Method, apparatus and system for fingerprint identification

A fingerprint identification apparatus, comprising:

• a force sensor, configured to detect a force touch applied to the force sensor;
• a fingerprint sensor, configured to detect a finger touch and a fingerprint;
• and
• a switching circuit, coupled between the force sensor and the fingerprint sensor, configured to alternately activate a low power force detection mode to detect the force touch using the force sensor and a low power fingerprint detection mode to detect the finger touch using the fingerprint sensor after a switching period,
• in response to determining that either the force touch or the finger touch is detected, the fingerprint identification apparatus detects the fingerprint using the fingerprint sensor in a normal fingerprint detection mode, determines whether the detected fingerprint matches one of reference fingerprints, and outputs an interrupt signal indicating whether the detected fingerprint matches one of the reference fingerprints.

A system for fingerprint identification, comprising:

• a memory, storing program instructions corresponding to a first set of actions and a second set of actions;
• a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to execute the program instructions corresponding to a first set of actions and a second set of actions;
• and
• an integrated fingerprint identification circuit, comprising:
• a force sensor, configured to detect a force touch applied to the force sensor;
• a fingerprint sensor, configured to detect a finger touch and a fingerprint;
• and
• a switching circuit, coupled between the force sensor and the fingerprint sensor, configured to alternately activate a low power force detection mode to detect the force touch using the force sensor and a low power fingerprint detection mode to detect the finger touch using the fingerprint sensor after a switching period,
• in response to determining that either the force touch or the finger touch is detected, the integrated fingerprint identification circuit detects the fingerprint using the fingerprint sensor in a normal fingerprint detection mode, determines whether the detected fingerprint matches one of reference fingerprints, and outputs an interrupt signal to wake up the processor, and the processor executes the first set of actions un an unlocked state or the second set of actions in a locked state according to the interrupt signal.