Biometrics - The Key for Effective, Secure & Smart Identification

1. Th e K e y f o r E f f e c t i v e , S e c u r e a n d S m a rt
I d e n t i f i c at i o n : B i o m e t r i c s
A Frost & Sullivan White Paper in Partnership
with Idex
Prepared by Matia Grossi
Research Manager, Physical Security

2. TA B L E O F TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
CONTENTS
Executive Summary 3
Biometrics 4
Biometrics As The Natural Response To Increased Identity
And Credential Theft 4
Fingerprint Biometrics – The Most Deployed Technology 4
- Future Applications 5
- Challenges To Overcome 5
IDEX Solutions 6
About IDEX 6
IDEX’ IP Portfolio 6
Smartfinger ® Film Fingerprint Swipe Sensor Hardware 6
How Does IDEX Swipe Sensor Work 7
Smartfinger ® Key Characteristics 7
Explaining The Techology 9
The Hardware 9
The Software 11
- PC And Laptop Applications 11
- Embedded Development Kit 11
Case Study - Transactional Authentication (Validus) 12
Contact Us 13
Frost & Sullivan 2

3. Executive Summary
This Frost & Sullivan white paper aims to show how:
EXECUTIVE
- Security concerns in the present world continue to grow ever more complex. Identity
SUMMARY
management and the many billions lost every year through fraudulent authentication in
financial, banking, retail and corporate environments is pushing for the need for enhanced,
secure identification and personal verification technologies.
- Biometrics can easily solve the issue surrounding identity management and frauds.
- The major applications at the present time are: physical and network/logical access
control; in bank vaults and ATM cash points; integrated in biometric passports.
- Future applications for biometrics include: huge potential for transactional authentication
and online banking and shopping.
- There are a number of challenges to overcome for the mass uptake of biometrics
especially in the credit cards/transactional verification and consumer electronics segment,
such as: size, price, performances.
- IDEX’ SmartFinger ® Film sensor is ideally suited to tackle these size/price/performance
challenges thanks to its unique combination of small, ultrathin and flexible swipe
fingerprint sensors combined with the highly efficient, small footprint authentication
software. IDEX’ SmartFinger® Film can be customized for a variety of applications such
as One Time Password devices, Smartcards, ID cards, access control devices and biometric
tokens; this together with its small hardware and software footprints make it perfect for
a number of applications in the transactional (such as online banking, ATM
access, online and point of sales purchases), consumer electronics and traditional physical
security markets.
Frost & Sullivan 3

4. Biometrics
Biometrics As The Natural Response To Increased Identity And Credential Theft
BIOMETRICS
Biometrics is essentially a way of identifying an individual through his/her unique physiological or
behavioral patterns. Biometric technologies offer higher security levels by simply ensuring that the
authorized individual is physically present to gain access.
Security concerns in the present world continue to grow ever more complex. There are many
concerns regarding the threats to identity management measures such as access cards, employees’
identity cards, password protection, personal identification numbers (PINs), passports, and so on;
which can be forgotten, lost, disclosed, or changed.
The consequences of fraudulent authentication in financial, banking, retail and corporate
environments can be disastrous with loss of confidential information, money, and compromised
data integrity. In the United Kingdom alone Identify Fraud, costs £1.2 billion each year (source:
www.identitytheft.org.uk).
As the level of security breaches and transaction fraud increases, the need for enhanced, secure
identification and personal verification technologies increases proportionally.
For these and other reasons, the market for biometric products in Europe is still growing;
supported by Banking and Commercial initiatives, on top of the more traditional Governmental
ones.
Based on Frost & Sullivan's research, whilst the adoption of biometrics is concentrated in the
government sector; since 2004, an increasing number of biometric products are being developed
for commercial markets, in particular for the financial, retail and consumer electronics sectors.
Fingerprint Biometrics – The Most Deployed Technology
Fingerprint is the most frequently used biometric measure amongst all, with an approximate 62%
revenue contribution, as of 2009.
Worldwide Biometrics Market: Revenues by Technology, 2009
Voice Sign atu re
3% 1%
O th er
1%
Han d
5%
Ir is
8%
Face
20 %
Fin ger p r in t
62%
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5. There are a number of reasons that contribute to the success of the fingerprint technology in the
market. Such as:
■ One of the least expensive amongst all the different biometrics technologies, making it
very attractive for high volume applications. BIOMETRICS
■ Small storage space, reduced power requirements, and resistive nature to temperature
and background lighting makes it an ideal technology to be deployed in a vast range of
applications from the smallest consumer electronic device to the high end physical and
logical access control.
The major applications at the present time are:
■ Physical access control (applications such as door lock entrance control, safes, and
vehicles) and network/logical access control (e-commerce, smart card, and sensing
terminals).
■ Significant use in banking and financial industry as means of authentication to prevent
identity fraud in on-line banking and ATM cash points.
■ Integrated in biometric passports and implemented in many countries under International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) compliance.
Future Applications
Due to the increasing number of fraud in applications such as:
■ Transactional authentication: in Europe alone $25.67 billion are “lost” every year (source
European Biometric Portal). To combat these fraudulent measures, fingerprint technology
is best suited as it is a mature technology and can be cheaply deployed in a large scale and
can offer huge advantages for:
• Online Banking
• Secure Network Access
• Secure Online Shopping
• National and Governmental ID programs in Africa
and Middle East, for example
• Manufacturing Technology different from standard
SmartCards
Challenges To Overcome
Frost & Sullivan has identified a number of elements that represent key challenges to be overcome
for the long awaited mass uptake of biometrics. If we look then at the credit cards/transactional
verification and consumer electronics segment, these challenges that Frost & Sullivan has
identified are:
■ Size
■ Price
■ Performances - This element in particular has been one of the major failures when
addressing the laptops market in the initial deployments since 2006-2007. For a future real
uptake of the technology in the consumer electronics sector, performances need to be
improved in order for users' experience to be guaranteed.
Frost & Sullivan 5

6. IDEX Solutions
About IDEX
IDEX SOLUTIONS IDEX ASA (ticker IDEX) founded in 1996 is headquartered in Oslo Norway with representative
sales offices in Europe and Asia specialising in fingerprint imaging and authentication. IDEX
develops and supplies the patented SmartFinger® Film fingerprint sensor technology and software
algorithms which enables on device enrollment, template storage and verification within the very
same module. SmartFinger® Film is extremely thin and flexible and can be customised for a variety
of applications such as One Time Password devices, Smartcards, ID cards, access control devices
and biometric tokens.
IDEX has invested heavily in research and development in the development of a solution aimed at
the fingerprint market. IDEX has mainly focused on addressing the size, performance and price
issues; which, as discussed, represent the key challenges for the successful mass uptake of
fingerprint biometrics in the consumer electronics, especially Biometric authentication devices
and transactional verification market. SmartFinger® Film raises card security to the next level by
incorporating biometric ID within existing systems without having to modify the existing
infrastructure.
IDEX sells and markets SmartFinger ® products and technology through strategic partnerships
globally. Its focus is working with companies who are developing, manufacturing and marketing
intelligent biometric ID and transactional cards where the Smartfinger ® film fingerprint swipe
sensor meets the needs and requirements for a complete biometric authentication solution within
the ISO standard card format.
IDEX is also focused on Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) who are developing peripherals
such as memory cards, USB sticks which have or plan to implement fingerprint sensors for
additional security. IDEX is also addressing the physical access market segment through industrial
distribution partners that provide fingerprint modules to be used in access control devices.
IDEX’ IP Portfolio
The IDEX IP portfolio includes:
• Image reconstruction scheme based on a “single-line” fingerprint sensor
• AC capacitive sensing principle
• Navigation functionality
• Single-chip as well as substrate based sensor modules
• Measurement system and live finger detection
SMARTFINGER® Film Fingerprint Swipe Sensor Hardware
The SmartFinger ® Film sensors are based on state-of-the-art polymer process technologies and
offer small, ultrathin and flexible swipe fingerprint sensors compliant with the form factors
specified by the ISO/IEC 7810 standards for identity and smart cards. The finger swipe area is only
50 µm thick, while the total thickness of the fingerprint device including ~15 mm2 signal
processing chip is less than 0.35 mm.
Combined with the highly efficient, small footprint authentication software, the SmartFinger ®
Film sensors are ideally suited stand-alone, embedded biometric applications such as biometric
tokens, biometric cards, remote controls, USB sticks, PC peripherals, locks, handheld devices etc.
Frost & Sullivan 6

7. How Does IDEX Swipe Sensor Work
The IDEX SmartFinger® sensor is a swipe-type fingerprint sensor. And it works on 4 main steps:
1. Sensor acquires data. IDEX SOLUTIONS
2. Image reconstruction: The complete fingerprint representation is built up by partial
images recorded as the finger is swiped over the “single line” sensor array. The patented,
sensor specific image reconstruction principle is the core of IDEX’ IP.
3. Feature or minutiae extraction and generation of fingerprint templates.
4. Verification. During fingerprint verification the extracted template is compared to
previously enrolled and stored template, i.e. the matching step. The fingerprint template
size is in the order of 150 bytes and hence much less than the fingerprint image itself
which is usually not stored.
Fingerprint Authentication
Y/N
Acquire Reconstruct Feature Match
fingerprint against
data image extraction template
Smartfinger ® ’s Key Characteristics
The key characteristics of the Smartfinger® film fingerprint swipe sensor:
■ Ease of Integration
• 0.05 mm thick
• Compliant with ISO Card form factor
• A variety of customizable geometries
• Alternative I/O connections (ZIF, ACF and DFN)
• On-board micro controller capability
The Smartfinger® Filmsensor The SmartFinger® Film Sensor
substrate configuration for DFN version
ACF or ZIF connector
interfaces
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8. ■ Embedded Biometric System
• Small software footprint
REGULATION IS
• Minimal hardware resources required
PUSHING ENERGY
• On Device enrollment, template storage and verification
EFFICIENCY
• Reference design and development kits available
WORLDWIDE
• The SmartFinger® Film sensor module is a complete microsystem including a
passive Sensor Substrate, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC),
Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection and optionally passive components for
power supply decoupling etc. The SmartFinger ® ASIC supports sensing arrays
with up to 256 imaging channels.
Rear side of the
SmartFinger® Film showing
the ASIC, ESD protection and
integrated passive components
• Low noise amplification
• Finger-on detection
• Low power consumption
■ Usability:
• Swipe speeds up to 60 cm/s
• Skew correction, ± 40º
• Accepts wet and dry fingers
• High Dynamic range signal
• High security and Low false rejections with < 0.5% FRR at 0.001% FAR
Frost & Sullivan 8

9. Explaining The Technology
The Hardware
EXPLAINING THE IDEX Solution - Film Sensor Block Diagram
TECHNOLOGY
Finger Proximity Finger Proximity
Required Not Required
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Optional Optional Substrate Material PCB, Flex, Ceramic
External Drive
Electrode
Discontinuity
Discontinuity
Discontinuity
Sensor Drive
Optional
Optional
Optional
Electrode Electrode
Signal Transport Signal Transport Signal Transport
Signal Distribution Die Interface Die Interface External Interface
FC/WB/ACF FC/WB/ACF
SPI, I2C, Serial,
Solder Interface
Proprietary
Interface Interface
Analog
IDEX Proprietary
USB
SPI
Substrate Technology Analog Front Signal Processing ACF Interface
End (ASIC) (µC)
ZIF Interface
USB Connector
Minimum HW Optional Customer
Configuration Configuration
PROPERTY: The sensor can be manufactured in a single substrate material, or segmented into
multiple materials. The main distinction is between the IDEX high resolution proprietary substrate
and any other, possibly lower cost, substrate technology that may be used for any or all of the
segments where finger proximity is not required. This means that:
■ Fingerprint Proximity Required:
• Part 1 - IDEX Proprietary Substrate Technology.
The high resolution material is required for the sensor array interface to the
finger. Typically 50 um via pitch for the electrodes, and 20 um width and separation
for routing lines is required.
■ Fingerprint Proximity Not-Required:
A lower resolution material can be used for the segments which are not in
proximity to the finger. Examples of low resolution materials are standard PCB’s and
flexible circuits.
• Part 2 - Analog Front End.
The SmartFinger® ASIC is designed for applications where ease of integration
combined with excellent image quality and low current consumption is required.
In addition to analog front end amplifiers and analog to digital conversion, the
SmartFinger® ASIC provides a combined serial data and control interface
supporting high data rates.
Frost & Sullivan 9

10. The SmartFinger® ASIC provides on-chip digital signal processing features for
optimized performance and reduced host processor load, together with automatic
wake up functionality and various other programmable features for power-saving
purposes. EXPLAINING THE
TECHNOLOGY
Both data and control is supported by a single SPI interface enabling simple
integration to a dedicated host controller or microprocessor. The SmartFinger®
ASIC is configured as a slave device for communication speeds up to 48 Mbit/s,
depending on I/O supply voltage. The data rate on the SPI interface during
transmission of image data can be adjusted within a wide range, enabled by an
integrated data buffer.
In a typical application, the SmartFinger ® Film ASIC is powered by a low noise
3.0 V-3.3 V single supply voltage and requires a 12, 13, 16, 24 or 32 MHz system
clock from the host controller. IO supply voltage can be set from 1.8 to 3.3V.
The line rate of the ASIC, which means how many lines with pixel data that are
generated per second, is programmable, allowing for customizing the
transfer rate of fingerprint data to the host processor. Furthermore, program-
mable scanning frequency allows for further optimization of current consumption
and adjusting the implementation to the actual application.
The integrated, programmable Wake-Up function enables for reduced current
consumption in that the image mode is not activated until the presence of a finger
is detected on the surface of the sensor.
Decoupling capacitors can be mounted onto the sensor substrate as an integrated
part of the SmartFinger ® Film sensor or externally.
• Part 3 - Signal Processing.
Silicon dies such as ASIC’s and microcontrollers can be mounted on any segment
of the sensor by various standard processes such as wire bonding, eutectic flip
chip, or ACF flip chip.
• Part 4 - Interface To External Systems.
Interfacing the module to external systems is possible through numerous standard
processes. Examples are flex connectors, solder, wire bond, ACF, and conductive
glue. Additional segments are possible to closer integrate host system function-
ality. A Zigbee or NFC etc, radio interface could be mounted next to the micro-
controller, or the substrate may be extended with an additional segment to
accommodate the area needed for such a device.
■ Special Notes:
• SmartFinger® Film is similar to any other flex circuit or PCB with respect to
assembly technology. It can be provided with Flip Chip or Wire Bond interfaces
for ASIC’s and microcontrollers, standard SMT footprints for soldering, or
bond pads for ACF.
Frost & Sullivan 10

11. • Wide selections of system configurations are possible ranging from; sensor array
only, to fully functional embedded fingerprint verification systems.
EXPLAINING THE
The Software TECHNOLOGY
PC and Laptop Applications
IDEX offers a hardware module and an accompanying software development kit in order to
support PC applications. The development kit includes a USB development module (UDM), a
software development kit, demo software, USB driver and sample code. The UDM implements the
functionality of an SPI-to-USB bridge. The PC/laptop development kit offers software that runs
on the PC host processor.
■ The USB driver and the driver interface.
The USB Development Module (UDM) is connected to the PC over USB. It uses the USB
2.0 Full Speed protocol and adds a custom interface for communicating with the
fingerprint sensor on top. The interface consists of two parts,
• Fingerprint sensor USB Driver interface on the host side,
• Device specific parts handling communication with the fingerprint sensor, over SPI
■ Software Development Kit (SDK).
IDEX provides a Microsoft Windows based software development kit (SDK) allowing
writing applications (based on the UDM) and also to capture images only and using 3rd
party algorithms for extraction and matching.
Embedded Development Kit
IDEX offers also a software kit to enable customers to develop embedded fingerprint
authentication solutions or add fingerprint authentication to existing products. IDEX biometric
algorithms run on an external controller, performing the functions of real-time image
reconstruction, feature extraction, and matching. They are highly optimized to minimize the
requirements for processing capacity and memory (both RAM and flash). Everything is provided in
re-locatable library files that are independent of operating system, compiler and development
environment. Software libraries for imaging, enrollment and verification are available for ARM7 and
Cortex M3 cores and have already been compiled for controllers supplied by Atmel, NXP and
STMicroelectronics.
The low-level software interface to the fingerprint sensor is specific to the microcontroller
version. IDEX provides specifications and guidelines in order to establish this.
The development kit is based on standard development boards supplied by the microcontroller
vendor, and a plug-on module with the fingerprint sensor and the software libraries will be
provided by IDEX.
Frost & Sullivan 11

12. Case Study - Transactional Authentication (Validus)
CASE STUDY - Frost & Sullivan expects the market for transactional authentication to triple its present value, in
TRANSACTIONAL 2010, by 2015. Because of its versatility and ease-of-use, fingerprint biometrics is increasingly
AUTHENTICATION being used for this application.
(VALIDUS)
World Biometrics Market: Revenue Forecast,
Transactional Authentication
400
350
300
$ Million
250
200
150
100
50
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Year
A few examples of this can already be found in:
■ Some prisons worldwide use fingerprint biometrics for their inmates using food coupon
credits, this segment is expected to grow.
■ There is also a trend in using transactional authentication to order new medicines in
pharmacies using face biometrics. This is mandatory in the United States currently and is
likely to be adopted in Europe.
Future trends offer immense opportunities in terms of potential addressable markets for
biometrics:
■ Biometric powered cards such as the ValidCard developed and designed by Validus offers
an unsurpassed solution for identity verification in many different types of scenarios, by
leveraging the simple concept of One Time Password (OTP).
Frost & Sullivan has identified a number of factors expected to influence a strong uptake of
biometrics in the transactional authentication market. The strongest ones are:
• The end-users' need to feel that the transaction and network are secure.
• The protection of their identity is guaranteed as the most important element within the
transactional authentication segment.
Frost & Sullivan 12

13. Validus and IDEX are able to guarantee that both every transaction is authenticated and that the
biometric and personal data of the card owner are protected, as the end-user’s biometric data are
kept on the card and not in any remote database “somewhere” on the internet. CASE STUDY -
TRANSACTIONAL
VALIDcard™ Presentation – Use Case Scenarios AUTHENTICATION
(VALIDUS)
ATM Access
User inserts ATM Card. User generates One-Time User enters OTP into
Password (OTP) by swiping ATM keypad.
finger on VALIDcard™.
Point of Sale Purchase
User swipes Debit/Credit User generates One-Time User enters OTP into
card. Password (OTP) by swiping POS keypad.
finger on VALIDcard™.
OTP is authenticated
and access is granted.
Online Purchase
User inputs Debit/Credit User generates One-Time User enters OTP into
information. Password (OTP) by swiping field on checkout page.
finger on VALIDcard™.
Online Bank Login
User enters username. User generates One-Time User enters OTP.
Password (OTP) by swiping
finger on VALIDcard™.
Frost & Sullivan 13

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