CLIAMS:I claim:
1. A system for enabling faster access to information, the system comprising a plurality of digital information systems, wherein at least one of the plurality of digital information systems is configured to:
store at least a portion of information corresponding to a plurality of users in one or more digital storage units provided within the digital information system, wherein the users are likely to use the digital information system;
receive request from a user to log into the digital information system; and
authenticate the user by accessing the information stored in the one or more digital storage units, if information required for authentication is present in the one or more digital storage units provided within the digital information system.
2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system is configured to distribute information corresponding to the user to a plurality of digital information systems that are within a geographical unit.
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the digital information system is configured to communicate with at least another digital information system within its geographical proximity to authenticate the user, if information required for authentication is absent in the one or more digital storage units provided within the digital information system.
4. The system according to claim 3, wherein the digital information system is configured to communicate with one or more second digital storage units to authenticate the user, if information required for authentication is absent in the another digital information system, wherein the one or more second digital storage units are remote servers.
5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the digital storage unit is configured to store at least a portion of the information present in the second digital storage unit.
6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the information comprises authentication information corresponding to the plurality of users.
7. The system according to claim 1, wherein authentication information is biometric information.
8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the digital information system comprises at least one biometric sensor.
9. The system according to claim 1, the digital information system is configured to receive updated information corresponding to the user whose information it is supposed to store even before the user accesses the digital information system subsequent to updation of information corresponding to the user.
10. A method for enabling faster access to information, the method comprising:
storing at least a portion of information corresponding to a plurality of users in a digital information system;
receiving a request from a user to log into the digital information system;
authenticating the user by accessing the information stored in the digital information system, if information required for authentication is present in the digital information system; and
communicating with at least another digital information system within its geographical proximity to authenticate the user, if information required for authentication is absent in the digital information system. ,TagSPECI:Complete specification:
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
 
BACKGROUND
Field
[0001] The disclosed subject matter in general relates to authentication systems, and more particularly, but not exclusively, the subject matter relates to self service terminals enabling faster retrieval of information for user authentication.
Discussion of related field
[0002] Self service terminals, such as kiosks, are often used by entities to provide information to users. Entities such as banks may use a kiosk to provide financial information to registered users. A registered user may have to authenticate himself at the kiosk before accessing information through the kiosk.
[0003] Conventional kiosks are generally configured to communicate authentication information of a user to a central database of a corresponding entity. The central database may enable authentication, and upon successful authentication communicate the information sought by the authenticated user. The central database of an organization may be configured to hold information corresponding to millions of users which may be of thousands of gigabytes in size. Retrieving information corresponding to one user among millions of users from the central database may require considerable amount of time and processing capability. In certain conventional authentication techniques, entities may require additional uniquely indentifying information such as biometric information to authenticate a user. With biometric data, the size of the central database may further increase thereby making the authentication process slower.
[0004] In light of the foregoing discussion, there is a need for a system that may enable faster retrieval of information at a kiosk, which may require communicating with a larger database only optionally.

SUMMARY
[0005] An embodiment provides a system and method for enabling faster access to information. The system may include a plurality of digital information systems. The digital information system may be configured to store at least a portion of information corresponding to a plurality of users. The information, corresponding to a plurality of users who are likely to use the digital information system, may be stored in one or more digital storage units, provided within the digital information system. The digital information system may be configured to receive a request from a user to log into the digital information system. The digital information system may be further configured to authenticate the user by accessing the information stored in the one or more digital storage units, if information required for authentication is present in the one or more digital storage units.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0006] Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the Figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary digital information system 102 for enabling faster authentication and/or access to information, in accordance with an embodiment;
[0008] FIG. 2 is an illustration of exemplary kiosks 102 distributed across a specific geographical unit, communicating with one another, in accordance with an embodiment;
[0009] FIG.3 is a block diagram illustrating three kiosks 102a-102c with one digital storage unit 104 each communicating with a second digital storage unit 202 (central server), in accordance with an embodiment; and
[0010] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating how information is being fetched from the digital storage units 104 and 202 for authentication of users, in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

OVERVIEW

[0011] An embodiment provides a system for enabling faster access to information. The system may include one or more digital information systems, such as, self service kiosks. Kiosks within specific geographical units may be configured to share and exchange information among themselves, optionally. Each kiosk may be configured to store at least a portion of some information corresponding to a plurality of users in at least one digital storage unit provided within the kiosk. A user may try to log into a kiosk by submitting his authentication information at the kiosk. The authentication information may include one or more of unique identification code, biometric information and profile information, among others. The kiosk may be configured to determine whether the user requesting access is an authenticated user. The kiosk may be configured to authenticate the user based on the presence of the user’s authentication information in the digital storage unit(s) provided within the kiosk. If authentication cannot be completed by accessing digital storage unit(s) provided within the kiosk, then the kiosk may communicate with one or more kiosks within a specific geographical unit for authentication. If authentication cannot be completed by accessing digital storage units provided within at least one kiosk in the specific geographical unit, then the kiosk may communicate with one or more remote server for enabling authentication. Upon successful authentication, the kiosk may be configured to fetch information requested by the user from one or more remote servers.
[0012] The following detailed description includes references to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the detailed description. The drawings show illustrations in accordance with example embodiments. These example embodiments are described in enough detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present subject matter. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments. The embodiments can be combined, other embodiments can be utilized or structural, logical, and electrical changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken as a limiting sense.
[0013] In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive “or,” such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated.

EXEMPLARY SYSTEM

[0014] An embodiment discloses a system for enabling faster authentication and/or access to information. The system may include one or more digital information systems 102 (figures may include reference numerals with alphabets; however in the description the alphabets in the reference numeral may not be included). The digital information system 102 may include a digital storage unit 104, a processor 106, a user interface unit 108 and a sensor 110. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the exemplary digital information system 102 for enabling faster authentication and/or access to information, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0015] In an embodiment, the digital information system 102 may be a self service terminal. The digital information system 102 may be a self service kiosk or an electronic kiosk 102. The kiosk 102 may be configured to communicate with one or more kiosks 102 spread across a specific geographical unit. The kiosks 102 that communicate with one another may be within close or predefined or configurable geographical proximity from each other. One or more kiosks 102 may be configured to exchange information with the other kiosks 102. FIG. 2 is an illustration of the exemplary kiosks 102 distributed across a specific geographical unit, communicating with one another, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0016] In an embodiment, parameters that may define a geographical unit may include, for example, the geographical co-ordinates of a particular locality and IP subnet addresses, among others. Kiosks that may have one or more of proximal geographical co ordinates and similar IP subnet addresses may be within a particular geographical unit. Further, kiosks that may be covered within a particular radius from a central point may fall within a particular geographical unit. Kiosks within close geographical proximity may be covered under a particular geographical unit.
[0017] In an embodiment, each kiosk 102 may have a geographical unit associated with it. For example, kiosks that are within a particular radius of the kiosk 102 may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102.
[0018] In an embodiment, the digital storage unit 104 may be a permanent storage unit within the kiosk 102. The digital storage unit 104 may be configured to store information corresponding to a plurality of users. Information corresponding to users may include, for example, at least one of profile information, unique identification number and biometric information, among others. Each kiosk 102 may be configured to have at least one digital storage unit 104. The digital storage unit 104 may be compared to a primary level cache.
[0019] In an embodiment, the digital storage unit 104 may be configured to communicate and retrieve information from one or more second digital storage units 202 based on requirement. The digital storage unit 104 may be configured to communicate with the second digital storage unit 202 for retrieval of information and authentication. The second digital storage unit 202 may be compared to a secondary level cache. The second digital storage unit 202 may be a central server which may be governed by entities, such as banks. One or more remote servers may be the second digital storage units 202. FIG.3 is a block diagram illustrating three kiosks 102a-102c with one digital storage unit 104 each communicating with a second digital storage unit 202 (central server), in accordance with an embodiment.
[0020] The digital storage unit 104 may be configured to store a subset of the information that may be present in the second digital storage unit 202. The kiosk 102 may retrieve authentication information, optionally, from the one or more second digital storage units 202 if the kiosk 102 fails to authenticate a user by accessing the digital storage unit 104.
[0021] The digital storage unit 104 may be configured to store identification/authentication information corresponding to users who may be frequent visitors of that specific geographical unit that may have the kiosks. For example, identification/authentication information corresponding to a user may be stored on the digital storage unit 104 associated with a geographical unit based on the frequency of usage or number of times the user has used kiosks 102 associated with the local database 104.
[0022] In an embodiment, each kiosk 102 may include at least one processor 106. The processor 106 may be configured to have additional digital storage units. The processor 106 may be configured to fetch information from the digital storage units 104 and carry out operations on the information fetched for authentication purposes. The processor 106 may be configured to provide instructions to the digital storage units 104 to exchange information among each other optionally. The processor 106 may be configured to provide instructions to communicate with one or more second digital storage units 202, based on requirement.
[0023] In an embodiment, the processor 106 may be configured to store at least an instance of the information retrieved from the second digital storage unit 202 in the digital storage units 104. Processor 106 may attempt to authenticate a user by accessing information stored in the digital storage unit 104. The processor 106 may access information from the second digital storage unit 202 if authentication cannot be carried by just accessing information stored in the digital storage unit 104.
[0024] In an embodiment, a kiosk 102 may be configured to store an instance of authentication information in the digital storage unit 104, which may have been retrieved from a remote server (second digital storage unit), corresponding to a user who may have used the kiosk 102.
[0025] In an embodiment, the kiosk 102 may be made to store authentication information corresponding to a user in the digital storage unit 104, if the user has used the kiosk 102 within a predefined or configurable duration in the past.
[0026] In an embodiment, the kiosk 102 may be made to store authentication information corresponding to a user in the digital storage unit 104, if the user has been using the kiosk 102 as per a predefined or configurable frequency range.
[0027] In an embodiment, the kiosk 102 may be made to store authentication information corresponding to a user in the digital storage unit 104, if the user has been using one or more kiosks that are within the geographical unit of the kiosk 102, as per a predefined or configurable frequency range or within a predefined or configurable duration in the past.
[0028] In an embodiment, the kiosk 102 may be configured to populate its digital storage unit 104 with information retrieved from the one or more second digital storage unit 202. A new user’s information may initially not be stored in the digital storage unit 104 of the kiosk 102. If the new user uses kiosk 102, the kiosk 102 may communicate with the one or more second digital storage units 202 to retrieve authentication information corresponding to the new user. The kiosk 102 may populate its digital storage unit 104 with the information corresponding to the new user, retrieved from the one or more second digital storage units 202.
[0029] Alternatively, the kiosk 102 may communicate with the one or more kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102 to retrieve information corresponding to the new user. If the authentication information is present in the digital storage unit 104 of one or more kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102, the information is communicated to the kiosk 102. Accordingly, kiosk 102 may populate its digital storage unit 104 with the authentication information corresponding to the new user, retrieved from the one or more kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102.
[0030] In an embodiment, the kiosks 102 may be configured to receive updated authentication information of users whose information they are supposed to store. A user may edit or change at least a portion of his authentication information at a kiosk 102. The kiosk 102 may communicate the change or updated information to the one or more second digital storage unit 202. The one or more second digital storage unit 202 may broadcast the updated information to all other kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102 to populate their digital storage units 104 with the updated information.
[0031] Alternatively, the kiosk 102 receiving the change in information from a user may broadcast the updated information to all other kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102. Accordingly, the digital storage units 104 of the one or more kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102 may be populated with the updated information.
[0032] It may be noted that, such an update may be sent to the kiosk(s) 102 subsequent to a change in authentication information of the user. Hence, the updated authentication information may be available with the respective kiosk(s) 102 even before the user accesses the kiosk(s) 102 subsequent to updation of his authentication information.
[0033] In an embodiment, upon receiving a request from a user to log into a kiosk 102, the kiosk 102 may first try to verify the user’s authenticity based on information that may be stored in the kiosk’s digital storage unit 104. The processor 106 of the kiosk 102 may check for the user’s authentication information in the digital storage unit 104, failing which the processor 106 may be configured to communicate the one or more second digital storage units 202 for retrieving the authentication details (Ex: second digital storage unit is a server that is configured to store or manage authentication information of users). One of the one or more second digital storage units 202 may be configured to communicate the information to the digital storage unit 104 for completion of authentication. Upon successful authentication, the processor 106 may enable the user to access more information corresponding to his profile/account.
[0034] In another embodiment, a user may try to log into a kiosk 102. The kiosk 102 may attempt to verify the user by checking for the user’s authentication information in the kiosk’s digital storage unit 104. If the kiosk 102 fails to retrieve the authentication information from the digital storage unit 104, the processor 106 of the kiosk 102 may be configured to broadcast the log in information of the user to the one or more kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102. If the log in information corresponds to the authentication information present in the digital storage unit 104 of at least one of the kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102, then the kiosk 102 may be able to authenticate the user by receiving the authentication information from the kiosk having the authentication information.
[0035] In an embodiment, the user interface unit 108 may be configured to receive input from users. The user interface unit 108 may be a screen of a computer or a monitor of the kiosk 102. The user interface unit 108 may be a touch enabled interface. The user interface unit 108 may be configured to receive input through other input devices, such as, keyboard, microphone or camera, among others. The user interface unit 108 may be a display unit configured to display information to users.
[0036] Input received through the user interface unit 108 may include unique user identification information, such as a unique identification number/code corresponding to each user. Unique identification information may include a user’s national identity card number, passport number and bank account number, among others. The user interface unit 108 may be configured to receive additional information regarding the user’s profile such as, name, age, gender and address, among others.
[0037] In an embodiment, the sensor 110 may be a biometric sensor 110. Biometric sensors 110 may be configured to receive inputs from users. Inputs received through biometric sensors 110 may include one or more physical features corresponding to a user. Biometric inputs may include pattern information related to fingerprint, iris and voice, among others. Examples of biometric sensors may include finger print scanner, iris scanner, microphone and camera, among others. Each kiosk 102 may include one or sensors 110.

EXEMPLARY METHOD FOR ENABLING FASTER ACCESS TO INFORMATION

[0038] In an embodiment, an instance of authentication information corresponding to some of the users may be stored in the digital storage unit 104, associated with a kiosk 102. Once the processor 106 stores instances of authentication information in the digital storage unit 104 of a kiosk (Ex: kiosk 102a), authentication of users whose authentication information is stored at the kiosk 102a is enabled by accessing the information from the digital storage unit 104 of the kiosk 102a.
[0039] As an example, digital storage unit 104 of a kiosk 102a may have information corresponding to users 1, 2 and 3, and digital storage unit 104 of a kiosk 102b may have information corresponding to users 4, 5 and 6. The second digital storage unit 202 may include information corresponding to all the six users 1-6.
[0040] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating how authentication information is being fetched from the digital storage units 104 and 202 for authentication of users, in accordance with an embodiment. At step 404, processor 106 of a kiosk 102 receives authentication information from a user requesting to log into the kiosk 102. At step 406, the processor 106 may attempt to authenticate the user based on presence of authentication information in the kiosk 102. At step 408, the processor 106 may check for the availability of the authentication information in the digital storage unit 104. If the information corresponding to the user is available in the digital storage unit 104, then at step 410, the processor 106 may fetch the authentication information from the digital storage unit 104 of kiosk 102 and authenticate the user. If the information corresponding to the user is not available in the digital storage unit 104 of kiosk 102, then the processor 106 may be configured to broadcast the information to digital storage units 104 of other kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102, at step 412. At step 414, the processor 106 may check for the availability of the authentication information in the kiosks that falls within the geographical unit associated with kiosk 102. If the information is available in at least one among the kiosks that falls within the geographical unit associated with kiosk 102, then at step 416, the processor 106 of kiosk 102 may fetch the authentication information from the kiosk that has the authentication information and authenticate the user. At step 418, the digital storage units 104 of all the kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102, including kiosk 102 are populated with the retrieved authentication information. If the information is not available in any of the kiosks that may fall within the geographical unit associated with the kiosk 102, then, the processor 106 of kiosk 102 may be configured to communicate with one or more second digital storage units 202 (remote server) to retrieve authentication information corresponding to the user, at step 420. Step 420 may be further followed by step 418.
[0041] In an example, a specific geographical unit may include three kiosks, kiosk 1, kiosk 2 and kiosk 3 within close geographical proximity. Kiosk 1 may include a processor 1, kiosk 2 may include a processor 2, and kiosk 3 may include a processor 3. Kiosk 1 may include one digital storage unit 1, kiosk 2 may include one digital storage unit 2 and kiosk 3 may include one digital storage unit 3. Kiosk 1 may be configured to receive and store authentication information corresponding to user A in digital storage unit 1, kiosk 2 may be configured to receive and store authentication information corresponding to user B in digital storage unit 2, and kiosk 3 may be configured to receive and store authentication information corresponding to user C in digital storage unit 3. Users A, B and C may be frequent users of Kiosk 1, 2 and 3 respectively. If user A tries to access information from kiosk 1, then user A may have to provide his/her authentication information to the kiosk 1. Processor 1 of kiosk 1 may look for authentication information corresponding to user A in digital storage unit 1. If the information is available in the digital storage unit 1, processor 1 may immediately authenticate user A by fetching authentication information from the digital storage unit 1. If user A’s authentication information is not found in digital storage unit 1, processor 1 may communicate with kiosk 2 and kiosk 3 to check the authentication information corresponding to user A in their respective digital storage units 2 and 3. If authentication information corresponding to user A is available in anyone of the kiosks 2 and 3, then the kiosk 1 may receive the authentication information from one of kiosk 2 or 3 for authenticating user A. User A may also access kiosk 2 and kiosk 3 for authentication. Users A, B and C’s information may be distributed among the kiosks 1, 2 and 3, thereby enabling the users A, B and C to use any of the kiosks 1, 2 or 3 for faster authentication. If authentication information corresponding to user A is not found in kiosks 1, 2 and 3, then processor 1 of kiosk 1 may communicate with one or more second digital storage units (remote servers) for authentication of user A. Accordingly digital storage units 1, 2 and 3 of kiosk 1, 2 and 3 respectively may be populated with user A’s information retrieved from one or more second digital storage units (remote server).

CONCLUSION
[0042] Embodiments provide a system and method for enabling faster access to information through a kiosk.
[0043] Embodiments provide a system and method which may store user authentication information in one or more digital storage units.
[0044] Embodiments provide a system and method where one or more digital storage units may be configured to store instances of user authentication information for faster authentication, without having to look for the user authentication information in a large database comprising identification information of millions of users.
[0045] It shall be noted that the processes described above is described as sequence of steps, this was done solely for the sake of illustration. Accordingly, it is contemplated that some steps may be added, some steps may be omitted, the order of the steps may be re-arranged, or some steps may be performed simultaneously.
[0046] The example embodiments described herein may be implemented in an operating environment comprising software installed on a computer, in hardware, or in a combination of software and hardware.
[0047] Although embodiments have been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the system and method described herein. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
[0048] Many alterations and modifications of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after having read the foregoing description. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. It is to be understood that the description above contains many specifications, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the personally preferred embodiments of this invention. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examples given.