Contacts % Dirk Hinze Schlumberger & +33 (0)7950 ! hinze@montrouge.tt.slb.com % John Smith Southampton City Council & +44 (0)! j.smith@southampton.gov.uk % Margaret Cecil-Wright IT Innovation & +44 (0) ! mcw@it-innovation.soton.ac.uk % Joyce Lewis University of Southampton & +44 (0)! j.k.lewis@soton.ac.uk % Richard Swann Motorola & +44 (0) ! Richard.Swann@motorola.com % Enno Romkema Technolution & +534100 ! enno@technolution.nl % Florence de Villenfagne CRID & +07 ! fdeville@pop.fundp.ac.be % Saskia de Wolter Europay International & +5858 ! sde@europay.com % Ulf Yngwer Gteborg & +613208 ! ulf.yngwe@adb_kontoret.goteborg.se
Gemplus Buys ODS Landis & Gyr
Gemplus has bought ODS Landis & Gyr, the Smart Card division of Landis & Gyr Communications, and plans to reinforce its market position in Germany and central Europe. ODS is a well-established supplier of Smart Cards focussing on banking, telecommunication and payTV and is an important player in the German banking segment with expertise in GeldKarte electronic purse technology. The company has about 240 employees at its offices in Ismaning, near Munich, and its production site in Seebach. Last year it achieved a turnover of approximately DM 70 million. Marc Lassus, Chairman of Gemplus Supervisory Board, said: In our fast growing market, this move will allow us to enhance our expertise and to strengthen our German presence. We welcome a group of highly experienced and dynamic specialists with a very good marketing and technical knowledge and an excellent reputation in terms of quality and service.
Contact % Sverine Percetti Gemplus & +33 (0)67 ! severine.percetti@gemplus.com
USER NAME openup PASSWORD scnread
Smart Medical Card for Jordan
Jordan is rolling out a Smart Card-based medical records project that automates patients medical and insurance information. The aim is to provide quick and secure information for quality patient care and prompt claims processing. The scheme, by the National Health Insurance Administration Company of Jordan, is launching in the capital of Amman with 400 Smart Card readers. The system will use microprocessor-based M.O.S.T Smart Cards from CardLogix, PC Pay readers from Innovonics, and eClaim software from IdealSoft. Doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, laboratories and radiology centers in the Greater Amman area are being issued with a PC Pay hybrid Smart Card and mag-stripe reader capable of reading the M.O.S.T. Card through an Internet browser. The healthcare provider is able to examine insurance and medical information for the patient by inserting the provider card and the companion card presented by the patient at the point of care. Everything from blood type to benefits status can be viewed, updated and stored on the two cards simultaneously, ensuring accurate records and appropriate care. The cards must be used at the same time, providing patient control and privacy. Additionally, card data is encrypted to prevent tampering.

Contact % Bruce Ross CardLogix & +! www.cardlogix.com
Hybrid Card Reader from Mag-Tek
Mag-Tek has launched the Intellistripe 65, vandal resistant, hybrid card reader designed for unattended terminal applications such as kiosks, vending machines, petrol payment terminals and ATMs. The unit can read up to three tracks of magnetic stripe and read/write to ISO 7816, T=O, T=1 microprocessor cards and a range of memory cards.
Contact % Stephen Poulston Mag-Tek Europe & +44 (0)! sales@magtek.co.uk

SmartAxis first ISP Link

The Positive Internet Company, one of the leading European web hosting and e-commerce providers, is to link with SmartAxis to enable its 2,000 web site customers to accept Smart Card based electronic cash payments. SmartAxis is a payment service for low-value and digital goods over the Internet and mobile networks. The service is currently operational and supports Sterling via Mondex and Belgian Francs via Proton. It has recently announced its collaboration with Europay to bring the SmartAxis service to their Clip e-purse brand. The service is being extended to support all major Smart Card based e-purses or loyalty schemes in any currency.

Contact

GAIT for Roaming Worldwide
Schlumberger has announced Simera GAIT, a new Java-based SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) Smart Card that allows mobile subscribers to roam with ease between GSM and TDMA networks worldwide. For TDMA operators which dominate the market in the Americas, parts of Asia, and Russia Simera GAIT opens up the world of GSM value-added services. For GSM operators, it provides the opportunity to expand beyond their primary markets in Western Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Contact % Diana L Tomb Schlumberger & +! dtomb@san-jose.tt.slb.com
% Adrian Weston SmartAxis & +44 (0)! pr@smartaxis.com
Safeguarding Medical Records
Oberthur Card Systems is to supply Smart Cards with the MULTOS operating system to LifeGard Technologies for a patient card healthcare pilot project in the UK this summer.
Contact % Stephanie de Labriolle Oberthur & +33 (0)! s.delabriolle@oberthurcs.com
Motorola AFC Systems for China
Motorola, through its Huamin Beijing Smartcard System Joint Venture, has been awarded two Smart Card-based contracts in China. One is for the design and implementation of a contactless Smart Card automatic fare collection (AFC) system from Lanzhou Public Transit Co., in Lanzhou, a city of three million people in Northern China. It includes cards, hardware and back office software as well as system integration and management. The contract involves equipping 800 buses. In the first phase, about 120,000 monthly pass holders will receive Motorola M-Smart Mercury high-speed contactless fare cards and the equipment of 500 buses. The second contract was awarded by the Changde Public Transit Co., for a multi-application Smart Card system in Changde, China. It is planned to start the project with an automatic fare collection (AFC) system and then grow the Smart Card platform into a broadly used payment method for public utilities, water, gasoline and taxi services. Motorola will design and implement the AFC system for the bus system, which serves the citys 600,000 residents, and supply the software system platform for multi-applications implementation.

Contact % Faye Bergemann Motorola & +! faye.bergemann@motorola.com
SETEC Multi-function Java Card
Setec is developing a high security multi-function Java Smart Card designed for securing e-commerce and electronic transactions. The new card will be available early next year. To ensure the product meets the needs of the Smart Card market, Setec will incorporate technologies from Sun Microsystems, Philips and Visa. Card security will be formally proven by a Common Criteria security valuation at level EAL-5 and will also be evaluated according to the US security standard, FIPS 140-1. Setec has chosen the high-security 16-bit SmartXA Smart Card controller architecture from Philips Semiconductors for the hardware platform of its Java Card product. SmartXA will undergo a separate hardware security evaluation according to Common Criteria EAL-5 and FIPS 140-1
Contact % Ms Pia Toivanen & +89411 ! pia.toivanen@setec.fi
G&D Fingerprint Technology
Veridicom, a leading provider of silicon-based fingerprint authentication solutions, and German Smart Card manufacturer Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), are partnering to create the next generation of highly secure Smart Card products using Veridicoms patent-pending Match-on-Card fingerprint technology. Veridicoms Match-on-Card technology uses fingerprint authentication to unlock the card and provide access to an enrolled user. For added security, fingerprint matching operations are conducted entirely on the Smart Card itself. The joint development agreement with G&D marks the second Match-on-Card technology partner for Veridicom. A similar agreement was signed with French Smart Card manufacturer Gemplus (SCN March 2000 page 52).
Contact % Christian Treinies G&D & +4119-2125 % Naeem Zafar Veridicom & +! naeem@veridicom.com
GemSAFE Enterprise Shipping
Gemplus has announced the availability of its GemSAFE Enterprise Suite comprehensive Smart Card-based solution for enterprise-wide corporate security which enables corporations to conduct secure business-to-business commerce by utilising PKI solutions enhanced by Smart Card technology. A GemSAFE Enterprise 5-user evaluation kit is available for US $995 and includes software, Smart Cards and readers.

Contact % Tarvinder Karsandh Gemplus & +! tarvinder.karsandh@gemplus.com
Breakaway Groups New Company
Bluefish Technologies, a new company financed by ACG and run by four ex-ORGA senior employees is being launched to address the rampantly growing market for Smart Cards. Bernd Deutschmann, who established ORGAs Smart Card activities in the early 1980s with the development of the worlds first microprocessor Smart Card with reusable memory and Heinz Schafers, Paul Hill who was co-founder of ORGA UK and Jon Twigg, all recent employees of ORGA have decided to form a new company with a different approach to suppying the SIM card market. Bluefish will not manufacture cards, instead they will work with card manufacturers who are willing to embed Bluefish operating systems and products into their SIM cards. Paul Hill, CEO at Bluefish, said: This is not a new concept. It is well established in the PC industry where there has long been an unbundling of hardware and software. We are just bringing this well proven concept to the SIM card market, which is a new approach for this industry. Bluefish will be developing their own quality assurance processes so that network operators can be assured that partners working with Bluefish will meet with their requirements. Bluefish will also be focussing on application development and services. ACG will own 51% of Bluefish, 39% will be owned by the management and employees with the remaining 10% reserved for an un-named venture capitalist. In working with ACG, we have both an ambitious and financially secure partner, who recognises the strategic importance of this market, said Paul Hill. In 1999 ACG AG took over w.w.Chip AG and acquired Semiconsult GmbH. Continuing its expansion strategy in the area of chip brokerage for the semiconductor industry ACG earlier this year took over MGI, one of the largest specialised chip brokers in North America and recently in a joint venture with Utimaco Safeware formed a new company Omnikey AG operating in the field of RFID, Smart Card readers and terminals (see page 92).

Contacts % Scott Allen Bluefish Technologies Limited & +44 (0)3875 ! info@bluefish-tech.com

Nigerian ValueCard

A group of Nigerian banks are working on a common electronic purse, called ValueCard, through Smartcard Nigeria plc for roll-out this year. Participating banks represent more than 90% of the banking system in Nigeria. The Nigerian scheme is multi-issuer and multiacquirer. Merchants can work with any bank of their choice or with several banks simultaneously. The role of Smartcard Nigeria is to promote the ValuCard brand and to act as clearing house for the banks. The software for the project was provided by CardBase Technologies, of Dublin, Ireland. Cards come from Gemplus and other suppliers include DataCard, VeriFone, and Ascom Monetel.
ETSI Smart Card-related Bodies
ETSI, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute has created two new technical bodies - the Technical Committee for Access and Terminals (ETSI TC AT) and the ETSI Project for Smart Cards, New SMG9. The goal of Technical Committee Access and Terminals is to expand and maintain expertise with regard to the interaction between terminals and networks, whether private or public, switched or nonswitched. Karl Heinz Rosenbrock, ETSI Director-General, said: TC AT is now the home for terminal activities within ETSI. To face the challenge of market globalisation and the emergence of new technologies, terminals have to be able to interoperate over the network. The ETSI Project for Smart Cards, or newSMG9 (because it replaces the existing ETSI Technical Subcommittee, SMG9, which was responsible for the standardisation of the SIM card for GSM), will enable ETSI to create a central focus point for the standardisation of a common IC Card platform for 2G and 3G mobile telecommunications systems.
Contacts % Claire dEsclercs TC AT ! desclercs@etsi.fr % Michael Sanders ETSI Project for Smart Cards ! sanders@etsi.fr

Italian Healthcare Card

PCU Italia SpA is co-operating with Finsiel SpA and the Italian Healthcare Ministry on Netlink - an international project involving Italy, Germany, France and Canada. PCU is involved in the card design, personalisation and distribution by mail; and the PC/SC terminals design, installation and maintenance at all the physicians surgeries. The company will also design a PKI infrastructure enabling doctors to sign and encrypt their prescriptions and referrals. The cards include 32K byte EEPROM Java Smart Cards and cryptocards. They will store personal data, emergency data and other significant health data. The same card will be used in the future for storing prescriptions. The cards issued to the physicians will have encryption capabilities. The project will start in four towns in the north of Italy (Imperia, Pinerolo-Turin, Trento, Bolzano). Global figures for the pilot phase are: about 150.000 patients Smart Cards, 1,000 doctors Smart Cards, 1,000 Smart Card readers (some connected to PCs; others standalone for ambulances and first aid sites) and PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) services. The Italian Healthcare Ministry is forecasting the roll-out of the project throughout Italy, involving more than 50 million cards and 200,000 terminals by 2003.

Project in India

In an alliance with Gemplus, VFJ is to install its new CCR-120 access control readers and multi-application Smart Card system to provide personnel and building management control for a client in the state of Karnataka, India.
Contact % Esmond Tsang VFJ Technology & +* +8853 8088

CardTech/SecurTech Show

Visa and MasterCard chose the CardTech/ SecureTech show in Miami, Florida, earlier this month to make major announcements. Visa revealed it had made special pricing deals with Smart Card companies to help member banks move to chip technology while MasterCard announced a $50 million fund to invest in technology companies working on new types of payment systems. Both card issuers, having failed to encourage US banks to adopt Smart Cards and spurred on by the success of the American Express Blue hybrid card, are now trying to encourage market development. An additional worry is the potential impact of mobile commerce and the possibility of digital phone users making purchases on the Internet by phone and charging them to their phone bills instead of through a credit card account. Visa is using its market clout to induce price reductions for banks that agree to convert their payment cards from magnetic stripe to chip cards. It says its pricing program is aimed at kick-starting the market and that a typical offer could halve the cost of implementation of a Visa Smart Card program. The card issuer says that to date discounts have been negotiated with ACI Worldwide, IFS International and NBS Technologies and will be available for a limited time period and for a limited number of early adopter banks. MasterCard plans to bankroll companies that seem to offer a strategic parnership and significant financial returns. The $50 million investment fund is designed to invest in companies that offer payment technologies and solutions in areas such as Smart Cards, ebusiness and mobile commerce. The scheme will apply to both start up firms and established companies. MasterCard has also donated $5 million to create a new electronic transactions laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Contacts % Colin Baptie Visa & +! cbaptie@visa.com % Christina Costa MasterCard & +! christina_costa@mastercard.com
Cards for Cholesterol Sufferers
Lifestream Technologies presented its Privatlink solution, developed with Microsoft, for people suffering from high cholesterol levels. Their application on Smart Card for Windows creates a secured Smart Card Internet Portal and opens up new opportunities over the Internet. The system is aimed at the estimated 98 million people in the USA with high cholesterol levels.
Contact % Brett Sweezy Lifestream & +ext 1212 ! www.lifestreamtech.com

Gemplus Launches ThinkPulse
Gemplus formally announced the launch of a new company, ThinkPulse, Inc., that will commercialise the smartX software technology introduced by Gemplus last year to provide a unifying application framework for Smart Card development across multiple platforms and operating systems. The privately held company, headquartered in San Jose, California, will design and market smartX software products and web services that will simplify Smart Card-based application development and deployment, enable card and terminal independence, and allow for web-based maintainability. ThinkPulse also announced availability of the smartX run-time engine in both Java and Win32 versions.
Contact % Marti Martz Lois Paul & Partners & +! marti_martz@lpp.com

Proton and ACI partner

Proton World and ACI Worldwide announced a partnership alliance to provide a combined solution for e-commerce and other payments that will combine the Proton R4 Smart Card management package with the ACI host and back office system.
Contact % Gene Hinkle ACI Worldwide & +! hinkleg@tsainc.com

New Products from Bull

Bull Smart Cards & Terminals unveiled the SmartEMV 1000, a new debit-credit card compliant with EMV specifications. The 8K bytes card has the capacity to manage multiple applications. The card has just been certified by Visa for Visa Smart credit and debit applications, and is now available to Visa card issuers. Bull also showed SecurTouch, its new microprocessor card combining electronic purse and ticketing applications for the public transport market. Bull aims to integrate contact technologies, such as e-purse, and contactless and hyperproximity technologies, for sectors such as public transport, in one single chip, at an attractive price for our customers, said Philippe David, Bulls Marketing & Sales Director, Banking & Transport sector.
Contacts % Catherine Vincent Bull & +(0)63 ! catherine.vincent@bull.net
Free source code for MULTOS
MAOSCO, promoters of the MULTOS multiapplication Smart Card operating system, demonstrated card based e-commerce banking and payment applications and provided the source code free. The demonstrator was designed and developed by UK based e-commerce consultancy Consult Hyperion. By giving away the source code on CD ROM for developing real MULTOS systems, MAOSCO aimed to assist application developers and card issuers in building solutions for secure e-commerce. The code is also available for download at:
! www.MULTOSTechNet.com ! www. Consult.hyperion.co.uk Contact % Craig Richman Consult Hyperion & +44 (0)! craig.richman@consult.hyperion.co.uk
Motorola Dual Interface Card

Motorola announced its M-Smart Venus MV5000 second-generation dual interface (contact/contactless) multi-application Smart Card. According to the company, the card integrates a hardware cryptographic engine and other enhancements to cut contactless transaction time in half compared with currently available cards. A second version, the MV5100, also supports the Proton 3 Electronic Purse and Proton Easy Entry banking applications from the contact interface providing a multi-application platform supporting both contactless automatic fare collection (AFC) and the Proton stored value system. Armand Linkens, Proton Worlds Managing Director said: Mass Transit is a key strategic market for Proton World. We see AFC as an important application for Smart Cards and an ideal ally for e-purse and stored value applications.

UBS joins Open Platform

United Bank of Switzerland (UBS) has joined the Swiss Open Platform Smart Card program. Following a pilot with Swiss Post and Cornr Bank, it is planned to issue EMV compliant Smart Cards based on Java Card technology and the Open Platform specifications to all customers. The cards will be used for both payment and non-payment functions, including Visa Smart credit and debit applications.
Contact % Colin Baptie Visa International & +! cbaptie@visa.com
HyperProximity contactless chip
HyperSecur Corporation announced that its HyperProximity technology has been implemented in the ST16HF52 contactless chip from STMicroelectronics and is now in commercial production.
Contact % Brenda Collins Verrecchia Group PR & +! brenda@vergroup.com
Cubic Smart Card Fare Solutions
Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) announced a set of technologies designed to move mass transit fare collections to a Smart Card based system. The system, Nextfare Solution Suite, is a package of tools that can be integrated with automatic fare collection systems. The system includes a series of add-ons and equipment designed to work with a central computing application. These include: Nextfare Auto Load which allows users to add fare products to their cards instantly; Nextfare Express enabling employers to automate and decentralise distribution of transit benefits to employees; Tri-Reader, a contactless Smart Card reader capable of reading any ISO 14443 Smart Card, and Cubics own Go Card contactless Smart Card.

Contact % Ms Dominique Hautain PWI & +! info@protonworld.com

GSA joins GlobalPlatform

US Government department, the General Services Administration (GSA), has joined GlobalPlatform, the cross industry Smart Card group developing an international standardised infrastructure for multiapplication Smart Card services. GSA already uses multi-application cards. Last year it issued Smart Cards to its employees in the Washington DC area. In Fairfax Virginia, employees can use their cards for purchasing, travel, building and computer access, phone calls, digital signatures for e-mails and for direct boarding of airline flights.
Contact % Laura White Sinclair Mason & +44 (0)8737 ! london@sinclairmason.com
Utilising a Smart Card with cryptographic access protection, companies can offer customers access to all of their services, as well as individual packages. By using both the Smart Card and a unique PIN, active protection and control of all services used is guaranteed. The SGO server application is designed to run on the LINUX operating system, while the client application is Windows based, and works with both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape. The basic starter package comes complete with server and client software, 2 ECO 5000 Smart Card readers and 5 SGO customer cards.
Contact % Alex Goldsleger ORGA & +! Agoldsleger@compuserve.com
Oberthur/Philips Smart e-Wallet
Oberthur Card Systems is partnering with Philips Digital Networks to develop a secure, flexible and personalised e-wallet service. The e-wallet, to be accessed via a set-top box and displayed on the TV screen, will allow secure payment access. The e-wallet service is based on Oberthurs AuthentIC card solution which allows a card to be inserted into a dual-slot set-top box with the conditional access card occupying the remaining slot. Future developments look to combine access to the TV and access to the e-wallet on one card. GlobeID, will provide the software for the e-wallet.
Contact % Francine Dubois Oberthur CS & +! Francine.dubois@oberthureusa.com % Ellen Oerlemans Philips Digital Networks & +! ellen.oerlemans@philips.com

of personal identifications numbers (PINs) and is extremely easy to use. Additionally this Hypercom terminal model provides us with a platform for future acceptance of chip-based credit, debit and electronic purse cards.
Contact % Mark McMurtrie Hypercom Europe & +44 (0)! mmcmurtrie@hypercom.com

LeapFrog Jumps into Asia

Leapfrog Smart Products has announced a $20 million contract to provide Smart Card services to the Asian market in a collaboration between Leapfrog and a group of Asian investors under the title Smart Products International (SPI), which will work with groups in Malaysia and Singapore. SPI is to provide Smart Card services for the next 10 years, although the majority of this contract will be carried out in the next three years. Jim Grebey, Corporate Technology Officer at Leapfrog has been appointed President of SPI which plans to open offices in Malaysia, Singapore and Australia this year.
Contact % Dale Grogan Leapfrog Smart Products & +838 0400
Learn2.com Card for Staples
Learn2.com, a provider of e-learning solutions, has announced an agreement that will promote the Learn2.com Smart Card to customers in all Staples retail stores in the US. More than 70,000 Smart Cards will be shipped in the initial distribution. The card provides users with the information they need to directly access Learn2.com courseware. The Learn2.com Smart Card includes an encoded serial number and unique URL, which represents a specific Learn2.com online courseware library customised for the company or employee, and instructions to access the courseware at work, at home or on the road.
Contact % Joan P. Ball Learn2.com & +872 2024
Statoil Order for Hypercom
Scandinavian oil company, Statoil Detaljhandel Skandinavia, is to deploy Hypercom Financial Terminals ABs card payment terminals to support bank and fuel card transaction processing at its petroleum stations throughout Sweden. The number of terminals now ordered is 900. Bjorn Eriksson, project leader, Forecourt Automation Systems for Statoil Detaljhandel Skandinavia, said: Hypercoms HFT 117 terminal reads all types of payment cards, allows the secure input
TSA Acquires Chipper Technology
Transaction Systems Architects, Inc. (TSA), provider of enterprise e-payment solutions, has acquired the intellectual property rights of the Chipper multiple application Smart Card scheme from Postbank NV, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ING Group. TSA and Postbank have entered into a long-term cooperation agreement for TSAs Electronic Commerce business unit to provide continuing support and development for Chipper which is used by more than seven million Postbank customers in The Netherlands. Originally founded in partnership by Postbank and KPN Telecom, the scheme has been in operation for more than four years. Hans Dijkman, Executive Vice President of Postbank, said: We have always had great faith in the future of the Chipper scheme and TSA will help us to migrate to the new infrastructures that Euroland and international interoperability demand. Our Chipper customers can expect to see more and more ways in which they can use their card to gain greater access to services and more convenience over the coming years. Under the agreement, TSA will take over the staff and assets of the Chipper development team. Chipper Netherlands, the operating company and the Chipper Purse Scheme, will remain with Postbank.

Contact % LeRoy D Peterson TSA & +390 7909
Motorola Shipping 32-bit Card
Motorola has announced the shipping of its new Internet security application that works with its 32 bit M-Smart Jupiter multi-application Smart Card. FLEXgate addresses a growing demand for increased network security from the Internet community, by using Smart Card technology. The application addresses Internet security by storing information on the card, rather than on the computer. The user can carry information from machine to machine, and prevents unauthorised persons accessing the information. The card owner is verified by means of a PIN, which completes the two layer security method.
Contact % Faye Bergeman Motorola & +! faye.bergmann@motorola.com
BBAN to acquire Smart Card Plant
A subsidiary of BroadBand Wireless International Corporation (BBAN), iTell Inc, has entered into an agreement of principal with M.T.I. C.A. Valencia, Venezuela for the purchase of 65% of the private companys shares. M.T.I. is the first Smart Card manufacturing plant in South America, with a fully functional printing manufacturing facility which produces Smart Cards, pre-paid phone cards, debit and credit cards. As well as supplying Smart Cards to companies in South America, iTell is also planning to use this facility to supply contracts in Spain and Italy.
Contact % Justin Ellis BroadBand Wireless & +917 9565
Upgrade to Acquire Instacache
Upgrade International Corporation has signed a Letter of Intent to purchase the assets of NCC SmartCard.com LLC (formerly NationalCacheCard Company) (NCC), including its Instacache electronic purse applications. The US General Services Agency has approved the Instacache software for government stored value applications, and has demonstrated the technology in their GSA/Navy Smart Card Technology Center in Washington, DC.
Contact % Daniel Bland Upgrade International & +9033116
Oberthur Personalisation Service
Oberthur Card Systems has formed an alliance with Visa to provide local Smart Card personalisation services to Visa member banks for Open Platform cards as well as proprietary platform cards.
Contact % Francine Dubois Oberthur Card Systems & +! Francine.dubois@oberthurusa.com
Smart Card Migration in Brazil

Labcal Unveils SmartSign

Labcal Technologies has unveiled SmartSign, a combination Smart Card/reader-writer, that sets new speed records for the reading and generating of key pairs and digital signatures. Used for PC-based identification purposes, SmartSign provides a lowcost, secure alternative to password-based authentication by incorporating a two factor authentication method - a Smart Card and PIN to Microsoft Windows logon.
Contact % Karina Paradis Labcal
& +ext 400 ! kparadis@labcal.com
direction depending on whether the IC is transmitting or receiving. Asynchronous refers to the need for synchronisation of each character frame in the message between the IC and the terminal. The well known RS232C standard used on the PC is an asynchronous full duplex mode of operation where there are separate lines for the transmission and reception of data. When connecting a Smart Card reader to a PC one of the functions of the reader is to form an interface between these two communication protocols. Fifteen transmission protocols (T=0 to T=14) are allowed for in the ISO 7816-3 standard of which only two are in widespread use today. T=0 defines a character transmission protocol while T=1 defines a block transmission protocol. The transmission of a single character defined as 8 bits requires an overhead of several bits, as follows:
An Elementary Time Unit (ETU) is the normal bit duration used in the character frame. For the T=0 protocol this is 12 ETU, 1 start ETU, 8 data ETU, 1 parity ETU and 2 guard time ETU. The default value for an ETU is defined as 372/F0 where F0 is the chip clock frequency. For the clock frequency of 3.85 MHz referred to previously we end up with a communications rate of 9622 elemental bits per second (baud rate). The information rate is 8/12 of this value. Although we are likely to be using 9600 baud in the terminal the 0.2% difference computed over the asynchronous frame is well within the allowed tolerance.

Answer to Reset

After the reset signal is applied by the interface device the chip should respond with the ATR (Answer to Reset) message after 400 clock cycles but before 40,000 clock cycles have elapsed. The ATR is at most composed of 33 characters and consists of 5 fields as follows:

% % % % %

Start bit (used for frame synchronisation) Parity bit (for error detection) Guardtime bit(s) (separation between characters)
The format of a character frame in shown in figure 14. The receiver examines the I/O line looking for the transition from the mark or high state to the space or low state. The sampling of the line is required to be such that the receiver monitors the state of the line in the centre of each bit period with a precision of 20 %. The parity bit is defined to achieve even parity, which means that the number of 1s in the 8 data bits and the parity bit together result in an even number of 1 bits. In the T=0 transmission protocol the guard time is defined to be equal to 2 bit periods. In the T=1 transmission protocol this guard time can be reduced to a single bit.