Touch-fingerprint display for supporting identity sensing

Due to the surge in the number of touch based smart devices, there is a growing need for touch based authentication. Historically, fingerprint has been one of the most effective ways for establishing the uniqueness of an individual's identity. Motivated by the fact that both touch sensing and fingerprint scan can be based on the same capacitive sensing principle, one can design a single unified sensing device that can support both multi-touch interactions and identity sensing based on fingerprint biometrics. Such design will not only enable user friendly mobile identity solutions, but also support more elegant and compact physical design of future smart mobile devices. In this paper, we present and explore three approaches for creating such a device. They are, transparent fingerprint readers on-top of a touch panel - fingerprint reader on-panel, unified touch-fingerprint panel, and touch-fingerprint in-cell TFT-LCD. Further, we discuss the challenges faced by each approach, compare the pros and cons of each approach, and propose solutions accordingly. Finally, we conduct evaluations using state-of-the-art modeling tools and perform quantitative studies.