smart card basics
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Posts: 46,084
hello group.
I'm doing a project where I want people to be able to enter information
on a computer which would then be stored on a card to be read back or
modified later. I've been researching smart cards but I'm a bit confused
the large number of vendors and amount of information. Can anyone give
me advice or point me to a good place to start?
thanks!
I'm doing a project where I want people to be able to enter information
on a computer which would then be stored on a card to be read back or
modified later. I've been researching smart cards but I'm a bit confused
the large number of vendors and amount of information. Can anyone give
me advice or point me to a good place to start?
thanks!
Comments
>hello group.
>
>I'm doing a project where I want people to be able to enter information
>on a computer which would then be stored on a card to be read back or
>modified later. I've been researching smart cards but I'm a bit confused
>the large number of vendors and amount of information. Can anyone give
>me advice or point me to a good place to start?
>
>thanks!
Mark -
You don't mention what you know about them now, nor exactly what you're hoping to learn. Here is an overview of what a smart-card is, how they're constructed and
where they're often used:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question332.htm
One you get past that level of understanding, then you may want to look at something like this from the National Institute of Standards:
http://smartcard.nist.gov/faq.html
The next stop from here is to decide which interface you might plan to adopt.
References are made in that documentation above to the Open Card Group (Java based):
http://www.opencard.org/ and to the PC/SC Group.
The PC/SC Group (Windows based) can be found here:
http://www.pcscworkgroup.com/
The data formats and physical specifications are governed by ISO-7816, much of which can be found here:
http://www.cardwerk.com/smartcards/smartcard_standard_ISO7816.aspx
As noted on that web page if you need more than that you will have to purchase the additional documentation you require from ISO. I hope that information above is helpful. If not, you may want to ask more precise questions.
Regards,
Bruce Bates
Thanks for the great links. If it's not trying your patience I'll
explain what I'm trying to do, and maybe you can advise me on the proper
technology.
A user recieves a card. At a kiosk the user can enter information into a
pc. once the info is entered it's copied onto the card. later they can
put their card into another kiosk which reads the earlier data and
offers them the chance to update their info.
I don't want to use swipe cards because it needs to read the card and
allow the user to update their information, which is a two step process
(first read card, prompt for updates, write update).
thanks,
Mark
>At 07:00 PM 7/9/04 -0700, mark allen wrote:
>
>
>>hello group.
>>
>>I'm doing a project where I want people to be able to enter information
>>on a computer which would then be stored on a card to be read back or
>>modified later. I've been researching smart cards but I'm a bit confused
>>the large number of vendors and amount of information. Can anyone give
>>me advice or point me to a good place to start?
>>
>>thanks!
>>
>>
>
>Mark -
>
>You don't mention what you know about them now, nor exactly what you're hoping to learn. Here is an overview of what a smart-card is, how they're constructed and
>where they're often used:
> http://www.howstuffworks.com/question332.htm
>
>One you get past that level of understanding, then you may want to look at something like this from the National Institute of Standards:
> http://smartcard.nist.gov/faq.html
>
>The next stop from here is to decide which interface you might plan to adopt.
>References are made in that documentation above to the Open Card Group (Java based):
> http://www.opencard.org/ and to the PC/SC Group.
>
>The PC/SC Group (Windows based) can be found here:
> http://www.pcscworkgroup.com/
>
>The data formats and physical specifications are governed by ISO-7816, much of which can be found here:
> http://www.cardwerk.com/smartcards/smartcard_standard_ISO7816.aspx
>
>As noted on that web page if you need more than that you will have to purchase the additional documentation you require from ISO. I hope that information above is helpful. If not, you may want to ask more precise questions.
>
>Regards,
>
>Bruce Bates
>
>
>
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>Bruce,
>
>Thanks for the great links. If it's not trying your patience I'll
>explain what I'm trying to do, and maybe you can advise me on the proper
>technology.
>
>A user recieves a card.
You're going to have to be a bit more specific here. Is there any innate value to the card, such as an electronic gift card might have? The underlying question is how much security you will need, if any. If the security needs are very low, you may not even need to get into smart card technology. There are other facilities which can offer read/write/re-write abilities which are readily available.
> At a kiosk the user can enter information into a pc. Once the info is entered it's copied onto the card. later they can put their card into another kiosk which reads the earlier data and offers them the chance to update their info.
It needn't be your exact application, if you'd like to keep that private, but can you give an example of a practical application of this sort of "transaction"?
>I don't want to use swipe cards because it needs to read the card and
>allow the user to update their information, which is a two step process
>(first read card, prompt for updates, write update).
That necessity for two steps can be avoided with something other than smart card technology. So far I can't see a need for smart cards.
>thanks,
>
>Mark
Regards,
Bruce Bates
-?-Was that card previously with the user or just obtained ?
> At a kiosk the user can enter information into a pc. Once the info is entered it's copied onto the card. later they can put their card into another kiosk which reads the earlier data and offers them the chance to update their info.
-?- Could this information be how much money or points the user might have left on that card?
>I don't want to use swipe cards because it needs to read the card and allow the user to update their information, which is a two step process (first read card, prompt for updates, write update).
-?- Why not use read /write magnetic swipe cards? or you can use a mechanical insert card reader that reads the card when it is inserted, keeps the card in there, does whatever transaction needed, then writes new info on the card as it ejects it back out to the user when the application is over.
Regards,
Basil
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