Backup pin entry using camera and ocr
Contents
1. or business transactions The device includes a PIN based method to protect access to the user s data files If the correct PIN is not entered the system prevents the reading deletion modification or renaming of the user s files 0012 There are some cases where the user may forget the PIN or the user is no longer available to enter the PIN such as if they die or leave employment in the case where the device is owned by an employer 0013 Insome systems the PIN can be bypassed by having a secondary PIN This secondary PIN might be something other than a password such as a series of questions that contain information that presumably would only be known to the user For example this might include questions about favorite colors school mascots parents etc 0014 However entry of these types of questions may be difficult since the device may not have a traditional keyboard Furthermore these types of schemes are inherently poor in the long term because the private information may be needed for multiple systems and compromise of one could result in compromise of other systems 0015 Embodiments of the present invention provide a system to unlock or override the PIN security with a master security code or key using the natural interface and capabili ties of the device without actually manually entering a code Embodiments may comprise a wide array of electronic devices including cell phones Ultra Mobile Devices or PDAs that2. 0009 Reference throughout this specification to one embodiment or an embodiment means that a particular feature structure or characteristic described in connection Apr 1 2010 with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention Thus the appearances of the phrases in one embodiment or in an embodiment in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment Furthermore the particu lar features structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments 0010 As discussed above hand held PDAs for general purpose communication and data storage are popular More recently specific purpose portable devices have been devel oped In particular in the healthcare field a hand held device may provide a variety of functions including a device for the sight impaired which can read text aloud In short the device uses a built in camera to take pictures of text perform an optical character recognition OCR on the text and then uses text speech synthesis to read it out loud to the user This device is not only advantageous for the sight impaired but also for the elderly which may have trouble reading smaller texts 0011 In addition a user may have private information stored on the device Such private information may include such things as scans of credit card receipts tax forms medical records
3. are equipped with a camera 0016 Referring now to FIG 15 there is shown an exem plary electronic device such as a PDA 100 The device may allow services such as phone for voice communications as well as allows users to access a variety of information and include services and features such as internet browsing glo bal positioning system GPS capabilities email service store music and data etc Typically the electronic device 100 is of a size and weight which easily fits in a user s hand The device 100 may have a display screen 102 with which to display text and graphics The display screen 102 may also be a touch type display screen allowing the user to input data and commands by touching the screen with their finger or with a stylus not shown 0017 A keypad 104 may be included as well to allow the user to input data and commands The keypad 104 may be a US 2010 0081414 Al full alpha numeric keypad or may just comprise one or more special function keys as shown In the case where the display screen 102 is a touch type screen the keypad 104 may option ally be omitted In addition a cursor control 106 may also be included to allow a user to perform mouse type cursor move ments 0018 Acamera 108 is also included to allow the electronic device to capture and store images The camera 108 is shown on the front of the electronic device 100 for purposes of illustration but the camera 108 may be located anywhere The device 1
4. 00 may also include a speaker and microphone such a traditional phone would have as well as speaker phone capabilities allowing the user to hear and talk without having to hold the device 100 to their head 0019 As noted above the device 100 may include a secu rity function that allows the user to optionally select a per sonal identification code PIN of their choice which is used to lock the functions of the device from use as well as lock any data stored therein The PIN may be an alpha numeric string of characters chosen at random by the user preferably some thing easy to remember but difficult for someone else to figure out The PIN may be enter in a variety of ways by the user such as by typing on the display screen 102 or on the keypad 104 or perhaps even by speaking it out of earshot of others if the device 100 has speech recognition capabilities 0020 Unfortunately often times PINs are forgotten or changed often and the new PIN forgotten or the authorized user that selected the PIN is no longer available such as in the case of death or disability or if the PIN is biometric Accord ing to embodiments the device 100 includes a master secu rity code 110 or key which can always unlock the device without need of the current PIN This master code 110 may be an alpha numeric string which is sufficiently long and ran dom In other embodiments the master code may be symbols or for example a bar code The master code 110 ma
5. Fig 2 US 2010 0081414 Al BACKUP PIN ENTRY USING CAMERA AND OCR FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0001 Embodiments of the present invention are directed electronic device security and more particularly to unlock ing an electronic device if the password is forgotten or unknown BACKGROUND INFORMATION 0002 Wireless devices such as cellular telephones and Personal Digital Assistants PDA communicators are gain ing widespread acceptance In order to be competitive in the marketplace and to meet consumer demand service providers continue to offer an ever expanding array of services and features Current generations of PDAs incorporate many fea tures including cellular phone service 0003 PDAs are hand held computers originally designed for use as personal organizers for storing notes contact infor mation calendar dates and so forth The current generation of PDAs additionally incorporate wireless and cellular technol ogy and act as a phone for voice communications as well as allows users to access a variety of information and include services and features such as internet browsing access to driving directions instant stock quotes global positioning system GPS capabilities entertainment locators email ser vice cameras and a variety of multimedia and video capa bilities to name a few 0004 Many of these hand held devices also incorporate a certain level of security to protect against unwanted users as well as to prote
6. US 20100081414A1 United States 19 a2 Patent Application Publication 10 Pub No US 2010 0081414 Al Poisner 43 Pub Date Apr 1 2010 54 BACKUP PIN ENTRY USING CAMERA AND Publication Classification OCR 51 Int Cl H04M 1 66 2006 01 76 Inventor David Poisner Carmichael CA 52 US Chemins 455 411 US 57 ABSTRACT A personal identification number PIN may be used as a Conesoidercs Address basic security measure to unlock an electronic device PINs DI C ORPORATION are notoriously forgotten or unavailable A master security code may be used to unlock the device in this situation The c o CPA Global master security code may comprise printed indicia such as an P O BOX 52050 alpha numeric text string for example printed in the device MINNEAPOLIS MN 55402 US owner s manual A picture or image of the page containing the master security code may be snapped with a built in camera feature Optical character recognition OCR may be used to 21 Appl No 12 242 718 extract the master security code text string from the image and compared to a like master security code stored in the device If they match the device may be unlocked even without the 22 Filed Sep 30 2008 PIN LETTELE ROLLER Ed Apr 1 2010 Sheet 1 of 2 US 2010 0081414 Al Patent Application Publication 106 roms Fig 1 Patent Application Publication Apr 1 2010 Sheet 2 of 2 US 2010 0081414 Al 100 200 110
7. ct the privacy of the personal data stored therein One of the most common and well known security measures is a password or personal identification number PIN In a locked mode an authorized user must enter the PIN to unlock the device and enable the features However if the PIN is forgotten or lost even the owner or other authorized user cannot use the device BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0005 The foregoing and a better understanding of the present invention may become apparent from the following detailed description of arrangements and example embodi ments and the claims when read in connection with the accompanying drawings all forming a part of the disclosure of this invention While the foregoing and following written and illustrated disclosure focuses on disclosing arrangements and example embodiments of the invention it should be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and the invention is not limited thereto 0006 FIG 1 is a hand held device including a camera feature according to one embodiment of the invention and 0007 FIG 2isa block diagram of the basic components of the of the hand held device DETAILED DESCRIPTION 0008 Described is an apparatus and method to allow an authorized user to override the security features of an elec tronic device with a master code Security is maintained however since only an authorized user may have physical access to the master code
8. e electronic device as recited in claim 1 wherein the electronic device comprises a personal identification number PIN security feature that is overridden by the master secu rity code 6 The electronic device as recited in claim 1 wherein the printed text comprises a paper having a copy of the master security code printed thereon 7 A method for unlocking a locked electronic device comprising storing a master security code in the device taking a picture of a printed master security code with a built in camera US 2010 0081414 Al extracting an alpha numeric text string from the picture using optical character recognition OCR comparing the extracted alpha numeric text string with the master security code stored in the device and unlocking the electronic device if there is a match 8 The method as recited in claim 7 wherein the printed master security code is printed on a piece of paper 9 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the paper is included with the user s manual for the electronic device 10 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the electronic device comprises a personal digital assistant PDA 11 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the electronic device comprises a mobile telephone 12 The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the device comprises a device for storing personal data 13 A system for unlocking a locked electronic device comprising a printed text separate from the electro
9. nic device a master security code stored in the device a camera to capture an image of the printed text Apr 1 2010 an optical character recognition OCR module to extract the text from the captured image and a comparator module to compare the text to the master security code wherein the electronic device is unlocked if the text matches the master security code 14 The system as recited in claim 13 further comprising a touch type display screen for inputting data 15 The system as recited in claim 13 wherein the elec tronic device comprises a personal digital assistant PDA 16 The system as recited in claim 13 wherein the elec tronic device comprises a mobile telephone 17 The system as recited in claim 13 wherein the elec tronic device comprises a personal identification number PIN security feature that is overridden by the master secu rity code 18 The system as recited in claim 13 wherein the printed text comprises a paper having a copy of the master security code printed thereon 19 The system as recited in claim 18 wherein the paper comprises the user s manual for the electronic device x x k x x
10. sclosed While specific embodiments of and examples for the invention are described herein for illustra tive purposes various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize 0027 These modifications can be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description The terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the inven tion to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims Rather the scope of the invention is to be determined entirely by the following claims which are to be construed in accordance with established doctrines of claim interpretation What is claimed is 1 An electronic device comprising a master security code stored in the device a camera to capture an image of printed text an optical character recognition OCR module to extract the text from the captured image and a comparator module to compare the text to the master security code wherein the electronic device is unlocked if the text matches the master security code 2 The electronic device as recited in claim 1 further com prising a touch type display screen for inputting data 3 The electronic device as recited in claim 1 wherein the electronic device comprises a personal digital assistant PDA 4 The electronic device as recited in claim 1 wherein the electronic device comprises a mobile telephone 5 Th
11. ser will instead capture an image of the unlock piece of the master security code 110 paper using standard image capture capability with the cam era feature 108 The user may then select an unlock func Apr 1 2010 tion which may be a virtual button on the display screen 102 or pressing a selected button on the keypad 104 0024 When the unlock function is selected the device 100 will perform an optical character recognition OCR opera tion on the last picture taken It will then compare with the comparator module 200 the output of the OCR module 202 with a copy of the master security code 204 stored in the device 100 If the string compares then the system will treat this as the equivalent of the PIN and the device will unlock 0025 According to embodiments a backup PIN or master security code is stored as a text string that may be extracted using OCR operation Since many hand held devices already include cameras there may be no additional hardware cost to implement this type of security Plus should the PIN be unavailable there is no need for the user to remember any thing other than where they last placed the unlock paper which will likely be with the rest of the user documentation and user s manual for the device 0026 Theabove description of illustrated embodiments of the invention including what is described in the Abstract is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms di
12. y be specific that that particular device 100 and may be shipped with the device 100 as printed indicia and may be printed for example in the owner s manual 112 for the device 100 The manual 112 and thus the master code 110 along with it may be stored in a safe place apart from the device 100 0021 In operation should the PIN be unknown the user may retrieve the master code 112 from its secure location and use the camera 108 feature of the device to capture the image of the master code 110 Thereafter the device 100 may use optical character recognition OCR to convert the image into text and compare the converted text to the master code stored in the device If they match the device is unlocked and full operation is available to the user Note that even when the device is locked the camera feature remains available for the purpose of this operation 0022 Referring now to FIGS 1 and 2 there is shown a block diagram of the basic features of the device 100 At the time of shipment a unique unlock key or master security code 204 is programmed into the device 100 This key should be sufficiently long to make guessing unlikely For example this could be a 32 digit alpha numeric string This string may also be printed on a piece of paper that is shipped with the device 100 That piece of paper might be the last page of the user manual 0023 If the device 100 is locked via the PIN and the user doesn t know the pin the u
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