Registers – Records – Magnetic
Reexamination Certificate
1997-12-01
2001-03-27
Le, Thien M. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Records
Magnetic
C235S380000, C235S441000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206293
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates in general to the field of data cards, and more particularly, with a data card communicative with both magnetic stripe card readers and with smartcard readers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional prior art magnetic card reader
100
, as shown in
FIG. 1
, typically includes a magnetic reading mechanism
102
that comprises at least one magnetic reading head
103
. The magnetic card reader
100
normally includes a slotted portion
104
for inserting a magnetically readable card
106
. As is well known in the art, the magnetically readable card
106
typically includes a magnetic stripe
110
which is located about an edge of the magnetically readable card
106
. The magnetic stripe
110
includes at least one track
111
where information is magnetically encoded using an encoding technique that is well known in the art. As shown in
FIG. 1
, the magnetic stripe
110
includes three tracks of information. Correspondingly, the magnetic reading mechanism
102
includes three magnetic reading heads labeled R
1
, R
2
, and R/W
3
for reading, respectively, track
1
, track
2
, and track
3
of the magnetically readable card
106
. Additionally, the third magnetic reading head labeled R/W
3
is a read/write track and comprises, in this example of prior art, a magnetic writing mechanism for writing information to track
3
of the magnetically readable card
106
in a conventional way. As is well known, a user inserts the magnetically readable card, or card,
106
in the slotted portion
104
and slides, in a direction indicated by arrow
108
, the card
106
through the slotted portion
104
. This swiping mechanism moves the magnetic stripe
110
of the card
106
across the magnetic reading head
103
such that the at least one track
111
of information encoded in the magnetic stripe
110
can be detected by the magnetic reading head
103
and read by the magnetic card reader
100
.
The magnetic card reader
100
, after reading the encoded information from the magnetic stripe
110
, then typically forwards the information to another device. In the prior art example shown in
FIG. 1
, the magnetic card reader
100
is coupled to a central system
112
, such as via a dial up telephone line
114
, a dedicated line, or a computer network. In this example, the magnetic card reader
100
communicates with the central system
112
over the dial up telephone line
114
, e.g., using the public switch telephone network (PSTN) by way of modem communication. The information read from the magnetic stripe
110
is then forwarded from the magnetic card reader
100
to the central system
112
. The central system
112
typically comprises at least one database of information to analyze the received information from the magnetic card reader
100
. The central system
112
then communicates a conclusion to the magnetic card reader
100
which, in this example, can alert the user whether the transaction with the holder of the card
106
is authorized by the central system
112
.
The construction of the card
106
and of the conventional magnetic card reader
100
, the techniques for magnetic encoding of information, and the format of information content for the card
106
are well known and are specified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), such as in ANSI standard X4.16-1983, and the more recent international standard for identification cards provided in ANSI/ISO/IEC-7811 Parts 1-5.
Although magnetically readable cards
106
, i.e., magnetic stripe cards, are well accepted by users, and magnetic card readers
100
are part of a large infrastructure that is a mature and stable technology, there are a number of problems with the current use of magnetically readable cards
106
and conventional magnetic card readers
100
.
First, cards
106
tend to wear out and become unreliable after repeated use. For example, the magnetic material of the magnetic stripe
110
is subject to physical damage from external hazards, degradation of its magnetic qualities over time, and it can be affected by external magnetic fields. Second, cards
106
can be easily duplicated which facilitates fraudulent use. For example, an unauthorized user can easily duplicate the information stored on the magnetic stripe
110
from a first card
106
that may have been obtained from a legal authorized user, and copy the information to a second blank card
106
. The unauthorized user could then utilize the second duplicate card to engage in fraudulent transactions. Third, the card
106
typically contains a fixed amount of prerecorded magnetic information on the magnetic stripe
110
. This fixed information normally corresponds to a single issuer of a card
106
. In this way, users tend to carry many different cards
106
to be able to engage in transactions with different issuers of the cards
106
. This tends to be cumbersome and inconvenient for a user to have to carry many different cards on their person. Fourth, the magnetic stripe
110
is of a fixed predetermined length and can store only a maximum number of bits of information, such as is specified by the ANSI standards. The amount of information that can be stored in the magnetic stripe
110
, therefore, is constrained by the physical dimension of the magnetic stripe
110
and the conventional magnetic recording technique used to store the magnetically encoded information on the magnetic stripe
110
. Fifth, due to the aforementioned problems with magnetic stripe card technology, there is a trend to migrate to smartcard technology. Smartcard technology typically utilizes a card with a built in controller and a group of electronic contacts arranged in a predetermined pattern on the surface of the smartcard to enable an external device, i.e., a smartcard reader, to communicate with the controller contained on the smartcard. This smartcard technology is different from the magnetic stripe card technology such that a conventional magnetic stripe card is normally not supported by a smartcard reader and a smartcard is, likewise, not supported by the vast existing stable infrastructure of the magnetic stripe card readers, i.e., conventional magnetic card readers
100
. Therefore, in migrating to the more recent smartcard technology, the vast and stable magnetic stripe card reader infrastructure will become obsolete and will have to be replaced by the more recent smartcard reader and associated infrastructure. This change in card reader and infrastructure technology will be very costly to implement and probably not available at all locations right away. Therefore, those individuals carrying smartcards for some time would not have commonly available establishments with smartcard readers, thereby inconveniencing smartcard users during this transition in technology.
Thus, what is needed is a magnetically communicative card that overcomes the problems of known magnetically readable cards.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5434398 (1995-07-01), Golberg
patent: 5436441 (1995-07-01), Inoue
patent: 5679945 (1997-10-01), Renner et al.
patent: 5834747 (1998-11-01), Cooper
patent: 5834756 (1998-11-01), Gutman et al.
DeLuca Michael J.
Gutman Jose
Le Thien M.
Motorola Inc.
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