Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

Biometrics offer a personal and convenient way of keeping our identities and our data secure. There are manyx000D
biometric authentication methods that have been extensively studied, ranging from fingerprint scanners tox000D
retina sensors to facial recognition software. Of these, fingerprinting is likely the most well-known, and hasx000D
been achieved through a wide variety of methods, whether based on infrared, multiple camera systems, or onx000D
acoustic waves. However, all of these have been shown to be prone to skimming and identity theft. In most ofx000D
such cases, criminals can create a 3D printed finger or hand with identical features to those of a user finger orx000D
hand when exposed to the aforementioned fingerprint scanners.x000D
A method of using wireless waves to identify various individuals has been developed. In this system, thex000D
compact transceiver has several transmit and receiver antennas. The transmitter(s) send a sequence of signalsx000D
which are absorbed, reflected, and scattered from a nearby part of the body of a user (a hand in our demo case)x000D
and the resulting signal is detected at a receiver(s) antenna. Different signal processing algorithms are appliedx000D
to the received signals to create a rich feature dataset. The resulting dataset is classified using machine learningx000D
models, which are shown to facilitate identifying a group of individuals with high accuracy.x000D
This technology has promising applications as an independent or an auxiliary tool for biometric authentication.x000D
The technology promises to be of a much higher level of security and immunity against identity thefts andx000D
hacking attempts than existing technologies.x000D
Potential Applicationsx000D
- Border Control/Airports.x000D
- Military Security Systems.x000D
- Voter registration and identification.