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VeriFinger algorithm features and capabilities

Performance numbers are provided for a PC with Intel Core 2 Q9400 processor (2.67 GHz).

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In 1998 Neurotechnology developed VeriFinger, a fingerprint identification algorithm designed for biometric system integrators. Since that time, Neurotechnology has released more than 10 versions of the VeriFinger algorithm, providing the most powerful fingerprint recognition algorithms to date.

The latest VeriFinger 6.4 version is NIST MINEX compliant, as it is based on the MegaMatcher fingerprint identification engine that has been acknowledged by NIST as suitable for use in personal identity verification (PIV) program applications.

The VeriFinger algorithm follows the commonly accepted fingerprint identification scheme, which uses a set of specific fingerprint points (minutiae) along with a number of proprietary algorithmic solutions that enhance system performance and reliability. Some are listed below:

  • Rolled and flat fingerprints matching. The VeriFinger algorithm matches flat-rolled, flat-flat or rolled-rolled fingerprints with high reliability, as it is tolerant to fingerprint deformations. Rolled fingerprints have much bigger deformation due to the specific scanning technique (rolling from nail to nail) than those scanned using the "flat" technique. Conventional "flat" fingerprint identification algorithms usually perform matching between flat and rolled fingerprints less reliably due to the mentioned deformations of rolled fingerprints.
  • Tolerance to fingerprint translation, rotation and deformation. VeriFinger's proprietary fingerprint template matching algorithm is able to identify fingerprints even if they are rotated, translated, deformed and have only 5 - 7 similar minutiae (usually fingerprints of the same finger have 20 - 40 similar minutiae) and matches 3,000 - 56,000 flat fingerprints per second (see technical specifications for more details).
  • Faster matching using pre-sorted database entries. For some identification tasks VeriFinger's effective matching speed can be increased to 15,000 - 55,000 fingerprints per second (on one processor core) by pre-sorting database entries using certain global features. Fingerprint matching is performed first with the database entries having global features most similar to those of the test fingerprint. If matching within this group yields no positive result, then the next record with most similar global features is selected, and so on, until the matching is successful or the end of the database is reached. In most cases there is a fairly good chance that the correct match will be found at the beginning of the search. As a result, the number of comparisons required to achieve fingerprint identification decreases drastically, and correspondingly, the matching speed increases. See technical specifications for more details.
  • Identification capability. VeriFinger functions can be used in 1-to-1 matching (verification), as well as 1-to-many mode (identification).
  • Image quality determination. VeriFinger is able to ensure that only the best quality fingerprint template will be stored into database by using fingerprint image quality determination during enrollment.
  • Adaptive image filtration. This algorithm eliminates noises, ridge ruptures and stuck ridges for reliable minutiae extraction – even from poor quality fingerprints – with a processing time of 0.1 - 0.2 seconds. A screenshot of the VeriFinger demo application shows an initial flat fingerprint image (left window), and the same image after the noise filtering and processing by VeriFinger (right window), with minutiae positions and directions marked by red circles and lines.
  • Features generalization mode. This fingerprint enrollment mode generates the collection of generalized fingerprint features from a set of fingerprints of the same finger. Each fingerprint image is processed and features are extracted. Then the features collection set is analyzed and combined into a single generalized features collection, which is written to the database. This way, the enrolled features are more reliable and the fingerprint recognition quality considerably increases.
  • Scanner-specific algorithm optimizations. VeriFinger 6.4 includes algorithm modes that help to achieve better results for the supported fingerprint scanners.

Technical Specifications

500 dpi is the recommended fingerprint image resolution for VeriFinger. The minimal fingerprint image resolution is 250 dpi.

All fingerprint templates should be loaded into RAM before identification, thus the maximum fingerprint templates database size is limited by the amount of available RAM.

The table below shows the technical specifications of VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm. The algorithm's performance depends on fingerprint scanner that was used for collecting fingerprint images, thus the specifications are given for two groups of flat fingerprint scanners:

  • Biometric scanners in these specifications are scanners with fingerprint sensor's platen size smaller than 1" x 1". These scanners are usually compact and inexpensive. An example of biometric scanner is DigitalPersona U.are.U 4000.
  • AFIS-class scanners in these specifications are flat fingerprint scanners that have higher quality sensors with at least 1" x 1" platen and produce fingerprint images of at least 500 x 500 pixels or even larger images. These scanners are mostly intended for use in large-scale AFIS projects that need to collect high quality fingerprint images. An example of AFIS-class scanner is Cross Match Verifier 300

VeriFinger fingerprint template matching algorithm can use more than one processor core on multi-core processors. The specifications are provided for these processors:

  • Intel Core 2 Q9400 (4 cores), running at 2.67 GHz clock rate;
  • Intel Core i7-2600 (4 cores), running at 3.4 GHz clock rate.
VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm specifications for maximized matching accuracy scenario
  Biometric scanners AFIS scanners
Core 2 Q9400 Core i7-2600 Core 2 Q9400 Core i7-2600
Template extraction time
(seconds)
0.15 - 0.20 0.09 - 0.12 0.20 - 0.25 0.12 - 0.15
Matching speed using 1 core
(fingerprints per second)
4,000 - 8,000 6,000 - 12,000 3,000 - 3,500 5,000 - 5,500
Matching speed using 4 cores
(fingerprints per second)
16,000 - 32,000 24,000 - 48,000 12,000 - 14,000 20,000 - 22,000
Matching speed (1)
with database pre-sorting
using 1 core (fingerprints per second)
20,000 - 40,000 30,000 - 60,000 15,000 - 17,500 25,000 - 27,500
Template size
(bytes)
4,000 - 5,500 5,000 - 6,000

VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm specifications for maximized matching speed scenario
  Biometric scanners AFIS scanners
Core 2 Q9400 Core i7-2600 Core 2 Q9400 Core i7-2600
Template extraction time
(seconds)
0.15 - 0.20 0.09 - 0.12 0.20 - 0.25 0.12 - 0.15
Matching speed using 1 core
(fingerprints per second)
7,000 - 13,000 11,000 - 20,000 6,000 - 6,500 10,000 - 10,500
Matching speed using 4 cores
(fingerprints per second)
28,000 - 52,000 44,000 - 80,000 24,000 - 26,000 40,000 - 42,000
Matching speed (1)
with database pre-sorting
using 1 core (fingerprints per second)
35,000 - 60,000 55,000 - 100,000 30,000 - 32,500 50,000 - 52,500
Template size
(bytes)
700 - 900 800 - 1000

VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm specifications for minimized template size scenario
  Biometric scanners AFIS scanners
Core 2 Q9400 Core i7-2600 Core 2 Q9400 Core i7-2600
Template extraction time
(seconds)
0.15 - 0.20 0.09 - 0.12 0.20 - 0.25 0.12 - 0.15
Matching speed using 1 core
(fingerprints per second)
6,000 - 11,000 9,000 - 17,000 5,000 - 5,500 8,500 - 9,000
Matching speed using 4 cores
(fingerprints per second)
24,000 - 44,000 36,000 - 68,000 20,000 - 22,500 34,000 - 36,000
Matching speed (1)
with database pre-sorting
using 1 core (fingerprints per second)
30,000 - 55,000 45,000 - 85,000 25,000 - 27,500 42,500 - 45,000
Template size
(bytes)
200 - 380 250 - 450

(1) For databases with 500 or more fingerprints. Use with smaller sample fingerprint databases typically yields lower speed.

Reliability and Performance Test Results

We present the testing results to show how VeriFinger 6.4 technical specifications correspond the practical algorithm's performance and reliability evaluations.

Flat fingerprint image databases used for VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm testing
Experiment number and
database description
Fingerprint reader Images Unique fingers Image size (pixels)
1 Neurotechnology internal fingerprint database 1 DigitalPersona
U.are.U 4000
1,400 140 318 x 330
2 Neurotechnology internal fingerprint database 2 Futronic FS80 1,700 170 320 x 480
3 SONATEQ Fingerprint Database SQ FDB1-75TS1 subset – only left index fingerprint images used Cross Match
Verifier 300 LC
7,500 1,500 640 x 480

Three tests were performed during each experiment:

  • Test 1 maximized matching accuracy. VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm reliability in this test is shown as blue curves on the ROC charts.
  • Test 2 maximized matching speed. VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm reliability in this test is shown as green curves on the ROC charts.
  • Test 3 minimized template size. VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm reliability in this test is shown as red curves on the ROC charts.

Receiver operation characteristics (ROC) curves are usually used to demonstrate the recognition quality of an algorithm. ROC curves show the dependence of false rejection rate (FRR) on the false acceptance rate (FAR).

Experiment 1
(DigitalPersona U.are.U 4000)
VeriFinger 6.4 ROC chart calculated using Neurotechnology internal fingerprint DB collected with DigitalPersona U.are.U 4000 scanner
Click to zoom
Experiment 2
(Futronic FS80)
VeriFinger 6.4 ROC chart calculated using Neurotechnology internal fingerprint DB collected with Futronic FS80 scanner
Click to zoom
Experiment 3
(SONATEQ FDB1-75TS1)
VeriFinger 6.4 ROC chart calculated using SONATEQ Fingerprint Database SQ FDB1-75TS1 subset
Click to zoom

Template matching was performed using all 4 cores of the specified processors. The performance tests were performed on PCs with these processors:

  • Intel Core 2 Q9400, running at 2.67 GHz clock rate;
  • Intel Core i7-2600, running at 3.4 GHz clock rate.
VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm tests, Experiment 1 (DigitalPersona U.are.U 4000)
  Test 1 Test 2 Test 3
Average fingerprint template size (bytes) 4204 696 284
Average template extraction speed
(seconds)
Core 2 Q9400 0.146
Core i7-2600 0.086
Template matching speed
(fingerprints per second)
Core 2 Q9400 30236 50876 43052
Core i7-2600 45396 77216 66508
FRR at 0.001 % FAR 0.3651 % 0.9206 % 1.3020 %

VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm tests, Experiment 2 (Futronic FS80)
  Test 1 Test 2 Test 3
Average fingerprint template size (bytes) 5555 905 362
Average template extraction speed
(seconds)
Core 2 Q9400 0.199
Core i7-2600 0.118
Template matching speed
(fingerprints per second)
Core 2 Q9400 17332 29728 25448
Core i7-2600 26292 46156 39560
FRR at 0.001 % FAR 0.4444 % 0.7582 % 1.1370 %

VeriFinger 6.4 algorithm tests, Experiment 3 (SONATEQ FDB1-75TS1 subset)
  Test 1 Test 2 Test 3
Average fingerprint template size (bytes) 5500 911 365
Average template extraction speed
(seconds)
Core 2 Q9400 0.206
Core i7-2600 0.119
Template matching speed
(fingerprints per second)
Core 2 Q9400 15484 27680 23872
Core i7-2600 22904 42620 36932
FRR at 0.001 % FAR 0.2800 % 0.2800 % 0.3467 %

VeriFinger fingerprint identification algorithm versions consistently have shown some of the best results for reliability in several biometric competitions, including the International Fingerprint Verification Competition (FVC2006, FVC2004, FVC2002 and FVC2000) and the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) Fingerprint Vendor Technology Evaluation (FpVTE 2003), where Neurotechnology ranked among the top five companies for accuracy in single-finger tests.

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