GB2061820A - Security card with electronic recognition key - Google Patents

Security card with electronic recognition key Download PDF

Info

Publication number
GB2061820A
GB2061820A GB8025059A GB8025059A GB2061820A GB 2061820 A GB2061820 A GB 2061820A GB 8025059 A GB8025059 A GB 8025059A GB 8025059 A GB8025059 A GB 8025059A GB 2061820 A GB2061820 A GB 2061820A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
cells
recognition key
card
effacing
key
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB8025059A
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
STMicroelectronics SRL
Original Assignee
ATES Componenti Elettronici SpA
SGS ATES Componenti Elettronici SpA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ATES Componenti Elettronici SpA, SGS ATES Componenti Elettronici SpA filed Critical ATES Componenti Elettronici SpA
Publication of GB2061820A publication Critical patent/GB2061820A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • GPHYSICS
    • G11INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11CSTATIC STORES
    • G11C16/00Erasable programmable read-only memories
    • G11C16/02Erasable programmable read-only memories electrically programmable
    • G11C16/06Auxiliary circuits, e.g. for writing into memory
    • G11C16/10Programming or data input circuits
    • G11C16/20Initialising; Data preset; Chip identification
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06KGRAPHICAL DATA READING; PRESENTATION OF DATA; RECORD CARRIERS; HANDLING RECORD CARRIERS
    • G06K19/00Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings
    • G06K19/06Record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings characterised by the kind of the digital marking, e.g. shape, nature, code
    • G06K19/067Record carriers with conductive marks, printed circuits or semiconductor circuit elements, e.g. credit or identity cards also with resonating or responding marks without active components
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06QINFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/30Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
    • G06Q20/34Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using cards, e.g. integrated circuit [IC] cards or magnetic cards
    • G06Q20/343Cards including a counter
    • G06Q20/3433Cards including a counter the counter having monetary units
    • GPHYSICS
    • G07CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07FCOIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F7/00Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus
    • G07F7/02Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus by keys or other credit registering devices
    • GPHYSICS
    • G07CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07FCOIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F7/00Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus
    • G07F7/08Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means
    • G07F7/0866Mechanisms actuated by objects other than coins to free or to actuate vending, hiring, coin or paper currency dispensing or refunding apparatus by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means by active credit-cards adapted therefor

Abstract

An electronic card (1) comprises a matrix of erasable ROM cells (2) of the FAMOS or MNOS type, within which a non-erasable recognition key is constituted by a group of effaced cell (2'). Each of the cells (2) has a control electrode (3) connected to a source (4) of effacing voltage through destructible component (5), by which the destructible component (5) may be destroyed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Electronic card comprising effaceable cells with a non-reproducible recognition key, and a method of providing said non-reproducible key This invention relates to an effaceable electronic card with a non-reproducible recognition key for goods or services distribution apparatus, and a method of providing said non-reproducible key.
There is an increasingly widespread use of electronic cards which are suitably programmed for operating goods or services distribution apparatus of various kinds, for example telephones, automatic distributors for drinks or other foodstuffs, and motorway toll gates, and for calculating the charge to be debited.
In particular, cards are known which include a matrix of effaceable cells, i.e. semiconductor cells which can be switched from one state to another by the application of suitable voltages to their electrodes.
Said semiconductor cells could advantageously be of the known FAMOS type (floating gate avalanche injection metal oxide semiconductor) with a control electrode, having the facility to be switched from one state (conduction) to the other (blocked) and to remain so for a more or less infinite time by injecting high energy electrons into an electrode (floating gate) of the cell which is completely embedded in an insulation oxide layer. The FAMOS cells are in this respect preferred above all others which can be produced by present-day techniques, from the economical viewpoint.
In order to prevent falsification or their unauthorised use, FAMOS cell cards could also be easily provided with a recognition key in the form of a group of cells, for example one row of the matrix, which have been previously effaced. Such a key could be read and recognised by a suitable device connected into the apparatus for which the card is intended.
However, FAMOS cells have one negative characteristic in terms of their use in an effaceable cell card for distribution apparatus, this being that they can be reset to their initial state by exposure to ultraviolet or X-rays. This means that a FAMOS cell card which has already been completely effaced could be illegally restored to its initial virgin state and reused an infinite number of times, with evident economical damage to the authorities or companies which distribute the goods or services for which the card is used.
It is evidently true that by restoring all the cells to their initial state, the recognition key also disappears, but it is also true that the same key can then be reinstated by previously effacing the correct group of cells.
Another type of semiconductor cell which can be used for the effaceable electronic card is that produced in the known art under the symbol MNOS (metal-nitride-oxide semiconductor). In common with the FAMOS cell, this has the capacity for changing its state by load injection, and although it is normally cancelled electrically, it can be cancelled by ultraviolet or X rays as in the case of the FAMOS.
An object of the present invention is to provide å cell card of FAMOS or MNOS type, which cannot be reused after cancellation of the effaced cells because it is provided with a non-reproducible recognition key.
According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic card comprising effaceable cells with a recognition key for goods or services distribution apparatus, comprising a matrix of cells of the FAMOS or MNOS type with a programme recognition key constituted by a predetermined group of previously effaced cells, each cell of said group of cells having a control electrode connected to a source of effacing voltage by way of a circuit means comprising at least one destructible component, which is destroyed when programming has taken place.
Further, according to the present invention, a method for providing said programmed recognition key in the card as set forth above and making it non-reproducible comprises applying through said destructible component the effacing voltage to the control electrodes of the cells which comprise the recognition key, and then destroying the destructible component.
In this manner, the card can be used only once, as any illegal cancellation of the card would also lead to cancellation of the key, which could then no longer be reinstated because of the interrupted connection deriving from the construction of said component.
A card is thus obtained with is very economical and at the same time free from the drawbacks which otherwise derive from the facility for cancellation of the FAMOS and MNOS cells.
An embodiment of this invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the cell matrix of a card according to the invention; Figure 2 shows the electrical connection made by the destructible component between the control electrode of the cell group which forms the card recognition key and the relative source of effacing voltage.
Fig. 1 shows by way of example a matrix 1 of effaceable FAMOS cells 2 disposed in sixteen rows and eight columns. All the cells 2 are in their conducting state, i.e. are not effaced, except for those which are shaded and indicated by the reference numeral 2', forming part of the fifteenth row from the top, indicated in its turn by R15. Said effaced cells 2' constitute the "key" for recognising the card 1 by the reading and recognition device, which is suitably incorporated in the goods or services distribution apparatus for which the card is intended. Said device is not described herein because it is not included in the invention and is of any reading and comparator type easily constructed by an.expert of the art.
The cells 2' are effaced, i.e. the recognition key for the card is programmed, by the circuit of Fig. 2, in which all the cells 2' of the row R15 have their control electrode 3 connected to a voltage source 4 by way of a destructible component constituted, by way of example, by a fuse 5. A diode 6 is connected between earth and any intermediate point between the fuse 5 and cells 2'.
The cells 2' are programed by applying a suitable effacing voltage (for example 25V), supplied by the source 4, to the control electrodes 3 of all the cells 2' of the row R15 for a predetermined time (for example 50 ms) by way of the fuse 5, after applying a suitable voltage between the other electrodes of each cell. Said cells then switch their initial state (conduction) so that they all take on a different state (blocked), in which they remain characteristically for a more or less infinite time. The cells 2' are thus effaced.
On terminating the operation, the fuse 5 is burnt by passing through it a current of suitable value (for example 40 mA) fed in the conduction direction of the diode 6.
The card is thus ready for use, during which all the other cells 2 become progressively effaced under the control of the distribution apparatus and by means of different circuits of conventional type free from fuses and including suitable selection members.
When the card has been completely used up it cannot be restored to its initial condition and thus reused, because any cancellation of the cells by known ultraviolet or X-ray systems would also cancel the cells 2', i.e. the recognition key, which could not then be reinstated because of the fact that the fuse 5 is burnt out.
In a further embodiment of the invention, which is not represented but is easily understood, the effacing voltage could be applied to one of the electrodes of the cells of the recognition key not directly through a fuse, but through a circuit means having the function of an electronic switch, the control electrode of which receives the effacing voltage through the fuse. This circuit means could be a MOS (metal-oxide semiconductor) in series with one of the cell electrodes, and having the control electrode (gate) connected to the fuse.

Claims (4)

1. An electronic card comprising effaceable cells with a recognition key for goods or services distribution apparatus, comprising a matrix of cells of the FAMOS or MNOS type with a programmed recognition key constituted by a predetermined group of previously effaced cells, each cell of said group of cells having a control electrode connected to a source of effacing voltage by way of a circuit means comprising at least one destructible component, which is destroyed when programming has taken place.
2. A card as claimed in claim 1, wherein said destructible component is a fuse.
3. A method for providing said programmed recognition key in the card in accordance with claim 1 and making it non-reproducible, comprising applying said effacing voltage through said destructible component to the control electrodes of the cells which comprise said recognition key, and then destroying said destructible component.
4. An electronic card substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
GB8025059A 1979-08-09 1980-07-31 Security card with electronic recognition key Withdrawn GB2061820A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT7925036A IT1207227B (en) 1979-08-09 1979-08-09 REPRODUCIBLE. ELECTRONIC CARD WITH OBLITERABLE CELLS WITH KEY OF RECOGNITION NOT REPRODUCABLE FOR EQUIPMENT DISTRIBUTORS OF GOODS OR SERVICES AND METHOD FOR THE REALIZATION OF THAT KEY

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB2061820A true GB2061820A (en) 1981-05-20

Family

ID=11215494

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB8025059A Withdrawn GB2061820A (en) 1979-08-09 1980-07-31 Security card with electronic recognition key

Country Status (4)

Country Link
DE (1) DE3029641A1 (en)
FR (1) FR2463457A1 (en)
GB (1) GB2061820A (en)
IT (1) IT1207227B (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5001332A (en) * 1987-12-17 1991-03-19 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and circuit for manipulation-proof devaluation of EEPROMS
US5984192A (en) * 1994-05-12 1999-11-16 Telecommunications Brasileiras S/A Supplementary coding on inductive debit cards and reading process

Families Citing this family (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CH669275A5 (en) * 1985-08-21 1989-02-28 Landis & Gyr Ag METHOD AND DEVICE FOR EVALUATING AND DELETING VALUE MARKINGS ON VALUE DOCUMENTS.
DE3638505C2 (en) * 1986-11-11 1995-09-07 Gao Ges Automation Org Data carrier with integrated circuit
DE3927994A1 (en) * 1989-08-24 1991-02-28 Rainer M Lutz Coded access system for motor vehicle - contains microprocessor with card reader in vehicle controlling power supply etc. depending on insertion of encoded card
DE4243888A1 (en) * 1992-12-23 1994-06-30 Gao Ges Automation Org Data carrier and method for checking the authenticity of a data carrier
GB9313187D0 (en) 1993-06-25 1993-08-11 Cotag Int Ltd Coding device
BR9400224A (en) * 1994-01-24 1995-09-26 Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras Sa Improvement introduced in the method of charging credits on inductive debit cards

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5001332A (en) * 1987-12-17 1991-03-19 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and circuit for manipulation-proof devaluation of EEPROMS
US5984192A (en) * 1994-05-12 1999-11-16 Telecommunications Brasileiras S/A Supplementary coding on inductive debit cards and reading process

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2463457A1 (en) 1981-02-20
DE3029641A1 (en) 1981-02-26
IT1207227B (en) 1989-05-17
IT7925036A0 (en) 1979-08-09

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
WAP Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1)