A computer system claimed to match fingerprints 10 times faster than previous systems has been announced by Anaheim, California-based Printrak International Inc, developer of automated fingerprint identification systems. The Printrak Series 2000 offers a new level of real-time performance to law enforcement agencies and others who rely on fingerprints for positive identification. The workstation design uses the new Texas Instruments Inc MVP signal processing chip, capable of 2,000m operations per second, where pre-processing tasks have been distributed from the central processing unit. Compared with Printrak’s existing system, a single Series 2000 workstation circuit board, with the MVP chip, replaces 28 separate circuit boards containing 7,000 chip components, a 98% size reduction. The search-and-match processing unit is designed with a variable array of parallel processors, with the number dependent on customer volume and speed requirements. Searches are based on critical data extracted from a fingerprint image, which is transferred from the storage unit. To store search data, Printrak uses high-speed RAM on board each parallel processor, which the firm says is faster than the magnetic storage used by competing systems. The speed and volume capacities of the product enable positive identification in over the counter transactions. The system offers two benefits: individual matches can be accomplished in seconds, and the resident database of fingerprint records can be expanded indefinitely without creating a retrieval bottleneck. The open architecture makes possible enhancements such as storage and retrieval of DNA records, mug shots, voice prints, tattoos and expanded text information. The first Printrak Series 2000 was installed in September in the Czech Republic.