Correlation-Based Fingerprint Matching with Orientation Field Alignment

Correlation-based techniques are a promising approach to fingerprint matching for the new generation of high resolution and touchless fingerprint sensors, since they can match ridge shapes, breaks, etc. However, a major drawback of these techniques is the high computational effort required. In this paper a coarse alignment step is proposed which reduces the amount of correlations that should be performed. Contrarily to other alignment approaches based on minutiae or core location, the alignment is based on the orientation field estimations. Also the orientation coherence is used to identify the best areas for correlation. The accuracy of the approach is demonstrated by experimental results with an FVC2000 fingerprint database. The approach is also very well suited for hardware acceleration due to the regularity of the used operations.