning chemicals, not to mention ambient humidity. Backplane 105 is typically silicon for silicon wafer-processed sensors and glass for sensors fabricated based upon thin-film transistor (TFT) technology. From a scale standpoint, the sensor pixels 106a can be approximately a micron more or less in height, the protective cover 107 can be few microns to ten or thirty microns and the pixel-pixel spacing (d _p ) can be 50.8um for the case of a 500 points-per-inch (ppi) sensor. Any other suitable pixel-pixel spacing can be provided and can depend on the ppi of the sensor. Valleys 102 of the skin topology such as with a fingerprint can be recessed 50-100um below the level of the ridge 101.

[0033] For the fingerprint scanning system 100 in which capacitive scanning is performed, the sensor pixels 106a serve as one end of a capacitor and the skin serves as the other side of the capacitor. Specifically, the one or more processors of the fingerprint scanning system 100 can communicate with the sensor pixels 106a to receive electrical signals captured by the sensor pixels 106a. The electrical signals represent a capacitance value between each one of the sensor pixels 106a and a corresponding portion of the skin (e.g., ridge 101 or valley 102). The one or more processors compute a capacitance based on the measured electrical signals and generate a 3D topology representing the portion of the skin based on the different capacitance values obtained from each of the one or more sensor pixels 106a. In an example, capacitance varies inversely with the distance between two plates of the capacitor. In this way, the one or more processors can compute a measured capacitance of the ridge 101 as a greater value than the measured capacitance for the valley 102 since d _x is smaller than d by a factor of at least 2 but potentially as much as 50. Based on this measured capacitance difference, the various distances between different skin portions (e.g., valleys 102 and ridges 101) can be computed and mapped to a 3D topology of the skin.

[0034] In some examples, a fingerprint scanning system 109 can represent an optical scanner 104b. In such cases, the pixels 106b sense light that scatters off of the skin. This scattered light originates from a light source (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED)) that may be located beneath the backplane 105, as illustrated, or may originate from a light source that is coming in from the side, coming in from the side and guided by the protective cover 107 or coming in from the side but entering the skin first and then scattering down to the sensor pixels 106b. In some implementations, the backplane 105 is optically transparent at the illumination wavelengths of operation and transmits the light from the light source through the gaps between pixels and electronics present in the optical scanner.

[0035] Example rays 110a and 110b of the illumination light are shown. In some cases, the light ray 110a strikes the ridge 101 of the skin and creates scattered light I l la. Some of the scattered light 11 la is detected by the one or more of the sensor pixels 106b. The light ray 110b can strike the valley 102 of the skin and also scatters with some of the scattered light 111b being detected by one or more of the sensor pixels 106b. Since the scattering point on the skin for the ridge 101 might be physically closer by an order of magnitude to the sensor pixel 106b than the scattering point for the valley 102 and because skin is a fairly Lambertian scatterer, the optical scanner 104b can detect a stronger optical signal coming from the ridges 101 than the valleys 102 of the skin. In this way, one or more processors of the fingerprint scanning system 109 can receive the optical signal values from the sensor pixels 106b and can compute pixel intensity values as a measurement based on the optical signal values. The one or more processors can then generate a raw image of the skin on the basis of the ridges being represented by relatively brighter intensity pixel values than the valleys (e.g., ridges 101 can be relatively bright pixel values in the image and valleys 102 can be relatively dim pixel values). As discussed before, the one or more processors can then compare the raw image against a known image of the skin or use the raw image to generate a 3D topology of the skin and compare the generated 3D topology against a known 3D topology of the skin. If a difference between the known and generated 3D topology or image is below a threshold, the one or more processors can grant access to the secure resource.

[0036] In some examples, both or a mix of these different fingerprint scanning systems 100 and 109 can be used to scan the friction ridge topology of skin. The disclosed techniques use a tapered and/or tilted waveguide to enable tiling of two or more smaller touch sensors (e.g., such as the sensors of the fingerprint scanning systems 100 and 109) to create a single larger platen sensing area with which to scan friction ridge topology of skin. The waveguide links the sensing signal (either electrical or optical) from the platen the skin touches to the optical or electrical sensing pixels of the sensors discussed below in connection with FIGS. 2-5.

[0037] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of example fingerprint scanning systems 200 and 209, according to some embodiments. Specifically, fingerprint scanning systems 200 represents an electrical signal-based fingerprint scanning system 200 that utilizes one or more electrical signal waveguides 210 or waveguide bundle. The sensors 204a and 204b of the electrical signal -based fingerprint scanning system 200 are drawn schematically similarly to those shown in FIG. 1 in that they have a series of sensitive sensor pixels 206a and 206b that are on a backplane 205a/205b with a protective cover 207a/207b. The protective cover 207a/207b may need not to be as thick and/or as durable as the cover 107 illustrated in FIG. 1 since the skin will not be repeatedly touching this cover 207a/207b and/or the cover 207a/207b may not be exposed to the external environment.

[0038] Fingerprint scanning system 200 includes an electrical waveguide 210 that is used to tile sensors 204a and 204b into a single larger sensor platen 203. Although two sensors 204a and 204b are drawn, the disclosed techniques are not limited to this number and larger number of sensors may be tiled using a bundled waveguide 210. The sensors may be arranged in a one-dimensional (ID) array, a two-dimensional (2D) array, or in a three-dimensional (3D) in which the sensors are tiled both vertically and horizontally. Waveguide 210 can include a series of transmissive cores 211 and claddings 212, that create a waveguide 210 for the electrical signals that sensors 204a/204b sense. The waveguide 210 can include a protective cover 213.

[0039] These waveguides are designed to guide electrical signals from platen 203 to sensor pixels 206a/206b. Waveguide 210 (e.g., waveguide bundle) may be thought of as two or more waveguide bundles that are linked together in order to bridge the sensing gap between the two or more sensors 204a/204b. The linking of the two waveguides may be achieved by any number of methods known by one skilled in the art such as a melting or fusing of the interface, use of an adhesive, non-adhesive optical contact (Van Der Waals bonding), or just mechanical fixturing. The separation of waveguides t/ _w within each bundle can be larger, at, or smaller than the pixel-to-pixel spacing d _p between each of the sensor pixels 206a/206b. If waveguide spacing d _n larger than pixel- to-pixel spacing d _p , then it is preferred that the waveguide is tapered to provide magnification such that the waveguide spacing at the sensor side is approximately at or smaller than dp. If waveguide spacing d _w is close to pixel spacing dp then it is preferred that an integral number (for example 1, 2, 3) fit within t/ _w so that each pixel 206a/206b can receive the same amount of signal. If on the other hand, the waveguide spacing d _w is much smaller than pixel spacing d _p , then having d _w an integral number of times smaller than d _w is not as critical. By way of example, if d _w is slightly off from 8 times smaller than d _p , then one pixel having a half of a waveguide more a less overlap over the 2D area of the pixel, then the effect will change sensitivity of the pixel by ± -1/128 which is on the order of the pixel-to-pixel sensitivity errors, which is correctable in software. Note that the exact effect depends upon the exact dp!d _n ratio, the true shape of the active area of the pixels, the packing of the waveguide (square or hexagonal arrays) and the ratio of cladding to core of the waveguide.

[0040] As shown in the electrical signal-based fingerprint scanning system 200, the sensors 204a and 204b are electrical (e.g., capacitive) sensors. In some examples, the sensors 204a are part of a first collection of sensors on a first backplane 205a and the sensors 204b are part of a second collection of sensors on a second backplane 205b. The first collection of sensors are part of one physical component that is manufactured separately from another physical component that includes the second collection of sensors. In some cases, both the first and second collections of sensors are manufactured as part of the same physical component but are used as individual components. For example, the sensor 204a is part of a first small-area sensor component that includes the first collection of sensor pixels 206a, and the sensor 204b is part of a second small-area sensor component that includes the second collection of sensor pixels 206b. The second small-area sensor component can be a separate physical component from the first smallarea sensor component and the components are separated from each other by a specified distance that is determined by external or other electronics embedded in each individual physical component. In some cases, the size of the first and/or second small-area sensor components is 9x9mm or less.

[0041] In the electrical signal -based fingerprint scanning system 200, a bundled waveguide 210 is configured to guide electrical signals from one conductive element to another. In operation, skin including valleys 201 and ridges 202 is placed on top of the platen 203. A first set of electrical signals (generated as a result of capacitance between one or more sensor pixels including a first sensor pixel 206a, an electrical signal path through the waveguide 210, and a ridge or valley of the skin) is measured. The first set of electrical signals can be collected from the first collection of sensor pixels of the first physical component and are used to generate a topology of a first portion of the skin. The first portion of the skin can include one or more skin positions that is/are offset from a first position of the first sensor pixel 206a. Namely, the first sensor pixel 206a can capture the electrical signal from a portion of the skin that is not directly above the first sensor pixel 206a. One or more processors coupled to or embedded in the fingerprint scanning system 200 can measure various capacitance values based on different electrical signal values collected by the first collection of sensors.

[0042] Simultaneously or in close temporal sequence with the first collection of sensor pixels capturing the first set of electrical signals from the first portion of the skin, a second set of electrical signals (generated as a result of capacitance between one or more sensors including a second sensor pixel 206b, an electrical signal path through the waveguide 210, and a ridge or valley of the skin) is measured. The second set of electrical signals can be collected from the second collection of sensor pixels of the second physical component and are used to generate a topology of a second portion of the skin. In an example, the second sensor pixel 206b can capture the electrical signal from a portion of the skin that is not directly above second sensor pixel 206b. The one or more processors coupled to or embedded in the fingerprint scanning systems 200 can measure various capacitance values based on different electrical signal values collected by the second collection of sensors together with the first collection of sensors. The one or more processors can then generate an image of the 3D topology of the portion of skin that is in contact with the platen 203 based on the electrical signals captured by the different sensors 204a and 204b via the waveguide 210. As discussed before, the 3D topology or image is compared with a known topology or image to grant or deny access to a secure resource.

[0043] In some examples, the waveguide 210 includes a conductive core 211 (including one or more conductors) surrounded by an electrically insulating material. The waveguide 210 can be formed by using semiconductors such as Ge and Si as the core material for a fiber bundle. In some other implementations, the waveguide 210 can be formed from glass micro-channel arrays (also termed capillary arrays) that are fabricated as solid core optical fiber bundles but then have their cores etched away to leave a void in its place. These core voids can be filled with a conductive liquid such as electrolyte solutions including aqueous NaCl or CaCh, a highly conductive liquid, such as Galinstan, an eutectic alloy composed of gallium, indium, and tin which can melt at - 2°F, gold, silver, aluminum, or any other suitable metal conductor or conductive material. In order to avoid having the core material experience phase changes throughout the storage temperature of the fingerprint scanning system 200, metals such as copper, gold, or aluminum can be used to fill the voids of the glass micro-channel arrays since they are highly electrically conductive and have a melting point lower than that of the glass hole array they fill.

[0044] Metal-core fiber arrays for use as the waveguide 210 may be fabricated by multiple means. One means is to first create a microchannel plate (MCP) or capillary array (an array of fine holes in a suitable electrically isolating material such as glass or plastic). Such arrays are found in photonic bandgap fibers as well as in applications where photon or electron amplification are required. These MCPs may then be filled with a metal conductor material by using a metal with a melting point lower than that of the MCP material and filling the voids through capillary action. Alternatively, the metal microchannel arrays may be created by starting with a preform that is an array (such as hexagonal, due to its better packing density over a square array) of metal regions (circular or other shape) surrounded by glass or other suitable material. As fiber array plates are manufactured, this metal channel preform may be heated and stretched in a controlled manner such that the appropriate dimension of metal core array pitch spacing is achieved as well as the appropriate taper and or bend desired. The final fused fiber array may have parallel fibers that provide no magnification between the platen and the sensor or they may be tapered where the tapered fused fiber arrays can have a magnification of up to 6: 1.

[0045] In the case of a metal -based waveguide 210, the electrical path from the sensor pixel 206a to the finger or skin portion can be considered as three capacitors in series since the waveguide, being metal, itself will have infinite capacitance. The first capacitor (with capacitance Ci) being the sensor pixel 206a to the bottom metal conductor of the core of the waveguide 210 may be defined as sM , where si and d\ are the permittivity and the thickness of the material separating sensor pixel from the waveguide end with A being the area of the waveguide core. The second capacitor (with capacitance C2) being the top of the metal conductor of the core of the waveguide 210 to the platen 203 may be defined as ziAldi, where z and di are the permittivity and the thickness of the material separating the waveguide end and the platen surface. The third capacitor (with capacitance C3) being the top of the platen 203 to the skin (either ridge or valley) and may be defined as where £3 and ch are the permittivity and the thickness of the material separating the platen and the skin. The total capacitance CT measured by a sensor pixel 206a is given by

If the capacitance of the waveguide or other components in the electrical path is not insignificant or there are more material layers connecting the sensor pixel 206a to the skin, then the theoretical capacitance detected by the sensor pixels and recorded by the one or more processors will be in accordance with Equation 2 where n represents each electrical component in the electrical path:

[0046] Capacitance calculations can be performed for both the ridge 202 of skin (touching the platen 203) and valley 201 of the skin for different types of waveguides. For example, capacitance can be calculated for a metal core waveguide (assuming metal has a very high relative permittivity, namely 10 ⁶ ), capacitance can be calculated for a salt water filled waveguide (relative permittivity of 69) and capacitance can be calculated for a waveguide of another core material, for example one with with a core relative permittivity of 1000 and the capacitance calculations can then be performed based on the capacitance of the waveguide type.

[0047] As one skilled in the art will realize, for a fingerprint scanning system that operates based upon electrical signal scanning of the platen, the conducting waveguide bundle previously described may potentially create crosstalk issues. To minimize the crosstalk effects, the conductive waveguide bundle should be as short as possible. Other mitigating design approaches that may be taken is to sacrifice some of the electrical signal pathways in the waveguide bundle and have these tied to a ground or a ground return path.

[0048] Fingerprint scanning systems 209 represents an optical signal-based fingerprint scanning system 209 that utilizes one or more optical signal waveguides 310 or waveguide bundle. The sensors 304a and 304b of the optical signal -based fingerprint scanning system 209 are drawn schematically similarly to those shown in FIG. 1 in that they have a series of sensitive sensor pixels 306a and 306b that are on a backplane 305a/305b with a protective cover 307a/307b. The protective cover 307a/307b may need not to be as thick and/or as durable as the cover 107 illustrated in FIG. 1 since the skin will not be repeatedly touching this cover 307a/307b and/or will not be exposed to the external environment.

[0049] Fingerprint scanning system 209 includes an optical waveguide 310 that is used to tile sensors 304a and 304b into a single larger sensor platen 203. Although two sensors 304a and 304b are drawn, the disclosed techniques are not limited to this number and larger number of sensors may be tiled using a bundled optical waveguide where the sensors may be arranged in either a one-dimensional (ID) array, two-dimensional (2D) array, or in a 3D configuration where sensors are stacked in a vertical direction. Waveguide 310 can include a series of transmissive cores 311 and claddings 312 that create an optical waveguide for the optical signals that sensors 304a/304b sense. These optical waveguides are designed to guide optical signals from platen 203 to the sensor pixels 306a/306b. Waveguide 310 may be thought of as two or more waveguide bundles that are linked or otherwise affixed, fused or abutted together in order to bridge the sensing gap between the two or more sensors304a/304b. The separation of waveguides t/ _w within each bundle is preferably at or smaller than the pixel-to-pixel spacing d _p of each sensor pixel 306a/306b. If waveguide spacing d _n is close to pixel spacing d _p then it is preferred that an integral number (for example 1, 2, 3) fit within d _n so that each sensor pixel 306a/306b can receive the same amount of signal. If on the other hand, the waveguide spacing d _n is much smaller than pixel spacing d _p , then having d _n an integral number of times smaller than d _n is not as critical. By way of example, if d _w is slightly off from 8 times smaller than d _p , then one pixel having a half of a waveguide more a less overlap over the active area of the pixel, then the effect will change sensitivity of the pixel by ± -1/128 which is on the order of the pixel-to-pixel sensitivity errors, which is correctable in software. Note that the exact effect depends upon the exact d _v ld^ ratio, the true shape of the active area of the pixels, the packing of the waveguide (square or hexagonal arrays) and the ratio of cladding to core of the waveguide.

[0050] In some examples, the waveguide 210 includes fiberoptic bundles. Such fiberoptic bundles can be fabricated either from glass or plastic with fiber sizes preferably as small as possible (for example 6 or 9 microns), so preferably significantly below the pixel -to-pixel spacing d _p = 50.8um of a 500ppi sensor. These waveguide bundles or fiber bundles can be tapered in order to change the magnification between the platen 203 and the sensor pixels 306a/306b. For example, if sensor pixels 306a/306b are at 508ppi, then a tapered waveguide bundle providing a magnification of 0.984 can ensure that the image resolution at platen 203 is at 500ppi, thereby eliminating the need for image processing to accomplish this task which runs the risk of producing aliasing artifacts in the final image due to the native resolution of 508ppi being so close in sampling frequency to that of the final desired resolution of 500ppi.

[0051] As shown in the optical signal-based fingerprint scanning system 209, the sensors 304a and 304b are optical (e.g., light) sensors. In some examples, the sensor 304a are part of a first collection of sensor pixels 306a (alternatively referred to as sensors) on a first backplane 305a and the sensor 304b are part of a second collection of sensor pixels 306b (alternatively referred to as sensors) on a second backplane 305b. The first collection of sensor pixels can be part of one physical component that is manufactured separately from another physical component that includes the second collection of sensor pixels. In some cases, both the first and second collections of sensors are manufactured as part of the same physical component but are used as individual components. For example, the sensors 304a are part of a first small-area sensor component that includes the first collection of sensor pixels, and the sensors 304b are part of a second small-area sensor component that includes the second collection of sensor pixels. The second small-area sensor component can be a separate physical component from the first small-area sensor component and the components are separated from each other by a specified distance that is determined by external or other electronics embedded in each individual physical component. In some cases, the size of the first and/or second small-area sensor components is 9x9mm or less.

[0052] The sensor pixels 306a/306b can sense light that scatters off of the skin that is placed on the platen 203. This scattered light 320a/320b and 321a/321b can originate from a light source (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED)) that may be located beneath the backplane 305a and 305b. In some implementations, the backplane 305a and 305b is optically transparent at the illumination wavelengths of operation and passes the light 331a and 331b from the light source through the gaps between sensor pixels and electronics present in the optical scanner. Namely, the light 331a can pass through a first gap between sensor pixels 306a of the first collection of sensors towards a first portion of skin (which can include a first set of skin positions) placed on the platen 203 and the light 331a can pass through a second gap between sensor pixels 306a of the first collection of sensors towards a second portion of skin (which can include a second set of skin positions) placed on the platen 203. Similarly, the light 331b can pass through a first gap between sensor pixels 306b of the second collection of sensors towards a third portion of skin (which can include a third set of skin positions) placed on the platen 203 and the light 331b can pass through a second gap between sensor pixels 306a of the second collection of sensors towards a fourth portion of skin (which can include a fourth set of skin positions) placed on the platen 203. In some examples, the light 330a can be illuminated from a first side of the waveguide 310 towards a first portion of the skin placed on the platen 203 and/or the light 330b can be illuminated from a second side of the waveguide 310 towards a second portion of the skin placed on the platen 203. Alternatively, light 330a/330b may be coupled into protective cover 213/313 that is above the waveguides and still alternatively, light 330a/330b may be directed at a side or top of the skin such that scattered light internal to the skin can radiate towards the lightcollecting waveguides 310.

[0053] Example rays of light 330a, 330b, 331a, and 331b of the illumination light are shown. In some cases, the ray of light 331a passes through a gap between sensor pixels 306a and through the waveguide 310. The ray of light 331a, after passing through the waveguide 310, strikes a first portion of skin including the ridge 202 of the skin and creates scattered light 320a. Some of the scattered light 320b is reflected back through the waveguide 310 and is detected by the one or more of the sensor pixels 306a. As another example, the ray of light 331a passes through the gap between the sensor pixels 306b and, after passing through the waveguide 310, strikes the valley 201 of the skin and also scatters. Some of this scattered light 320a is reflected back through the waveguide 310 and is detected by one or more of the sensor pixels 306b. Since the scattering point on the skin for the ridge 202 might be physically closer by an order of magnitude to the sensor pixels 306b than the scattering point for the valley 201 and because skin is a fairly Lambertian scatterer, the optical sensors 304a/304b can detect a higher optical signal coming from the ridges 202 than the valleys 201 of the skin.

[0054] In this way, one or more processors of the fingerprint scanning system 209 can receive the optical signal values from the sensor pixels 306a and 306b and can compute pixel intensity values as a measurement based on the optical signal values. The one or more processors can then generate a raw image of the skin on the basis of the ridges being represented by relatively brighter intensity pixel values than the valleys (e.g., ridges 101 can be relatively bright pixel values in the image and valleys 102 can be relatively dim pixel values). These processors may convert the bright ridge images of the skin such that the grayscale intensities flip and map to a dark ridge and bright valley format to match better to images obtained with more conventional bright-field TIR prism-based fingerprint scanners. As discussed before, the one or more processors can then compare the raw image or a template of the image against a known or gallery image/template of the skin or use the raw image to generate an image indicative of the ridge topology of the skin and compare this generated image or metadata derived from it (e.g., a fingerprint template) against a known image or metadata of a known skin. If a difference between the known and generated 3D topology or image is below a threshold, the one or more processors can grant access to the secure resource.

[0055] FIGS. 3 and 4 are example configurations of waveguides for the fingerprint scanning systems, according to some embodiments. If the final tiling array is such that all sensors have at least two adjacent sides that are at the border of the array, then a taper to the waveguide may not be required and a waveguide tilt may be sufficient to allow a continuous platen surface 203 to map to a discontinuous array of active areas produced by the sensors beneath the platen. With a tilted waveguide, provided all sensors have at least two adjacent sides that are on the border of the array, a shift of the sensor active area beneath platen 203 can be sufficient to achieve a platen 203 that can continuously sample spatially a larger area of skin topology. This is shown in the configuration 300 of FIG. 3 where a 1x2 (or they could be 2x2) array is shown. In this case the waveguide does not need to change magnification (e.g., be tapered). In the simplest case, the waveguide is just tilted so that a first portion 320 of the waveguide guides or directs light reflected by the skin that touches the top surface of the platen 203 of the protective cover 313 from a first portion of skin towards a first collection of sensors 330 and a second portion 322 of the waveguide guides or directs light reflected by the skin that touches the top surface of the platen 203 of the protective cover 313 from a second portion of skin towards a second collection of sensors 333. Simple tilting of the waveguide can change effective pitch of the waveguide according to the angle of the tilt, but it may be a simpler manufacturing process since large blocks of fused fiber or capillary tubes can be fabricated and then cut and polished for final thickness. In some cases, this cutting process can be at an angle that is not perpendicular to fiber direction. Similarly, for sensors 330 and 333 that are capacitive, waveguides 320 and 322 may be arrays of conductive columns that are cut at an angle to produce the geometry of configuration 300.

[0056] For the case of an array where a sensor does not have two adjacent sides of the sensor at the border of the array, then a tapered waveguide may be used as shown in the configuration 400 of FIG. 4. The configuration 400 includes a 1x3 array (or it could be a N x 3 array). The middle sensor 440 illustrated is “trapped” on both sides by other sensors (e.g., sensor 430 and 450), so a tapered waveguide 490 may be used to clear dead or missing sensor areas 444 on either side of the sensor 440.

[0057] Tapering of waveguides means there is a magnification of the platen 203 effective pixels to the sensor pixels. As an example, consider a sensor that is 12mm wide but the active area is only 10mm. In order to tile multiple of these sensors together, a waveguide that is 12mm wide on the platen side and 10mm wide on the sensor side may be needed. This can correspond to a 120% magnification of the sensor pixels at the platen 203. If the sensor pixels are at 500ppi (points per inch), then the platen 203 can be at 417ppi. This magnification may be considered in designing the final tiled sensor. [0058] As shown in FIG. 4, a tilted waveguide 410 is illustrated on the left and guides light reflected by a first portion of the platen 203 toward the sensor 430. Tilted waveguide 410 may also be designed to guide electrical signals from platen 203 to sensor 430 in the case of an electrically sensitive (e.g., capacitance) sensor. Tapered waveguides 420 and 421 are illustrated for the right two sensors 440 and 450. The tapered waveguide 420 guides light (or electrical signals) from a second portion of the platen 203 toward the sensor 440 and the tapered waveguide 421 guides light (or electrical signals) from a third portion of the platen 203 toward the sensor 450. The active area 442 of the sensor 440 is smaller than the area of the portion 422 of the platen 203 that is to be mapped which is the reason for using tapered waveguides 420 to perform some magnification. Specifically, the region 444 of the sensor 440 are not active and therefore should not receive any light that is reflected by the region of the platen 203 or electrical signals generated at platen 203 that is above that region 444.

[0059] As a general case, the waveguides for tiling sensors may be tapered for individual sensors that do not have two adjacent sides at the edges of the sensor array, but the rest of the sensors in the array do not have this restriction and their waveguides may be either tapered or tilted (or both). Note that by tilted, it means that the waveguide is not tapered, so constant waveguide pitch and therefore unity magnification of the platen to the sensor surface. One skilled in the art will realize that unity magnification will occur for this case of constant waveguide pitch if the sensor plane is parallel to the platen surface which the present invention is not limited to) A tilted waveguide may be curved as waveguides 210 and 310 of FIG. 2, slanted as waveguides 320 and 322 of FIG. 3 and 410 of FIG. 4, or perpendicular to platen 203 (not shown). A tapered waveguide means there is a non-unity magnification and the sensor pitch for the sensors connected to these tapered waveguides is different from the effective platen or object pitch according to the tapered waveguide magnification. For the case of non-unity magnification if the sensor has the same number of pixels as the expected number of object (platen) pixels required it is not always the case that the image resolution needs to be adjusted.

[0060] By way of example, consider a 500ppi fingerprint scanner and platen area of ’A” x A”. If a tapered waveguide with 0.5x magnification is used, the sensor area covered will be 1/8” x 1/8”. For 500ppi, there will be 125 x 125 effective platen or object pixels. Although the sensitive area of the sensor is smaller than the platen area, if there are still 125 x 125 sensor pixels, then the image resolution is correct and no downsampling is required. If on the other hand, for this example, the 1/8” x 1/8” sensor area has 200 x 200 pixels, then this pixel resolution (effectively 800ppi) needs to be downsampled to the desired resolution, in this case, 500ppi. In some cases, a mix of tapered and tilted waveguides can be used. This can be the case if there are significant yield issues of tapered waveguides compared to tilted waveguides or in the manufacture of smaller pitch sensors that are used for tapered waveguides compared to the larger pitch allowed by the tilted waveguides. Alternately, all sensors may be manufactured with a smaller pixel pitch regardless of whether or not their mating waveguide is tapered and/or tilted in order to achieve an economy of scale for the sensor. As described earlier, if the image collected by each sensor of the array is at a different electronic resolution, then in software, the images may be all sampled to the same resolution prior to tiling the images together to form a single composite image, thereby achieving an effectively larger or extended area platen. [0061] Ideally the waveguides such as 320 and 322 are perfectly linked or abutted such that sensor platen 203 is uniformly sampled across the extended platen area. However, there may be some errors at the interface or seam between waveguides 320 and 322 such that there is a larger or smaller than expected gap in the sampling rate across the seam and/or there may be nonuniformities in the sensitivity of the sampling near the seam. These errors tend to be specific to each device assembled, but the errors can be calibrated out using software image processing known to one skilled in the art. As part of the factory calibration process, these errors as well as other errors such as sensor pixel nonuniformity response across the entire platen can be charted and information mapping the errors may be stored in the fingerprint scanner’s internal memory. In this manner, when the fingerprint scanner is run at a customer site, the scanner operating software, whether internal to the scanner or external in the case of a host computer, may be able to perform the required image correction at the seam based upon the factory calibration data the stored in the device.

[0062] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating example process 500 of the fingerprint scanning systems 200 and 209, according to example embodiments. The process 500 may be embodied in computer-readable instructions for execution by one or more processors such that the operations of the process 500 may be performed in part or in whole by the functional components of the client device implementing the fingerprint scanning systems 200 and 209; accordingly, the process 500 is described below by way of example with reference thereto. However, in other embodiments, at least some of the operations of the process 500 may be deployed on various other hardware configurations. Some or all of the operations of process 500 can be in parallel, out of order, or entirely omitted.

[0063] At operation 501, the fingerprint scanning systems 200 and/or 209 generate, as the result of skin touching or not touching locations of the sensor platen, a first signal (e.g., an electrical signal in case of the fingerprint scanning system 200 and/or an optical signal in case of the fingerprint scanning system 209) responsive to a first portion of a hand placed on a first portion of the sensor platen, as discussed above.

[0064] At operation 502, the fingerprint scanning systems 200 and/or 209 guide, by a waveguide, the first signal from the first portion of the sensor platen to a first sensor (e.g., an electrical sensor in case of the fingerprint scanning system 200 and/or an optical sensor in case of the fingerprint scanning system 209), as discussed above.

[0065] At operation 503, the fingerprint scanning systems 200 and/or 209, responsive to receiving the first signal by the first sensor, compute a measurement using the first signal (e.g., a capacitance in case of the fingerprint scanning system 200 and/or a light brightness level in case of the fingerprint scanning system 209), as discussed above. [0066] At operation 504, the fingerprint scanning systems 200 and/or 209 processes the imagery data collected by the first sensor. Such processing may include such image processing algorithms known to own skilled in the art such as background correction, resampling of data to a different electronic resolution, and application of contrastenhancement filters. The processed image may then be used to generate based on the computed measurement, data, for example minutia templates, an image indicative of or representative of ridge topology of the first portion of the hand that is placed on the first position of the sensor platen, as discussed above.

[0067] The flowchart of FIG. 5 may be expanded to account for the embodiment of a fingerprint scanner that is responsive to the presence of skin placed on both a first and a second portion of the sensor platen. The additional operations related to signals from said second portion of sensor platen may be conducted in series or in parallel to the operations detailed in FIG. 5. Additional operations include the guiding of the second signal from the second portion of the sensor platen with a second waveguide to a second sensor. This second sensor may be located underneath the second portion of the sensor platen or offset laterally from it. In a subsequent operation, the one or more processors of the present invention may perform image processing algorithms similar to those previously described in relation to the first set of data collected from the first sensor. Further operations may include registering the data collected from the first and second sensors, performing any error correction algorithms required at or near the seam of the two sets of data and then tile the resulting sets of data into a single composite data, representative of the topology of the skin effectively being placed on a single platen as if the data were taken by a single sensor.

[0068] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture 606, which may be used in conjunction with various hardware architectures herein described. FIG. 6 is a non-limiting example of a software architecture and it will be appreciated that many other architectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionality described herein. The software architecture 606 may execute on hardware such as machine 700 of FIG. 7 that includes, among other things, processors 704, memory 714, and input/output (I/O) components 718. A representative hardware layer 652 is illustrated and can represent, for example, the machine 700 of FIG. 7. The representative hardware layer 652 includes a processing unit 654 having associated executable instructions 604. Executable instructions 604 represent the executable instructions of the software architecture 606, including implementation of the methods, components, and so forth described herein. The hardware layer 652 also includes memory and/or storage devices memory/storage 656, which also have executable instructions 604. The hardware layer 652 may also comprise other hardware 658. The software architecture 606 may be deployed in any one or more of the components the client device that implements the fingerprint scanning systems 200 and/or 209 shown in FIG. 2.

[0069] In the example architecture of FIG. 6, the software architecture 606 may be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer provides particular functionality. For example, the software architecture 606 may include layers such as an operating system 602, libraries 620, frameworks/middl eware 618, applications 616, and a presentation layer 614. Operationally, the applications 616 and/or other components within the layers may invoke API calls 608 through the software stack and receive messages 612 in response to the API calls 608. The layers illustrated are representative in nature and not all software architectures have all layers. For example, some mobile or special purpose operating systems may not provide a frameworks/middleware 618, while others may provide such a layer. Other software architectures may include additional or different layers.

[0070] The operating system 602 may manage hardware resources and provide common services. The operating system 602 may include, for example, a kernel 622, services 624, and drivers 626. The kernel 622 may act as an abstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers. For example, the kernel 622 may be responsible for memory management, processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, security settings, and so on. The services 624 may provide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers 626 are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware. For instance, the drivers 626 include display drivers, camera drivers, BLE drivers, UWB drivers, Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on the hardware configuration.

[0071] The libraries 620 provide a common infrastructure that is used by the applications 616 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries 620 provide functionality that allows other software components to perform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with the underlying operating system 602 functionality (e.g., kernel 622, services 624 and/or drivers 626). The libraries 620 may include system libraries 644 (e.g., C standard library) that may provide functions such as memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 620 may include API libraries 646 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries to support presentation and manipulation of various media format such as MPREG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphics libraries (e.g, an OpenGL framework that may be used to render two-dimensional and three-dimensional in a graphic content on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite that may provide various relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit that may provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 620 may also include a wide variety of other libraries 648 to provide many other APIs to the applications 616 and other software components/devices.

[0072] The frameworks/middl eware 618 (also sometimes referred to as middleware) provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by the applications 616 and/or other software components/devices. For example, the frameworks/middleware 618 may provide various graphic user interface functions, high-level resource management, high-level location services, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware 618 may provide a broad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications 616 and/or other software components/devices, some of which may be specific to a particular operating system 602 or platform.

[0073] The applications 616 include built-in applications 638 and/or third-party applications 640. Examples of representative built-in applications 638 may include, but are not limited to, a contacts application, a browser application, a book reader application, a location application, a media application, a messaging application, and/or a game application. Third-party applications 640 may include an application developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software development kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform, and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. The third-party applications 640 may invoke the API calls 608 provided by the mobile operating system (such as operating system 602) to facilitate functionality described herein.

[0074] The applications 616 may use built-in operating system functions (e.g., kernel 622, services 624, and/or drivers 626), libraries 620, and frameworks/middl eware 618 to create UIs to interact with users of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systems, interactions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such as presentation layer 614. In these systems, the application/component "logic" can be separated from the aspects of the application/component that interact with a user.

[0075] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 700, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine 700 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions 710 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code) for causing the machine 700 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed.

[0076] As such, the instructions 710 may be used to implement devices or components described herein. The instructions 710 transform the general, non-programmed machine 700 into a particular machine 700 programmed to carry out the described and illustrated functions in the manner described. In alternative embodiments, the machine 700 operates as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 700 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 700 may comprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a STB, a PDA, an entertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing the instructions 710, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to be taken by machine 700. Further, while only a single machine 700 is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include a collection of machines that individually or jointly execute the instructions 710 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

[0077] The machine 700 may include processors 704, memory/storage 706, and I/O components 718, which may be configured to communicate with each other such as via a bus 702. In an example embodiment, the processors 704 (e.g., a CPU, a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 708 and a processor 712 that may execute the instructions 710.

The term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 704 that may comprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. Although FIG. 7 shows multiple processors 704, the machine 700 may include a single processor with a single core, a single processor with multiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a single core, multiple processors with multiple cores, or any combination thereof.

[0078] The memory/storage 706 may include a memory 714, such as a main memory, or other memory storage, instructions 710, and a storage unit 716, both accessible to the processors 704 such as via the bus 702. The storage unit 716 and memory 714 store the instructions 710 embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 710 may also reside, completely or partially, within the memory 714, within the storage unit 716, within at least one of the processors 704 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine 700. Accordingly, the memory 714, the storage unit 716, and the memory of processors 704 are examples of machine-readable media.

[0079] The I/O components 718 may include a wide variety of components to receive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information, exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/O components 718 that are included in a particular machine 700 will depend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 718 may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 7. The I/O components 718 are grouped according to functionality merely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no way limiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 718 may include output components 726 and input components 728. The output components 726 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as a plasma display panel (PDP), a LED display, a LCD, a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and so forth. The input components 728 may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointing instrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and the like.

[0080] In further example embodiments, the I/O components 718 may include biometric components 739, motion components 734, environmental components 736, or position components 738 among a wide array of other components. For example, the biometric components 739 may include components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinal identification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram based identification), and the like. The motion components 734 may include acceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth. The environmental components 736 may include, for example, illumination sensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components (e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature), humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g., barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphones that detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g., infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gas detection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases for safety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other components that may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding to a surrounding physical environment. The position components 738 may include location sensor components (e.g., a GPS receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

[0081] Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies. The I/O components 718 may include communication components 740 operable to couple the machine 700 to a network 737 or devices 729 via coupling 724 and coupling 722, respectively. For example, the communication components 740 may include a network interface component or other suitable device to interface with the network 737. In further examples, communication components 740 may include wired communication components, wireless communication components, cellular communication components, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components to provide communication via other modalities. The devices 729 may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).

[0082] Moreover, the communication components 740 may detect identifiers or include components operable to detect identifiers. For example, the communication components 740 may include RFID tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components, optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detect one-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code, multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Aztec code, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2D bar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components (e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, a variety of information may be derived via the communication components 740, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location, location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting an NFC beacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth. Glossary:

[0083] " CARRIER SIGNAL" in this context refers to any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying transitory or non-transitory instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such instructions. Instructions may be transmitted or received over the network using a transitory or non-transitory transmission medium via a network interface device and using any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols.

[0084] "COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK" in this context refers to one or more portions of a network that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a BLE network, a UWB network, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a metropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a plain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network or a portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular network and the coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling may implement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (IxRTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard setting organizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.

[0085] "MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM" in this context refers to a component, device, or other tangible media able to store instructions and data temporarily or permanently and may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, buffer memory, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage (e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and/or any suitable combination thereof. The term "machine-readable medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers) able to store instructions. The term "machine-readable medium" shall also be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media, that is capable of storing instructions (e.g., code) for execution by a machine, such that the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the machine, cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies described herein.

Accordingly, a "machine-readable medium" refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as "cloud-based" storage systems or storage networks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term "machine-readable medium" excludes signals per se.

[0086] " COMPONENT" in this context refers to a device, physical entity, or logic having boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branch points, APIs, or other technologies that provide for the partitioning or modularization of particular processing or control functions. Components may be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for use with other components and a part of a program that usually performs a particular function of related functions. Components may constitute either software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readable medium) or hardware components. A "hardware component" is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one or more hardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardware component that operates to perform certain operations as described herein.

[0087] A hardware component may also be implemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certain operations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor, such as a FPGA or an ASIC. A hardware component may also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardware component may include software executed by a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor. Once configured by such software, hardware components become specific machines (or specific components of a machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and are no longer general -purpose processors. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations. Accordingly, the phrase "hardware component"(or "hardware-implemented component") should be understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardware components are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises a general -purpose processor configured by software to become a specialpurpose processor, the general-purpose processor may be configured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g., comprising different hardware components) at different times. Software accordingly configures a particular processor or processors, for example, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instance of time and to constitute a different hardware component at a different instance of time.

[0088] Hardware components can provide information to, and receive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardware components may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardware components are configured or instantiated at different times, communications between such hardware components may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiple hardware components have access. For example, one hardware component may perform an operation and store the output of that operation in a memory device to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the stored output. [0089] Hardware components may also initiate communications with input or output devices and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection of information). The various operations of example methods described herein may be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that are temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured to perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanently configured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented components that operate to perform one or more operations or functions described herein. As used herein, "processor-implemented component" refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors. Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partially processor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors being an example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations of a method may be performed by one or more processors or processor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processors may also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a "cloud computing" environment or as a "software as a service" (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples of machines including processors), with these operations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API). The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed among the processors, not only residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may be located in a single geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other example embodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

[0090] " PROCESSOR" in this context refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (a physical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor) that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g., "commands," "op codes," "machine code," etc.) and which produces corresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine. A processor may, for example, be a CPU, a RISC processor, a CISC processor, a GPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a RFIC, or any combination thereof. A processor may further be a multicore processor having two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as "cores") that may execute instructions contemporaneously. [0091] Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. These and other changes or modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure, as expressed in the following claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.