The birth of a smart card

"Smart", what is "smart"? Smart cards, smart ID cards, smart homes, and smart cars "intelligence" seem to be the inevitable result of technological development. This is not only a trend, but also the general direction of development in all aspects in the future. influences. Have you seen a set of art film "Future Report"? In the film, the actor Tang sue Ruth. Every time he takes over an investigation, a small memory card will be handed over to him. The location, time, passage, victim and suspicious person of the case have been entered. Information, and the departments can track the investigation progress of the case through the memory card and how to carry out the next step of the work, completely eliminating all the document work procedures and the trouble of file transfer and delivery.

Today, although we have not been able to fully use smart cards for life and work, we can see the changes that smart cards have slowly made in our lives. Smart ID cards are a good example. Circular cards, driving licenses, Electronic certificates and even exit records are all stored in a smart card, which is convenient and practical. In the near future, the phenomenon of "one card is around, the world is around" may be realized.

Want to know what kind of energy card? What's in it? What is the future development? Please see the breakdown below

What is a smart card?

Smart cards, also called smart cards, can be divided into contact and contactless types. Whether it is contact or contactless, there is a computer chip in the card that can store and manage data, compared with the general use of barcode Cards with magnetic tapes have a larger amount of stored data and have the function of transforming data, such as octopus, easy parking cards, user identification cards (SIM cards), and current smart ID cards, all belong to the category of smart cards.

Contact smart card

Contact smart cards, as the name implies, can only read the data in the chip after contacting the chip in the smart card with the reader, such as the SIM card, e-Park card, and smart ID card used in mobile phones are the best examples. In this type of smart card, the chip is mostly mounted on the surface of the card. The chip records and stores data or digital images in the chip through specific electronic tools, which is convenient for the reader to contact, so as to read, transfer or modify the chip. data.

In addition to application chips, there are also some contact smart cards that use barcodes or tapes as media for storing data, but these can only be limited to storing some unchanged data, such as membership numbers.

At present, contact smart cards are widely used, and smart ID cards are using this technology. The crystal on the smart ID card has a separate independent storage area to store the immigration and other functions independently and reserve space. For the public to add value for non-entry matters. As shown below:

This type of smart card, even if the card body is made of durable materials, but because the chip is embedded on the surface of the card, it needs to be stored with relative care. Avoid contact with the magnet and avoid storing it with keys, coins, etc. Prevent the chip surface from being scratched. Once the chip on the smart card surface is scratched, the reader cannot read the data stored in the chip or cause the read data to be incomplete.

Contactless smart card

The chip of the non-contact smart card is embedded in the card, and the antenna is arranged around the chip, which is convenient for transmitting and receiving data messages. The technology applied by the non-contact smart card is called RFID (Radio Identification Technology)

RFID technology

The non-contact smart card uses RFID (Radio Identification Technology). Regarding RFID technology, this magazine interviewed Mr. Sun Guojiang, the director and consultant of the Supply Chain Management and Technology Department of the Hong Kong Commodity Coding Association, to understand the application and smart card RFID technology The application of RFID in different fields and future development.

RFID technology can appear in different forms. Generally, RFID tags used in smart cards are mostly caught in the middle of the card body during the card loading process. It is different from the general chip in that there is an antenna around the chip to receive and transmit data, and the shape of the antenna also has a rectangle, a triangle, a rotating shape, or even a fork shape. Antennas of different shapes affect the reception And transmission strength.

RFID tags arranged with square antennas

Mr. Sun said that passive RFID readers can emit radio waves, and the strength of the radio waves needs to be specially adjusted. The stronger the radio waves, the higher the sensitivity. It is likely that the surrounding data will be read together. Therefore, the institutions that use RFID will press Purpose To adjust the intensity of the radio wave, and limit the smart card to contact the reader within the specified isolation to receive the relevant information. The antenna in the card transmits the data to the reader after receiving the radio wave. RFID operates according to this principle. The most common example of applying RFID technology in daily life is Octopus (OCTOPUS). Because RFID transmits data through the antenna, Therefore, when we want to change the data in the contactless smart card, it is much more convenient than the contact smart card. Taking Octopus as an example, after paying the fee, the reader connected to the terminal computer immediately enters the updated information into the card. Among the chips, it saves a lot of time compared to the smart card that needs to be inserted. In addition to this example, the automatic payment function of the tunnel in the car also uses RFID technology. The car owner only needs to put the RFID device in the range of the body. When the car passes through the automatic payment system, the RFID reader can obtain the relevant data. The principle is the same as the Octopus.

Smart card construction

The structure of a general smart card can be roughly divided into two parts, the card body and the chip / RFID tag / tape / bar code. The card body is mostly made of some hard and durable rubber. At present, the smart ID card is made of a polycarbonate non-shatterable glue. These materials are mostly based on the principle of durability, wear resistance and resistance to environmental changes such as physical, chemical and temperature. Of course, it also depends on the age of the smart card. It is determined that general membership cards or smart cards with a short life span will use relatively resistant materials with economic principles for the sake of cost. On the contrary, some smart cards with a long service life, such as smart ID cards, etc. Relatively use some more durable materials. As mentioned earlier, the contact smart card chip is given to the surface of the card body, and the RFID label is embedded in the card body. RFID labels use special machines to transfer the chip and antenna to a film and store it in the middle of the card body.

Information confidentiality

I still remember that when the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region first introduced the smart ID card, everyone was most concerned about the confidentiality of personal data. I was worried about storing all the information in the chip on the card. If the smart card is lost, will it be a criminal? Stolen personal data? In this regard, do n’t worry, the smart ID card is used as an example. What is stored on the chip is only the cardholder ’s data. The remaining sensitive or private personal data is recorded in the computer ’s central system. You need to enter a password or attach a specific Instructions can be read, such as only authorized departments can access relevant information or the certificate holder can only read the data on the card after identity verification.

Machine for printing RFID tags

For non-contact smart cards that use RFID technology, according to Mr. Sun, in order to prevent the radio wave of the reader from being too strong, the data outside the target is read together. When any machine adopts the RFID reader, it is necessary to adjust the reading The intensity of the radio wave emitted by the device determines the distance to read the smart card, plus the need to read the data in the card and some internal specific conditions to read.

The use of smart card

Smart cards have a wide range of uses. In addition to being able to store cumbersome and large amounts of data, they can also be used for payment, shopping, and some are used for security, identifying customers and users. In the future, smart cards are more likely to be developed for more uses. One step affects our lives.

Smart cards are of daily importance in our daily lives. For example, Octopus cards that are used every day, and user identification cards in mobile phones are the most representative smart cards. In addition to being used to pay, they can also be used Identify the user's identity. In terms of security, some large enterprises and residences have adopted smart cards as identification certificates for identification, and all employees and residents will be issued a smart card with the user's brief personal information and photos printed on the card. , When you enter, you only need to read the cardholder's information and records with smart cards and readers. Even university student IDs have used smart cards to combine student information and library cards, for example, City University launched in January and February The "smart card" is designed with a dual chip, combined with payment and identification, and can serve as a student ID card and an Octopus on campus, paying some small fees.

Postscript, explore RFID

As mentioned earlier, RFID is widely used. In recent years, RFID (radio frequency identification technology) has attracted attention from all walks of life, but it is not unknown that RFID has been available before the Second World War and has a history of more than half a century. The technology is a technology that can read data from a distance, including an integrated circuit tag with an antenna and a receiving point equipped with a micro processor. At that time, the Allies used RFID technology to remotely identify enemy and enemy fighters. However, with the advancement of technology and the establishment of a unified EPC standard, RFID has now entered the stage of practical application.

Application and function of RFID

RFID is different from traditional barcodes. It can simultaneously read the data in multiple tags at a high speed, which greatly improves the efficiency of work. Therefore, it is highly concerned by all walks of life. At present, RFID has been used in commercial sales in foreign countries.

According to Mr. Sun Guojiang, Head of Supply Key Management and Technology Department and Technical Consultant of the Commodity Coding Association, the popularity of RFID will make our business activities and even our personal daily lives a significant influence. Now, some large and well-known foreign companies have applied RFID to daily management processes, such as Walmart (Walmartl · Target · Tesco, Metro granted US Department of Defense (US Depart-meat of Defense) have adopted or plan to apply in the short term RFID radio frequency identification technology.

Application in Hong Kong retail industry

As far as the retail industry is concerned, by attaching RFID tags to the goods and installing readers on the shelves, you can know the record of the goods. Have the goods been placed on unsuitable shelves? How much inventory is still on the shelf? These data are all clear on the terminal computer through the reader. And logistics has a greater effect. In addition to counting the in and out records of goods with high efficiency, it can also track the flow of goods and the status of delivery.

According to the relevant test examples in the journal of the Hong Kong Commodity Coding Association, the results of using RFID for commercial purposes are quite satisfactory. In this test, a major German retail store MetroGroup launched the "Tomorrow Store" plan, which uses transportation and payment as test items. And the tracking of the goods in the store is that the results show that the application of EPC and RFID enables enterprises to implement automation at the pallet and outer box level, shorten the speed of receipt and shipment, and the situation of shortage, storage management, and inventory recovery are all There is a significant improvement, and the Mertro Group also expects that after the full adoption of EPC and RFID, the group's distribution center can save 189,000 pounds per year, store revenue is expected to increase by 0.5% per year, and producers are expected to increase revenue by 0.7%.

RFID development resistance

Uniform standards

Since RFID technology has been available since half a century ago, why has it become popular in recent years? The problem lies in the lack of a unified standard. Just like barcodes, when the barcodes used by each company are "not one tree", it is difficult for other companies to recognize how to read the information in the barcode, so the birth of EAV · UCC RFID, which is a unified standard for barcodes, is no exception. With the global economic integration, the supply chain operation is becoming more and more extensive. RFID needs a unified standard to solve the problem, so the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed an approved RFID code. Standard—EPC. EPC is a set of internationally unified RFID standards that includes RFID frequency definitions, taking into account the label format, data interchange and other layers.

High cost

In addition, the high cost is also one of the resistances of RfID's failure to be fully popularized. Currently, the cost of manufacturing an RFID label is about 1-5 cents, and the price of the reader used to read the data is from 10,000 to 3 Ten thousand Hong Kong dollars varies, regardless of the cost of the label or reader depends on the size of the function, the size of the large and small Mr. Sun said that due to price costs, most of the current application of RFID is some large enterprises, or expensive On the goods, but this low price or a large number of goods, because of the high cost, temporarily failed to adopt this technology, but Mr. Sun estimates that as RFID business opportunities are gradually discovered, and more and more manufacturers believe that the price must go further With downward adjustment, the application of RFID will be further popularized.

other problems

In addition to the fact that RFID has not been fully developed because of the above two main factors, foreign countries have started to argue about data confidentiality, personal whereabouts and health issues. In addition to worrying about the strength of the reader, they can read all the chip data in the range to expose individuals. In addition to the information, I am even more worried about the health of the radio waves emitted. In addition, because of the tracking function of RFID, they worry that their whereabouts may be involved, thereby infringing on their privacy. But Mr. Sun said that the radio wave of the reader must be adjusted because each country or region has a fixed frequency (unit of radio wave). If it is not adjusted, it will interfere with other radio systems or be harmful to the human body. In addition to the radio waves, there are some internal specific conditions to read the data in the card; and any product with or with RFID tags will let consumers know where the tags are and allow consumers to decide Whether to remove the RFID tag is absolutely not suspected of involving personal data.

Future development of RFID

Mr. Sun said that when RFID becomes more and more popular, it will have a comprehensive impact on our lives, not just limited to commercial applications. For example, when all goods are affixed with RFID tags, and our home appliances and supplies are equipped with reading The smart home will appear immediately, and the refrigerator can promptly notify the house king when only one can of soda is left to add: when putting the clothes in the washing machine, it can recognize the need to wash the clothes at a very high temperature, for us It saves you a lot of troubles when asking about trivia.

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