Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/ – Intrasystem connection – Bus access regulation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-29
2001-07-03
Auve, Glenn A. (Department: 2781)
Electrical computers and digital data processing systems: input/
Intrasystem connection
Bus access regulation
C235S492000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06256690
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of portable tokens such as smart cards. More particularly, the present invention relates to a smart card capable of effectively running multiple applications.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Most consumers are familiar with credit cards, debit cards, and automatic teller machine (ATM) cards. Such cards are increasingly used to access, transfer and spend money. The back of these cards includes a magnetic strip storing encoded information about the cardholder and the account(s) accessible by the card. Terminals, including ATMs and merchant point-of-sale terminals, read the encoded information from the card and access the cardholder's account to complete a transaction.
Besides the well-known credit and debit cards, stored value cards are becoming increasingly popular. Stored value cards are purchased or issued with a specific monetary value. When the cardholder desires to use the stored value card to purchase goods or services, the card is presented at the point of sale and the cost of the goods or services is deducted from the value of the card. The cardholder may continue to use the stored value card in this manner until all the value has been removed from the card. The card may then be discarded, or its value may be replenished. Such cards are commonly used to pay subway fares or to make long distance phone calls.
For many types of transactions, however, the current trend is away from credit/debit cards and stored value cards, and into a class of devices generally called smart cards. Rather than employing information encoded on a magnetic strip, smart cards include a microprocessor and a memory element embedded within a credit card size device. With a microprocessor, a smart card is able to interact with a greater variety of terminals across a broader range of transactions. In this broader range of transactions, the smart card is able to communicate more information regarding the cardholder, cardholder account, transaction authorization, etc.
The term “smart card” is used throughout as a convenient name for a broad class of devices sometimes referred to as portable tokens. Smart cards are the most common present form of portable tokens, but as will be seen hereafter the actual physical form of the portable token, as well as the specific means by which the portable token communicates data to the outside world are not the subject of the present invention.
Smart cards have been used in various applications for some time.
FIG. 1
shows an exemplary smart card
1
. Roughly the size of a credit card, smart card
1
includes a microprocessor
2
with an integral memory element, and conductive contacts
3
. Microprocessor
2
is typically a single wafer integrated circuit mounted on, or embedded within the otherwise plastic smart card. Conductive contacts
3
interface with a terminal to electrically transfer data between the terminal and the smart card. Other embodiments of the smart card do not include conductive contacts
3
. Such “contactless” smart cards receive information via proximately coupling, such as magnetic coupling, or via remote coupling, such as radio communication.
The microprocessor
2
and conductive contacts
3
of
FIG. 1
, are shown in some additional detail in FIG.
2
. Conductive contacts variously include power contacts, at least one input/output (I/O) port, a reset port, and a clock (elk) signal port. Microprocessor
2
comprises a central processing unit (CPU)
9
which is generically control logic including I/O circuitry
4
. Terminal signals variously interface with CPU
9
through the conductive contacts
3
and I/O circuitry
4
. Microprocessor
2
is associated with a memory element
5
. The “memory” may be formed on the same integrated circuit as the microprocessor, or may be formed on a separate device. Generally, the memory includes Random Access Memory (RAM)
6
, Read Only Memory (ROM)
7
, and read/write memory, such as an Electrically Erasable Programable Read Only Memory (EEPROM)
8
. However, some or all of these presently-used memory elements may be replaced by battery backed-up RAM, flash memory, or other electronic data storage media.
Operating power, a user input keypad, and a display for the smart card microprocessor are typically provided by a terminal. The term “terminal” broadly indicates any device exchanging information with a smart card using any type or number of data transfer means. A computer, ATM, merchant point-of-sale device, telephone, or security control device, are present examples of terminals.
A broad class of terminals nominally include a mechanism detecting the presence of a properly positioned smart card. Upon detecting the smart card, the terminal provides power to the microprocessor, and typically sends a reset (RST) signal to the smart card. The smart card uses the RST signal to reset itself, or to initiate an internal reset function. After reset, the smart card returns an answer-to-reset (ATR) signal to the terminal. The nature and protocol for the ATR signal is established by International Standards Organization (ISO) standard 7816. As established, the ATR is a multi-byte signal communicating basic information concerning the smart card to the terminal. Once such basic information is successfully recognized by the terminal, communication, i.e., data transfer, between the smart card and the terminal can be established.
Smart cards can be programmed to operate as stored value cards, credit cards, debit cards, ATM cards, calling cards, personal identity cards, critical record storage devices, etc. In these varied capacities, a smart card may be designed to use a number of different application programs. In actual practice, however, an inability to readily develop and operate applications from a variety of sources has limited the type and number of applications placed on the conventional smart card. In fact, most conventional smart cards include only a single application, or at most a single type of application.
This is not surprising when one considers that from programming and implementation perspectives conventional first generation smart cards are little more than an embedded application. That is, first generation cards can be viewed as an application which runs a set of microprocessor-specific instructions on hardware resources. The term “hardware resources” is used to generically indicate the memory and logic circuits, with their associated interfaces, used to execute microprocessor instructions but may also include I/O circuits, power circuits, and the other hardware. First generation smart card applications are written in a very low level, or machine level language. This language is specific to the microprocessor on which the application is intended to run.
Such conventional smart cards do not employ a true operating system. Rather, a specific application written according to the microprocessor instruction set is stored in ROM and executed in accordance with commands received from a terminal. MPCOS, VisaCash, GSM, and Proton are examples of such first generation embedded applications.
A true operating system does not execute commands received from the outside world. Thus, in the context of a smart card, a true operating system will not (is unable to) directly execute commands received from a terminal. Rather, an operating system serves as a conduit and router for commands communicated from a terminal to an application stored on the smart card. Additionally, an operating system serves as a conduit through which an application utilizes the hardware resources. In other words, an operating system provides I/O functions and provides other functionality to applications running on the OS. Since first generation smart cards store only the application code, and since this code must necessarily executes commands received from the terminal, first generation smart cards do not include an operating system. In an attempt to overcome the difficulties, limitations and expense associated with the programing of first generation smart cards, second generation sma
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