Registers – Records – Conductive
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-18
2001-12-04
Pitts, Harold I. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Records
Conductive
C235S380000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325293
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to microcircuit cards.
Nowadays, these cards are used in numerous applications such as payment at a point of sale (known as the “bank card” application), public telephones, paying for parking, paying for TV, mobile telephones (GSM), health services, public transport, or electronic purse.
These applications are becoming more and more numerous, and their use is becoming more and more widespread.
Each of these applications is associated with a specific card: a bank card, a phone card, a parking card, an IC card for a television decoder, a SIM card for GSM telephony, etc.
One of the problems encountered in daily use of such a variety of cards lies in such-and-such a card of a type required by any specific one of these applications being accidentally unavailable, whether because it has been forgotten, because it is empty or has run out, or because it is invalid or has expired.
This problem is made worse by the fact that certain types of card are sometimes poorly distributed, or are used so rarely that it is quite likely they will not be in the user's pocket at all times. A typical case is that of parking cards, which are issued and usable in any one given city only, and for which a need can arise when the user is far away from any sales point that is open.
To remedy that drawback, proposals have been made to provide so-called “multi-application cards”, e.g. making it possible to pay for a public telephone by means of a bank card.
Such multi-application cards are technically feasible, but in practice they are administratively very difficult to implement, as has been demonstrated by numerous pioneering attempts ever since the invention of the IC card itself.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
One of the objects of the present invention is to remedy that difficulty, by making use of two technical characteristics of contemporary microelectronics that are already implemented in modern microcircuit cards, specifically the presence of a reprogrammable memory of the EEPROM type, and the presence of a microprocessor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
More precisely, the method of the invention which seeks to enable a microcircuit card to be used in a plurality of applications comprising a default application and at lest one target application, includes the following steps: the card, initially configured for the default application, is coupled with a terminal of the default application; a special transaction is executed, reconfiguring the software of the card for the target application in such a manner that the card as reconfigured in this way emulates a card specific to the target application; the reconfigured card is coupled with a terminal of the target application; and a target-application transaction is executed.
Subsequently, provision is made for steps of coupling the card as reconfigured for the target application with a terminal of the default application, and for executing another special transaction that causes its software configuration to return to the default application.
In other words, under the control of its main program, and on receiving an order from a working terminal that has been suitably adapted for this multi-functionality, the card can be “reconfigured” so as to functionally emulate the missing card.
Once equivalent to the missing type of card (physically of course, but above all in terms of software), i.e. equivalent to a card for the target application, the original card can be used to perform the desired transaction (in the target application).
After being used in the target terminal, and on being returned to its original terminal, the card will receive therefrom an order to “configure” itself back to its original type.
Most advantageously, the default application is a SIM card application for a GSM radiotelephone, and the target application is an application of the token-carrier type.
Given the very large number of GSM telephones in circulation, it is irritating (because it seems paradoxical) for a user to observe that a presently-needed parking card is not available even though another microcircuit card such as the card for controlling of the radiotelephone is indeed to hand, with said card generally being inserted in the radiotelephone and generally being switched on.
Under such circumstances, the invention makes it possible to give the user a way out, by taking advantage of the availability of a powerful telecommunications network (the radiotelephone network), itself connected to the vast network constituted by the switched telephone network (STN).
In another implementation, the default application is a bank card application, and the target application need not only be a token-carrier type application, but can also a SIM card type application for GSM radio-telephony.
Or indeed, the default application can be an electronic purse type application, with the target application being a bank card type application enabling said electronic purse to be refilled.
Most advantageously, in order to avoid any interference between applications, provision is also made to apply a general reset operation to the RAM zone of the card each time its software configuration is changed. When the card has read/write memory, this general reset includes erasing the read/write memory.
This general reset can be performed in various ways: by applying a signal on a special control line; by enabling a memory address gate; or indeed by executing a specific sequence of instructions, in particular instructions of the card's operating system, instructions of applications software stored in the card, or indeed instructions in the microcode of the card's processor.
Advantageously, the card has non-volatile memory that is subdivided into distinct zones that are respectively usable for each application exclusively, and configuring the card for any one of the applications forces addressing to remain within the corresponding zone of the configured application until the card is reset. In addition, the non-volatile memory may also have a single common zone, that is addressable in a plurality of card configurations, and that receives parameters to be transferred between successive applications corresponding to said configurations.
The card also provides a system for implementing the above method, and comprising: microcircuit cards including means enabling the default application to be executed, means enabling the target application to be executed, and switch means enabling the card to be configured on command either as a default application card or as a target application card; default application terminals suitable for executing transactions of the default application and also a special transaction suitable for applying a reconfiguration command to reconfigure the card for the target application; and target-application terminals suitable for executing target-application transactions.
Advantageously, the default-application terminals are also suitable for executing another special transaction suitable for applying a command to the card for causing it to return to the default-application configuration.
They may also include control means made available to the bearer of the card enabling the bearer to initiate said special transaction or said other special transaction.
Advantageously, the card has a non-volatile memory element, in particular a non-volatile D-type bistable, that conserves in permanent manner data identifying the current software configuration (function number) of the card, and/or a memory element, in particular a D-type bistable, storing said data throughout the duration of the session.
In another particular implementation, the switch means comprise means that produce synchronization signals for sequencing the operations governing resetting of the card and changing its function.
Similarly, it is possible to provide means for jointly paginating all of the memory matrices of the card, whether volatile or otherwise, and whether programmable or otherwise.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4697073 (1987-09-01), Hara
patent: 4736094 (1988-04-01), Yoshida
patent:
Innovatron
Nixon & Vanderhye P.C.
Pitts Harold I.
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