Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory – Storage accessing and control – Specific memory composition
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-16
2004-09-07
McLean-Mayo, Kimberly (Department: 2187)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: memory
Storage accessing and control
Specific memory composition
C711S100000, C713S176000, C713S152000, C713S161000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06789166
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims priority of Japanese Application No. P2000-143119 filed May 16, 2000, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a data storage device and data storage method, an information processing apparatus and information processing method, and a program.
In an electronic money system or a security system, the use of an IC (Integrated Circuit) card has more widely been increased. The “IC card” means a card-shaped device having embedded therein an IC chip. It has built therein, for example, an operation processing part such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for executing various kinds of processes, a memory for storing therein data necessary for executing these processes, etc. It operates with a prescribed reader/writer that has been utilized with respect thereto. Reading and writing of data with respect to the IC card are thereby executed in a state where the IC card is in electric contact with the reader/writer or in a state of non-contact therewith that uses electromagnetic waves.
For example, in ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 7816, there is defined a standard for a contact type of IC card. According to this standard, there can be managed data with use of, for example, an EF (Elementary File) (corresponding to the so-called “file”) for storing therein a file and a DF for storing therein the EF and DF (Dedicated File) (corresponding to the so-called “directory (folder)”). Accordingly, if setting a certain piece of DF as a parent hierarchy and providing a DF that constitutes a said-parent's child hierarchy, it becomes possible to manage data in the form of a hierarchical structure.
By the way, in cases using the IC card for the purpose of providing service by a plurality of managers, there can be considered as being available therefor a method of allotting the DF, serving as a hierarchy, to each of a plurality of the managers and storing with respect to this DF the EF having therein data regarding the provision of service by each manager.
Also, in cases utilizing the IC card in connection with an electronic money system or a security system, ensuring security for the concealment of data, for the prevention of forgery of the IC card, etc. is important. To this end, it is necessary to perform resources management for storage of data or to perform access control that, with respect to data, is highly flexible and yet has a high level of security.
As the technique for performing access control that, with respect to data, is highly flexible and yet has a high level of security, there is, for example, a technique that is described in an official gazette of Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-36021. According to this cited invention, there are area-definition areas corresponding to the directories of the IC cards.
Those area-definition areas store therein the ranges of codes that are the ranges of usable identification codes (each corresponding to a filename or directory name). Said area-definition areas constitute a hierarchical structure in which, according to those ranges of codes, the data in one area-definition area is used as that corresponding to a parent hierarchy and the data in another is used as that corresponding to a child hierarchy. Further, in the area-definition areas, there are also stored the capacities (empty capacities). By these empty capacities and ranges of codes, in the hierarchy that falls upon a certain area-definition area, the usable capacity and identification code therein are respectively limited.
Further, according to that cited invention, two or more a hierarchical keys are used with respect to each hierarchy corresponding to the memory area having such data stored therein, or two or more data memory area keys are used with respect to the memory area having such data stored therein. Using those keys, there are produced authentication keys that are used for authentication. According to each of those authentication keys, authentication is performed. And, the authentication key that is used when utilizing the parent's hierarchy is made unknown to the user who uses the child's hierarchy. Further, a right to access, the exercise of which is permitted with respect to the child's hierarchy, is given with respect to the service-definition area that among the area-definition areas constitutes a child's hierarchy. Therefore, the manager who manages the parent's hierarchy becomes able to give each user the right to have access to a different service-definition area.
As electronic money becomes more diffused and as the service that uses an IC card becomes more diversified, there has been an increasing demand for the provision of more services through mutual use, by a plurality of service providers, of a single IC card.
To make mutual use of one IC card by a plurality of service providers, it must be arranged that the information or application regarding a specific service a certain service provider offers cannot be accessed when permission therefor is made by the other service providers that make mutual use of that IC card. With this security being maintained as is, it must be arranged that the information or application regarding the service that is mutually used can be possessed by each of the service providers that are performing their mutual use operation.
However, in the case data for realizing various kinds of services that are jointly use-operated or individually use-operated by a plurality of service providers has been defined within the IC card as physically specific or individual blocks, when part of the data that is being jointly use-operated has been reloaded, it becomes necessary to use, within the reader/writer and IC card, means for synchronizing the data contents in a specific block for providing its relevant service with those in another specific block for providing its relevant service. As a result of this, the cost of the reader/writer and that of the IC card have both been increased.
Further, when defining the data for realizing various kinds of services physically as specific blocks, owing to the physical blocks with respect to which a plurality of definitions have been made, the memory capacity inside the card is wasted. This has caused an impediment when supplying more points of service.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances. That is, the present invention is intended, in an IC card by the use of which, for example, a plurality of enterprises provide a plurality of services, to cause a specific-usable service and a commonly usable service to co-exist while ensuring the security of the applications or data that are used to provide the respective enterprises' services.
A data storage device of the present invention includes a first memory that has a first recording area for recording first data and first authentication information with respect to the first data and a second recording area for recording second data and second authentication information with respect to the second data; a data input/output controller operable to control the input/output of data with respect to the information-processing apparatus; determination means that, based on the first and second authentication information, determines whether the transmission/reception of the first data and second data recorded in the first memory should be performed with respect to the information-processing apparatus; and calculation-process execution means that executes calculation processes based on the first data and second data where the determination means determines that the transmission/reception of the data should be performed by the data storage device with respect to the information-processing apparatus, whereby the first memory causes third data of the first data recorded in the first recording area to be stored therein in association with fourth data of the second data recorded in the second recording area,
Fujita Yasuo
Hayatani Shintaro
Kamise Yojiro
Miyazawa Kazumasa
Yamada Makoto
Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP
McLean-Mayo Kimberly
Sony Corporation
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