RFID and Fingerprint Scanner Team Up for Olympic Security

To enter the German House, the cardholder has to place the card on the gate's RFID interrogator and the appropriate finger into the gate's fingerprint scanner. The interrogator reads the card's UID, and the data record (including the stored fingerprint) associated with that number is retrieved from the database. If all the data matches, a green indicator lamp lights up, the turnstile is automatically unlocked, and the cardholder can enter the German House.

The fixed readers are linked to the back-end database via a local area network, and the mobile readers are connected via a wireless network. The system employs encryption to protect the data as it traverses the network, Köpke says.

To enter the German House, visitors must place their ID card on the gate's RFID interrogator and their appropriate finger into the gate's fingerprint scanner.

In late 2007, after Deutsche Sport-Marketing had defined its specifications for the system, BDR began designing the access system used for this summer's Games. BDR then carried out site inspections in Beijing and decided on the exact locations for the security system. "At the beginning of this year, we started the specific programming work. We used state-of-the-art processes and algorithms for fingerprint acquisition and verification when designing and implementing the access-control system," says Köpke.

Although it is possible for someone to create a counterfeit access card identical to the ones issued by Deutsche Sport-Marketing in Beijing, Köpke says it is "impossible to manipulate Bundesdruckerei's system." That's because, even though the readers might scan a bogus card and the person's fingerprint, "the doors will not open because the person's data record is stored in the database and so cannot be used for the live comparison. For the same reason, the gate will not open if an unauthorized person tries to use a card that has been lost. In this case, too, the data record in the database would not match the live fingerprint."

BDR had previously designed access systems for Germany, at both the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens and the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. Each time, the company introduced new features. In Turin, for example, BDR added a feature whereby visitors also had their cards read on leaving the building. "This made it possible to know how many people were actually in the German House at any time. This information would be important, for example, if the House had to be evacuated in the event of a fire," Köpke says. The bistable display being used this summer in Beijing is a new addition to the system.