Registers – Records – Conductive
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-16
2001-03-13
Le, Thien M. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Records
Conductive
C235S486000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199764
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 87120426, filed Dec. 9, 1998, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter) and a smart IC card reading system, and in particular to a UART with an IC card reading interface and an IC card reading system using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plastic money, such as bank cards including credit cards, has been more popular in these years. As we know, a conventional plastic card which is called a magnetic card with a magnetic strip stuck thereon cannot store a great amount of data and lack of security. In line with the great progress in semiconductor technology, the sizes of integrated circuits (ICs) are getting increasingly small. For this reason, an IC card has been developed by the integration of a plastic card and an IC, and is used to completely replace the conventional magnetic card. Since an IC card can store much more data, has a better security and cannot be easily damaged, the IC card not only functions as a bank card, but also as an identification card and a health insurance card. Therefore, it has become a new trend that the smart IC card is widely applied in our daily life.
In general, an IC card can be classified into a memory card, a microprocessor card and a contactless card. Currently, a card reader required for reading the memory card and the microprocessor card is designed mainly using an 8-bit micro-controller as a center to communicate with a computer's UART through an RS-232C communication interface. As shown in
FIG. 1
, a conventional IC card reading system is shown. In
FIG. 1
, an IC card reader
12
reads data from an IC card according to an ISO7816 specification. After that, the read data are transmitted to a personal computer
10
according to an RS-232C communication specification, and then are processed with a driver thereof.
The prior IC card reader
12
includes an IC card socket
19
, a smart card interface
18
, a micro-controller
17
and a receiver-transmitter
16
. When an IC card is inserted into the IC card socket
19
, a firmware included in the micro-controller
17
can control the smart card interface
18
to provide an I/O signal in compliance with an ISO7816 specification for access of the IC card according to commands from the personal computer
10
. Typically, data read from the IC card through the micro-controller
17
are converted into an RS-232C specification signal by the receiver-transmitter
16
, and then the RS-232C specification signal is transmitted to a UART
14
of the personal computer
10
through a receiver-transmitter
15
of the personal computer
10
.
The IC card reader
12
requires more than 3 ICs, such as a micro-controller with a firmware therein, a receiver-transmitter for conversion to meet a communication interface specification and a smart card interface for conversion to meet an IC card specification. It can be known by referring to an ISO 7816 specification that an access serial data format for an IC card includes one start bit, 8 data bits, one parity bit and at least one guardtime bit, and is one of data formats which can be received and processed by the UART
14
, i.e., one start bit, 8 data bits, one parity bit and one stop bit. As be obvious from the above, data are subjected to two specification conversions with similar serial data formats in the IC card reader
12
of the personal computer and the UART
14
, respectively. This causes more energy source and materials consumption and higher manufacturing costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above, an object of the invention is to provide a UART with an IC card reading interface and an IC card reading system using the same. Since the inventive UART can be allowed to directly control a smart interface card, manufacturing costs for the entire IC card reading system and energy source and materials consumption are greatly reduced. As a result, the application of the UART becomes more flexible.
To achieve the above-stated object, a UART with an IC card reading interface according to the invention at least has a serial output signal and a serial input signal. The UART with an IC card reading interface includes a universal asynchronous communication core, a multiplexer and a 3-state control I/O buffer. The universal asynchronous communication core is responsible for communications of asynchronous serial signals which include an internal serial output signal, an internal serial input signal and a transmission clock output signal.
Furthermore, the multiplexer has an output terminal connected to a serial output signal, one input terminal connected to the transmission clock output signal, the other input terminal connected to the internal serial output signal, and a selecting terminal connected to a mode selecting signal. When the mode selecting signal indicates an IC card reading mode, the transmission clock output signal activates the serial output signal. When the mode selecting signal indicates a universal asynchronous receiver/transmit mode, the internal serial output signal activates the serial output signal. The 3-state control I/O buffer is connected to the internal serial output signal, the internal serial input signal, the mode selecting signal and a serial input signal, wherein the serial input signal is used to activate the internal serial input signal. If the mode selecting signal indicates an IC card reading mode, when the internal serial output signal is at a low potential, the serial input signal is at a low potential. Under the IC card reading mode, when the internal serial output signal is at a high potential, and the serial input signal is activated by an external signal, the serial input signal is equal to the external signal. Furthermore, when the internal serial output signal is at a high potential, and the serial input signal is not activated by the external signal, the serial input signal is at a high potential.
Additionally, an IC card reading system using the inventive UART with an IC card reading interface according to the invention includes an IC card reader with an IC card socket and a smart card interface, and a computer system with an UART which has an IC card reading interface therein. The IC card socket is provided for the connection to an IC card. The smart card interface electrically connected to the IC card socket supplies an I/O signal required for access to the IC card. The UART with an IC card reading interface is electrically coupled to the smart card interface for controlling the smart card interface to access an inserted IC card. Furthermore, the UART can be optionally connected to a receiver-transmitter for providing an asynchronous communication function to the computer system.
Due to the use of the inventive UART with an IC card reading interface, the computer system can be directly connected to the smart card interface inside the IC card reader with a saving of a micro-controller and a receiver-transmitter. Therefore, manufacturing costs and energy source and materials consumption are greatly decreased. Furthermore, the computer system can also be selectively connected to the receiver-transmitter, thereby providing an asynchronous communication function to the computer system, resulting in a flexible application.
In addition, another UART with an IC card reading interface according to the invention includes a universal asynchronous communication core, a multiplexer, an inverter, an inverting AND gate, a 3-state inverter and a pull-up resistor. The universal asynchronous communication core is responsible for communications of asynchronous serial signals including an internal serial input signal, an internal serial input signal and a transmission clock output signal. The multiplexer has one input terminal connected to the transmission clock output signal, the other input terminal connected to the internal serial output signal and
Huang Jiawei
J.C. Patents
Le Thien M.
Winbond Electronics Corp.
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