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 Overview | Applications |  Characteristics | Integrated Components |  Security

Smart Card Features and Characteristics


The world of smart card’s technology and its terms remains and mystery to most people. Its concepts and verbiage are totally misused. The modern smart card is essentially a stand-alone computer, but without a screen or keyboard. Smart cards are composed of Operating System (OS), Memory, and file storage all on one or two Integrated Chip (IC). This is in contrast to the magnetic stripe cards (sometimes confused as smart cards) that many of us carry today such as ATM and prepaid telephone cards.
These cards are have information such as PIN’s or have numbers that are decremented when used and have no of the attributes that are found in truly smart cards. Listed below are some of the terms and concepts associated with smart cards. Smart cards today generally fall into one of these categories and depending on the type of card perform different functions:
 

Contact Interface:

This type of card requires insertion into a smart card reader. These cards are imbedded with a microprocessor and a contact pad. When the pads come in contact with sensors on the card reader data, commands from the IC instruction set are set in motion, and information processing takes place. This category of card is the most common.

Contact less Interface:

Contact less smart cards also called “Fast Cards” have an antenna that uses low frequency radio waves and an IC embedded inside the card that communications with a reader without making physical contact with the reader. The user has to be about four to six inches from the reader in order for it to work. These cards are generally used for transportation where the customer can just wave the card near the reader instead of inserting and removing the card.

Hybrid Interface:

The hybrid card has two ICs, each with its own contact and contactless interfaces. The two chips are not connected. It is also fitted with a conventional magnetic stripe. This type of card can be used as a credit and debit card but also provides smart chip-card capabilities. In September 1999; American Express introduced its “Blue Card.” Marketed towards younger people it can be used as the traditional credit card and take advantage of the smart chip capabilities for shopping on-line.

Combination Interfaces:

This type of card has only one IC that has both a contact and contactless interfaces, either of which can communicate between chip and reader. The mass transit and banking industries are expected to be the first to take advantage of this technology.

Magnetic Stripe:

We have added this category as a comparison to true smart cards. This type of card has no IC electronic components. This is a “Read Only” card. It has storage capability of only 200 characters, about two lines of code. It has numbers that are imbedded on to the magnetic stripe during manufacturing or activation. This type of card requires some sort of card reader. There are some five million devices in the U.S. that can read this type of card compared to 13,000 smart card readers. Although cheaper to manufacture at about 30 cents, they are easier to tamper with and the magnetic stripe can be come damaged.

Card Readers:

All of the above items require some sort of card reader or Card Acceptance Device (CAD) to interpret the data from smart cards. As sales of smart cards are expected to increase more that two dozen companies are working on smart-card readers. The average price for corporate or industry type devices range from $100 - $250 dollars. Prices are expected to drop when the volume increases. Most personal computer manufactures today offer these as an option for as little as $20 dollars. However, consumers have been slow to react, as there does not seem to be a demand for them they’re yet.

 

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