1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:
receiving beamforming capability information from a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
receiving training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks;
employing a second subset of the first set of codebooks to acquire channel state information (CSI), wherein the second subset is same or different than the first subset;
estimating a first preferred vector of weights from the first subset and a second preferred vector of weights from the second subset;
providing, as a feedback to the device, the first preferred vector of weights; and
using the second preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a receive direction from a set of receive directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from a first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for the total of N transmit antennas and the total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
)
(
M
4
)
\u2062
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first preferred vector of weights from the first subset of the first set of codebooks and the second preferred vector of weights from the second subset of the first set of codebooks are determined based on a signal-quality metric.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal-quality metric comprises an effective signal-to-noise ratio (ESNR) at the device.
4. A method for wireless communications, comprising:
receiving beamforming capability information from a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC), wherein the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from a first set of transmit directions
receiving training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks;
employing a second subset of the first set of codebooks to acquire channel state information (CSI), wherein the second subset is same or different than the first subset;
estimating a first preferred vector of weights from the first subset and a second preferred vector of weights from the second subset;
providing, as a feedback to the device, the first preferred vector of weights; and
using the second preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a receive direction from a set of receive directions,
wherein a second set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from a second set of transmit directions, wherein transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions have higher resolution than transmit directions from the second set of transmit directions, and
wherein the second set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for the total number of N transmit antennas, N is an even number and P=N2 transmit directions from the second set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
{
\u2062
(
–
j
)
mod
\u2061
(
n
,
2
)
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
(
–
1
)
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
P
2
)
,
P
)
(
P
2
)
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
1
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
P
–
1
wherein each transmit direction from the second set of transmit directions comprises two transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions of a codebook from a first set of codebooks having N transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a part of each training signal is based on Golay sequences.
6. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
a receiver for receiving training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks and receiving beamforming capability information from a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
a circuit for employing a second subset of the first set of codebooks to acquire channel state information (CSI), wherein the second subset is same or different than the first subset;
an estimator for estimating a first preferred vector of weights from the first subset and a second preferred vector of weights from the second subset;
a circuit for providing, as a feedback to the device, the first preferred vector of weights; and
a circuit for using the second preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a receive direction from a set of receive directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from a first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for the total of N transmit antennas and the total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
)
(
M
4
)
\u2062
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first preferred vector of weights from the first subset of the first set of codebooks and the second preferred vector of weights from the second subset of the first set of codebooks are determined based on a signal-quality metric.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the signal-quality metric comprises an effective signal-to-noise ratio (ESNR) at the device.
9. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
a receiver for receiving training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks and receiving beamforming capability information from a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC), wherein the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from a first set of transmit directions;
a circuit for employing a second subset of the first set of codebooks to acquire channel state information (CSI), wherein the second subset is same or different than the first subset;
an estimator for estimating a first preferred vector of weights from the first subset and a second preferred vector of weights from the second subset;
a circuit for providing, as a feedback to the device, the first preferred vector of weights; and
a circuit for using the second preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a receive direction from a set of receive directions,
wherein a second set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from a second set of transmit directions, wherein transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions have higher resolution than transmit directions from the second set of transmit directions, and
wherein the second set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for the total number of N transmit antennas, N is an even number and P=N2 transmit directions from the second set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
{
\u2062
(
–
j
)
mod
\u2061
(
n
,
2
)
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
(
–
1
)
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
P
2
)
,
P
)
(
P
2
)
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
1
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
P
–
1
wherein each transmit direction from the second set of transmit directions comprises two transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions of a codebook from a first set of codebooks having N transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least a part of each training signal is based on Golay sequences.
11. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
means for receiving training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks and receiving beamforming capability information from a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
means for employing a second subset of the first set of codebooks to acquire channel state information (CSI), wherein the second subset is same or different than the first subset;
means for estimating a first preferred vector of weights from the first subset and a second preferred vector of weights from the second subset;
means for providing, as a feedback to the device, the first preferred vector of weights; and
means for using the second preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a receive direction from a set of receive directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from a first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for the total of N transmit antennas and the total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
)
(
M
4
)
\u2062
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first preferred vector of weights from the first subset of the first set of codebooks and the second preferred vector of weights from the second subset of the first set of codebooks are determined based on a signal-quality metric.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the signal-quality metric comprises an effective signal-to-noise ratio (ESNR) at the device.
14. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
means for receiving training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks and receiving beamforming capability information from a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC), wherein the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from a first set of transmit directions;
means for employing a second subset of the first set of codebooks to acquire channel state information (CSI), wherein the second subset is same or different than the first subset;
means for estimating a first preferred vector of weights from the first subset and a second preferred vector of weights from the second subset;
means for providing, as a feedback to a device, the first preferred vector of weights; and
means for using the second preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a receive direction from a set of receive directions,
wherein a second set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from a second set of transmit directions, wherein transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions have higher resolution than transmit directions from the second set of transmit directions, and
wherein the second set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for the total number of N transmit antennas, N is an even number and P=N2 transmit directions from the second set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
{
\u2062
(
–
j
)
mod
\u2061
(
n
,
2
)
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
(
–
1
)
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
P
2
)
,
P
)
(
P
2
)
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
1
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
P
–
1
wherein each transmit direction from the second set of transmit directions comprises two transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions of a codebook from a first set of codebooks having N transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein at least a part of each training signal is based on Golay sequences.
16. A computer-program product for wireless communications, comprising a computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable to:
receive training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks;
receive beamforming capability information from a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
employ a second subset of the first set of codebooks to acquire channel state information (CSI), wherein the second subset is same or different than the first subset;
estimate a first preferred vector of weights from the first subset and a second preferred vector of weights from the second subset;
provide, as a feedback to the device, the first preferred vector of weights; and
use the second preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a receive direction from a set of receive directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from a first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for the total of N transmit antennas and the total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
)
(
M
4
)
\u2062
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
17. An access point, comprising:
at least one antenna;
a receiver for receiving via the at least one antenna training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks and receiving beamforming capability information from a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
a circuit for employing a second subset of the first set of codebooks to acquire channel state information (CSI), wherein the second subset is same or different than the first subset;
an estimator for estimating a first preferred vector of weights from the first subset and a second preferred vector of weights from the second subset;
a circuit for providing, as a feedback to the device, the first preferred vector of weights; and
a circuit for using the second preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a receive direction from a set of receive directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from a first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for the total of N transmit antennas and the total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
)
(
M
4
)
\u2062
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
18. A method for wireless communications, comprising:
transmitting beamforming capability information to a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
transmitting training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks;
receiving, as a feedback from the device, a first preferred vector of weights; and
using the first preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a transmit direction from a first set of transmit directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for a total of N transmit antennas and a total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
\u2061
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
)
(
M
4
)
\u2062
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
19. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
a transmitter for transmitting training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks and transmitting beamforming capability information to a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
a receiver for receiving, as a feedback from the device, a first preferred vector of weights; and
a circuit for using the first preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a transmit direction from a first set of transmit directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for a total of N transmit antennas and a total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
(
M
4
)
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
20. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
means for transmitting training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks and transmitting beamforming capability information to a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
means for receiving, as a feedback from the device, a first preferred vector of weights; and
means for using the first preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a transmit direction from a first set of transmit directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for a total of N transmit antennas and a total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
(
M
4
)
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
21. A computer-program product for wireless communications, comprising a computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable to:
transmit beamforming capability information to a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
transmit training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks;
receive, as a feedback from the device, a first preferred vector of weights; and
use the first preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a transmit direction from a first set of transmit directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for a total of N transmit antennas and a total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
(
M
4
)
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
22. An access point, comprising:
at least one antenna;
a transmitter for transmitting via the at least one antenna training signals using a first subset of a first set of codebooks and transmitting beamforming capability information to a device either directly or via a piconet controller (PNC);
a receiver for receiving via the at least one antenna, as a feedback from the device, a first preferred vector of weights; and
a circuit for using the first preferred vector of weights to communicate with the device on a transmit direction from a first set of transmit directions, wherein
the beamforming capability information comprises an indication if codebooks are used for beamforming, a total number of N transmit antennas, and a total number of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions,
the first set of codebooks is employed for transmitting the training signals using transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions, and
the first set of codebooks is represented in a matrix form for a total of N transmit antennas and a total of M transmit directions from the first set of transmit directions as:
W
\u2061
(
n
,
m
)
=
j
fix
\u2061
n
\xd7
mod
(
m
+
(
M
2
)
,
M
(
M
4
)
\u2062
for
\u2062
\u2062
n
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
N
–
1
\u2062
\u2062
and
\u2062
\u2062
m
=
0
\u2062
:
\u2062
M
–
1
wherein fix(\u2022) is a function that returns the integer part of its argument.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a centralized computer, personal information for a first person from a plurality of independent sources, wherein the personal information for the first person includes first historical biometric information from a first one of the plurality of independent sources and second historical biometric information from a second one of the plurality of independent sources;
comparing, by the centralized computer, the first and second historical biometric information;
determining, by the centralized computer, a first similarity measure based on the comparison of the first and second historical biometric information;
identifying, by the centralized computer, the first and second historical biometric information as trusted first and second biometric information when the first similarity measure is greater than or equal to a first similarity measure threshold;
receiving, by the centralized computer, a request to authenticate a person, wherein the request to authenticate includes third biometric information;
comparing, by the centralized computer, the third biometric information with the first trusted biometric information, the trusted second biometric information, or a composite of at least the first and second trusted biometric information;
determining, by the centralized computer, a second similarity measure based on the comparison of the third biometric information with the first trusted biometric information, the second trusted biometric information, or the composite of at least the first and second trusted biometric information; and
authenticating, by the centralized computer, the person as the first person when the second similarity measure is greater than or equal to a second similarity measure threshold.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first, second, and third biometric information is voice biometric information.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the centralized computer, additional, non-biometric personal information for the first person from one of the plurality of independent sources; and
comparing, by the centralized computer, the additional, non-biometric personal information for the first person with other non-biometric personal information for the first person, wherein the other non-biometric personal information is obtained from a source other than the plurality of independent sources,
wherein the first person is identified as trusted when
the first similarity measure is greater than or equal to the first similarity measure threshold; and
the additional, non-biometric personal information matches the other non-biometric personal information.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein when the additional, non-biometric personal information does not match the other non-biometric personal information, the method further comprises:
informing an information source that provided the third biometric information or an information user that the third biometric information is not associated with the first person.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the centralized computer, an indication whether the first person is in good standing with at least one of the plurality of independent sources for a predetermined period of time,
wherein the first and second biometric information is identified as trusted first and second biometric information when
the first similarity measure is greater than or equal to the first similarity measure threshold; and
the first person is in good standing with at least one of the first or second one of the plurality of independent sources for the predetermined period of time.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal information for the first person is received from the first one and second one of the plurality of independent sources in bulk with personal information for a plurality of other persons.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the personal information for the first person and the plurality of other persons includes historical voice biometric information obtained independent of a process of identifying the person and the plurality of other persons as trusted.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second similarity measure thresholds are the same.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the third biometric information is near-real-time biometric information.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the person is authenticated as the first person based exclusively on whether the second similarity measure is greater than or equal to the second similarity measure threshold.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication of the first person further comprises:
comparing, by the centralized computer, the third biometric information with biometric information in a blacklist of known fraudsters.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein when the second similarity measure is less than the second similarity measure threshold, the method further comprises:
selecting, by the centralized computer, a dynamic search group of individuals that may have unauthorized access to personal information of the first person;
comparing, by the centralized computer, available biometric information for each of the individuals in the dynamic search group with the third biometric information;
determining, by the centralized computer, a third similarity measure based on the comparison of the available biometric information for each of the individuals in the dynamic search group with the third biometric information; and
adding any of the individuals to a blacklist when the third similarity measure for a particular one of the individuals is greater than or equal to a predetermined third similarity measure.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first person has a device executing an application, and after authenticating the person as the first person the method further comprises:
receiving, by the application from the centralized computer, a single-use password; and
providing, by the application, the single-use password to the person,
providing, by the person to a third party, a user name and the single-use password;
transmitting, by the third party, the user name and a password to the centralized computer; and
receiving, by the third party, an authorization of the person when the password transmitted to the centralized computer matches the single-use password.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein when the second similarity measure is less than the second similarity measure threshold, the method comprises:
comparing, by the centralized computer, the second similarity measure to a third similarity measure threshold, wherein the third similarity measure threshold is lower than the second similarity measure threshold; and
adding the third biometric information to a blacklist when the second similarity measure is less than the third similarity measure threshold.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein when the second similarity measure is less than the second similarity measure threshold and the person to be authenticated as the first person provides an information user with the third biometric via an inbound call to the information user, the method comprises:
initiating, by the centralized computer, a contact using contact information associated with the first person;
capturing, by the centralized computer, a fourth biometric information from a person answering the contact;
comparing, by the centralized computer, the third biometric information with a fourth biometric information that is received during the solicitation of answers to questions;
determining, by the centralized computer, a third similarity measure based on the comparison of the third biometric information with the fourth biometric information;
authenticating, by the centralized computer, the person answering the contact as the first person when the third similarity measure is greater than or equal to a third similarity measure threshold;
querying, by the centralized computer, the person answering the contact as to whether they initiated the call to the information user; and
allowing an interaction between the person authenticated as the first person and the information user when the person answering the contact indicates that they initiated the call to the information user.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the querying further comprises soliciting answers to questions that are generated using the personal information and the interaction is allowed between the person authenticated as the first person and the information user when the person answering the contact indicates that they initiated a call to the information user and all of the questions are answered correctly.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein when the third biometric information is added to a blacklist when the person authenticated as the first person indicates that they did not initiate the call to the information user or the fourth biometric information is added to the blacklist when the person answering the contact does not answer all of the questions correctly.
18. The method of claim 15, wherein
the third biometric information is added to a blacklist when the person authenticated as the first person indicates that they did not initiate the call to the information user; or
the fourth biometric information is added to the blacklist when the third similarity measure is less than the third similarity measure threshold.
19. The method of claim 15, wherein when the person answering the contact indicates that they initiated the call to the information user the method further comprises:
comparing, by the centralized computer, the third biometric information and the fourth biometric information; and
adding the third biometric information to a blacklist when the third biometric information does not match the fourth biometric information.
20. The method of claim 1, wherein the first person has a device executing an application, the method further comprising:
transmitting, by the centralized computer to the application, a voting ballot;
receiving, by the centralized computer from the application, a completed voting ballot and fourth biometric information;
determining, by the centralized computer, a third similarity measure based on the comparison of the third biometric information with the fourth biometric information;
authenticating, by the centralized computer, the completed voting ballot as being received from the first person when the third similarity measure is greater than or equal to a third similarity measure threshold; and
submitting, by the centralized computer, the completed voting ballot as a final ballot for the first person when the completed ballot is authenticated.
21. The method of claim 1, wherein when the second similarity measure is less than the second similarity measure threshold, the method further comprises:
informing an information source that provided the third biometric information or an information user that the third biometric information is not associated with the first person.
22. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a centralized computer, personal information for a first person from a plurality of independent sources, wherein the personal information for the first person includes first historical biometric information from a first one of the plurality of independent sources;
receiving, by the centralized computer, a request to authenticate a person, wherein the request to authenticate includes second biometric information;
comparing, by the centralized computer, the second biometric information with the first historical biometric information;
determining, by the centralized computer, a similarity measure based on the comparison of the second biometric information with the first historical biometric information;
authenticating, by the centralized computer, the person as the first person when the similarity measure is greater than or equal to a similarity measure threshold; and
identifying, by the centralized computer, the first historical biometric information and the second biometric information as first and second trusted biometric information when the similarity measure is greater than or equal to the similarity measure threshold.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:
receiving, by the centralized computer, additional, non-biometric personal information for the first person from one of the plurality of independent sources; and
comparing, by the centralized computer, the additional, non-biometric personal information for the first person with other non-biometric personal information for the first person,
wherein the first person is authenticated when
the similarity measure is greater than or equal to a similarity measure threshold; and
the additional, non-biometric personal information matches the other non-biometric personal information.
24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:
receiving, by the centralized computer, an indication whether the first person is in good standing with at least one of the plurality of independent sources for a predetermined period of time,
wherein the first person is authenticated when
the similarity measure is greater than or equal to the similarity measure threshold; and
the first person is in good standing with at least one of the plurality of independent sources for the predetermined period of time.
25. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a centralized computer, personal information for a first person from a plurality of independent sources, wherein the personal information for the first person includes first historical biometric information from a first one of the plurality of independent sources and second historical biometric information from a second one of the plurality of independent sources;
comparing, by the centralized computer, the first and second historical biometric information;
determining, by the centralized computer, a first similarity measure based on the comparison of the first and second historical biometric information;
identifying, by the centralized computer, the first and second historical biometric information as first and second trusted biometric information when the first similarity measure is greater than or equal to a first similarity measure threshold;
identifying, by the centralized computer, a high-risk transaction;
initiating, by the centralized computer, a contact using contact information associated with the first person;
capturing, by the centralized computer, a third biometric information from a person answering the contact;
comparing, by the centralized computer, the third biometric information with the first trusted biometric information, the second trusted biometric information, or a composite of at least the first and second trusted biometric information;
determining, by the centralized computer, a third similarity measure based on the comparison of the third biometric information with the first trusted biometric information, the second trusted biometric information, or the composite of at least the first and second trusted biometric information;
allowing the high-risk transaction to proceed between the person answer the contact and an information user and authenticating the person answering the contact as the first person when the third similarity measure is greater than or equal to a third similarity measure threshold.
26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:
querying, by the centralized computer of the person answering the contact, whether they initiated the high-risk transaction, wherein the high-risk transaction is allowed between the person authenticated as the first person and the information user when the person answering the contact indicates that they initiated the high-risk transaction.
27. The method of claim 25, further comprising:
querying, by the centralized computer of the person answering the contact, whether they initiated the high-risk transaction;
querying, by the centralized computer of the person answering the contact, answers to questions that are generated using the personal information,
wherein the high-risk transaction is allowed between the person authenticated as the first person and the information user when the person authenticated as the first person indicates that they initiated the high-risk transaction and all of the questions are answered correctly.
28. The method of claim 27, wherein the third biometric information is added to a blacklist when the first or second biometric information is not available and not all of the questions are answered correctly.
29. The method of claim 25, wherein the third biometric information is added to a blacklist when the person is not authenticated as the first person.
30. The method of claim 25, wherein the centralized computer identifies the high-risk transaction by being informed of the high-risk transaction by a request from the information user that received the high-risk transaction from the first person.