Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Multiple computer communication using cryptography – Protection at a particular protocol layer
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-30
2001-03-13
Iqbal, Nadeem (Department: 2785)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Multiple computer communication using cryptography
Protection at a particular protocol layer
C340S870030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06202155
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to portable programmed data carriers (smart cards) and in particular to producing portable programmed data carriers such as credit cards, debit cards, identification cards, and other transaction cards.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE/PERMISSION
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and data as described below and in the drawing hereto: Copyright© 1998, UBIQ Incorporated, All Rights Reserved.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Standard transaction cards such as regular credit cards are familiar to most people. A transaction card usually has information about the cardholder, such as name and account number, printed and/or embossed on the surface of the card. Transaction cards frequently contain a magnetic stripe which is encoded with cardholder data as well. The process of printing/embossing/encoding the cardholder data on each transaction card is known as “personalization.” Each transaction card also undergoes a process known as “initialization” in which certain types of information common to all cards in a batch, such as an issuer identifier and batch number, are placed on the card.
Existing transaction cards encode such data in a magnetic stripe on the back of the card but the amount of data that can be held by a magnetic stripe is limited. A new type of transaction card embeds a microprocessor computer chip in the plastic of the card to greatly increase the card's data storage capacity. Additionally, sophisticated card applications specific to the card issuer can execute in certain varieties of the chips, and the chip may also contain a type of operating system. Transaction cards with embedded chips are referred to in the industry as portable programmed data carriers, more commonly called “smart cards.” The chip in a smart card can be programmed with initialization and/or personalization data at the same time as the surface of the card is being embossed and/or printed.
The initialization data for a smart card comprises data common to all cards of a specific type. Such data can include application data, security data, and printed data. The application data is common to all cards for a given card application and can include application program code and common data variables that are programmed into the chip. The security data, usually provided as secure keys or security functions, validates the data on the card and prevents fraudulent use of the card. Printed data, such as a logo, bar codes, and various types of numerical information, can be printed on the surface of the card. Some or all of the same data can also be embossed on, or engraved into, the surface of the card. Optical technology also can be employed to make part of the surface of the smart card into a storage medium with data accessible by an appropriate optical reader.
The personalization information for a smart card is similar to the personalization information currently contained on non-chip transaction cards, such as the cardholder's name, account number, card expiration date, and a photograph. Because of its increased storage capacity, the chip in a smart card may contain additional data beyond the basic information on the standard transaction card, including a graphical representation of the individual's signature, data defining the types of service the cardholder is entitled to, and account limits for those services.
Current transaction and smart card issuing systems are fairly inflexible. Most smart card issuing systems must be tailored to meet the requirements of a specific card application that will be programmed on a specific type of smart card under the control of a specific card operating system and to format the data for the card to be compatible with a specific type of personalization equipment chosen to issue the card. The entire issuing system must be re-configured whenever any one of these variables (issuer application, smart card/card operating system, and/or personalization equipment) is changed, increasing the time and cost incurred by the issuer of the card in delivering personalized smart cards to its customers. Similar limitations regarding the need to re-configure the issuing system are present in non-chip transaction card issuing systems. Additionally, many of the current issuing systems lack a viable means to provide dynamic feedback regarding the status of any particular batch of cards in the process to the card issuer.
An alternative transaction card issuing system which is programmable to work with multiple types of transaction cards, multiple types of personalization equipment, and multiple card applications is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,941, issued on Mar. 30, 1999, assigned to the assignee of the present application. However, the transaction card issuing system described therein requires that a programmer create a specific application to manage the personalization information and to interface with the card issuing system.
Thus, the increasing demand for transaction cards in general, and smart cards in particular, requires a flexible smart card issuing system that provides a simple interface for inputting personalization information.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above-mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed by the present invention, which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.
A virtual card personalization system uses a plurality of virtual devices to control physical personalization equipment to produce a physical transaction card as defined by a transaction card configuration and personalization data. The virtual devices use the transaction card configuration to convert the personalization data into format(s) recognizable by the physical personalization equipment. A method of personalizing transaction cards using the plurality of virtual devices, the transaction card configuration and the personalization data is described. In one aspect of the invention, the transaction card configuration is specified in a virtual transaction card.
The virtual card personalization system is described in terms of objects which have methods and properties that are manipulated to cause the objects to process the data necessary to personalize a transaction card. In one aspect of the invention, a particular arrangement of objects comprising the virtual card personalization system is described. In another aspect, the invention is described as components which receive data and instruct physical personalization equipment to produce a transaction card based on the data. Various configurations of the components that are driven by scripts (written in high-level user-friendly scripting languages) or interactive user input are described.
A data structure for one embodiment of a virtual transaction card is also described.
The virtual card personalization system does not require that a user develop a full transaction card personalization application. Instead the user manipulates the virtual card object to define the desired transaction card and configures the virtual device objects to reflect the physical personalization equipment present in the production environment through interactive input or simple scripts. When the production environment changes, the user simply changes the configuration of the corresponding virtual device object(s). Thus, the virtual card personalization system presents a conceptual model of the personalization process to the user and permits the user to quickly and easily change the model without having to resort to complicated programming languages or understand complex file formats.
The present invention describes computer systems, methods, and computer-readable media of varying scope. In addition to the asp
Schaub Steven J.
Tushie David R.
Younger Thomas L.
Iqbal Nadeem
Schwegman Lundberg Woessner & Kluth P.A.
UBIQ Incorporated
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