JP2009123144A - Ic card reader/writer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC card reader/writer for shortening a communication time. <P>SOLUTION: An IC card reader/writer 1, which operates on the basis of a command (a command APDU) in an information string in accordance with a communication protocol with a host device 2, and transmits or receives an information string (a command TPDU or a response TPDU) in accordance with a communication protocol with an IC card 3, is provided with a memory for storing an information group having identifiers (tags) included in the information string received from the IC card 3, which is converted to a format in accordance with the communication protocol with the host device 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an IC card reader / writer that records or reproduces information on an IC card, and more particularly to shortening of IC card transaction time.

  Conventionally, an IC card (contact) in which an integrated circuit chip (IC chip) is embedded in a plastic substrate and an IC terminal is arranged on the surface as a card that is used in a financial institution and realizes cashless or personal authentication. Type IC card) and an IC card (non-contact type IC card) in which an antenna coil is arranged. The information is recorded on or reproduced from the IC card by an IC card reader / writer.

  The IC card reader / writer receives a command (command APDU: Application Protocol Data Unit) from the host device and converts it into a format (command TPDU: Transmission Protocol Data Unit) according to the communication protocol with the IC card. Then, after converting the voltage, communication speed, etc., the command is transmitted to the IC card. In addition, after receiving a response from the IC card, reverse conversion (from response TPDU to response APDU) is performed, and the response is transmitted to the host device.

  Communication between the host device and the IC card reader / writer is generally RS232C or USB, and communication between the IC card reader / writer and the IC card is generally TTL level, USB, contactless communication, or the like. Is. In general, the IC card reader / writer simply performs a process of converting the data into TPDU without interpreting the data content of the APDU. Further, the command TPDU and the response TPDU are defined in the ISO / IEC7816 series in the case of the contact IC card, and are defined in the ISO / IEC14443 series in the case of the non-contact IC card.

  Here, for the purpose of shortening the IC card transaction time, there is a technique for performing data compression on the command APDU (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Specifically, the portable electronic medium (IC card) issuing system disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a generating unit that generates a command message based on a command from a host device, and data compression of the command message. Thus, a transmission means for transmitting to a portable electronic medium is provided. With such a compression technique, it is possible to shorten the issue processing time.

JP 2004-38287 A

  However, in recent years, there has been an increasing demand for shortening IC card transaction time, and further shortening is desired. More specifically, the IC card transaction processing time is represented by the sum of the host device processing time, APDU communication time, IC card reader / writer processing time, TPDU communication time, and IC card processing time. In some cases, on-line communication time between the host (processing) device and the host may be separately required). In normal IC card transaction processing, APDU is issued multiple times, so communication time (APDU communication time or TPDU communication) Time) is a problem. In particular, in recent IC card transactions, the amount of communication data has increased, and as a result, it has become increasingly necessary to shorten the communication time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an IC card reader / writer that shortens communication time.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following.

  (1) An IC card reader / writer that operates based on a command in an information sequence in accordance with a communication protocol with a host device and transmits / receives an information sequence in accordance with the communication protocol with an IC card. An information sequence received from the IC card that is converted into a format conforming to the communication protocol with the device includes an information group having an identifier, and an IC is provided that includes a memory for storing the information group Card reader / writer.

  According to the present invention, an IC card reader / writer that operates based on a command in an information string that conforms to a communication protocol with a host device and transmits and receives an information string that conforms to a communication protocol with an IC card. The information string received from the IC card converted into a format conforming to the communication protocol with the host device includes an information group having an identifier, and the IC card reader / writer is provided with a memory for storing the information group. Therefore, the data received from the IC card can be stored in the IC card reader / writer. At this time, since the stored data has an identifier, when the host device wants to use the data again, it is sufficient to transmit the identifier without transmitting a command APDU to the IC card reader / writer. .

  Therefore, since the transmission / reception data length of data transmitted from the host device to the IC card reader / writer is reduced (because it is not always necessary to transmit the command APDU every time), the data transfer amount can be reduced, and consequently the communication time. Can be shortened.

  Here, the “information string received from the IC card converted into a format conforming to the communication protocol with the host device” is the information string received from the IC card and between the host device and Also included are those that are converted into a format that conforms to the communication protocol and transmitted, and that are information strings received from the IC card and that are converted into a format that conforms to the communication protocol with the host device and are not transmitted. Also included. The latter will be described in detail. The present invention is also applicable to an IC card reader / writer that simply returns a response to the host device and does not return a response APDU to the host device.

  In addition, the “information string received from the IC card” is “converted to a format that conforms to the communication protocol with the host device”, and is the one before conversion but after conversion. May be. Specifically, a response APDU may be stored in the memory described above, and a response TPDU may be stored.

  The “memory for storing the information group” may be built in the IC card reader / writer or may be externally attached. Further, the type of memory, reading speed / recording speed, capacity, etc. are not limited. The information group may be an information string received from the IC card that has been converted into a format that conforms to the communication protocol with the host device, and may be included in information transmitted to the host device.

  (2) The IC card reader / writer characterized in that a specific information sequence having the identifier is included at least once in the information sequence received a plurality of times from the host device.

  According to the present invention, the information sequence received from the host device a plurality of times includes a specific information sequence having an identifier at least once. Therefore, the specific information sequence is transmitted from the host device to the IC card reader / writer. When sent, the data transfer amount is reduced. Therefore, the communication time can be shortened.

  (3) When the specific information sequence is received from a higher-level device, an information sequence in accordance with a communication protocol with the IC card is generated by referring to the identifier included in the specific information sequence. IC card reader / writer.

  According to the present invention, when the IC card reader / writer receives the specific information sequence from the higher-level device, the IC card reader / writer refers to the identifier included in the specific information sequence, thereby obtaining the information sequence according to the communication protocol with the IC card. Since it is generated, an appropriate command TPDU can be created even when a specific information sequence is received instead of the command APDU. Thereby, desired communication with the IC card can be performed while shortening the communication time.

  (4) An IC card reader / writer, wherein the information group stored in the memory is deleted when a command indicating the end of a transaction is received from a host device.

  According to the present invention, when a command indicating the end of the transaction is received from the host device, the information group stored in the memory is deleted, so that confidential data such as an identifier is prevented from leaking outside. Can be improved.

  According to the IC card reader / writer according to the present invention, the information group having the identifier is stored in the memory, and the command APDU is transmitted again even when the communication data up to the previous time is required in the subsequent transaction. Since it is not necessary (as described above, it is only necessary to transmit a specific information sequence having a short data length), it is possible to shorten the IC card transaction time.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Constitution]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a system including an IC card reader / writer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  1 and 2, an IC card reader / writer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a CPU 10 that integrally controls the entire IC card reader / writer 1, an operation program, initial values, and parameters of the IC card reader / writer 1. And the like, a RAM 12 that functions as a working area of the CPU 10, a host device I / F (interface) 13, and a card I / F (interface) 14. The IC card reader / writer 1 is electrically connected to the host device 2 via the host device I / F 13 and can communicate with the IC card 3 (wireless or wired) via the card I / F 14. It is comprised so that it may become. The IC card reader / writer 1 operates based on information sequence commands in accordance with the communication protocol with the host device 2 and has a function of transmitting and receiving information sequences with the IC card 3 in accordance with the communication protocol. .

  The host device I / F 13 has a function of converting a signal sent from the host device 2 to the IC card reader / writer 1 into a TTL level signal and transferring it to the CPU 10. Further, the signal from the CPU 10 is inversely converted and transferred to the host device 2. Communication between the host device 2 and the IC card reader / writer 1 is generally USB, RS232C, or the like.

  The CPU 10 operates based on a command in an information string (command APDU) that conforms to a communication protocol (for example, USB) with the host device 2. Then, the command APDU is converted into an information string that conforms to a communication protocol (for example, non-contact communication) with the IC card 3 and is transmitted to the IC card 3. That is, the CPU 10 converts the command APDU from the host device 2 into a format (command TPDU) in accordance with the communication protocol with the IC card 3, and transmits the converted command TPDU to the IC card 3 through the card I / F 14. Is done.

  On the other hand, when receiving a response from the IC card 3, the CPU 10 converts the response TPDU into a response APDU. The converted response APDU is transferred to the host device 2 through the host device I / F 13.

  The card I / F 14 converts the command TPDU into a voltage or communication speed corresponding to the IC card 3 and transmits it to the IC card 3. Further, it has a function of converting a signal received from the IC card 3 into a TTL level signal and transmitting it to the CPU. Communication between the IC card reader / writer 1 and the IC card 3 is generally TTL level, non-contact communication, USB, or the like.

  The ROM 11 stores non-volatile data such as programs, while the RAM 12 functions as a working area of the CPU 10 and temporarily stores data.

  Here, in the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the present embodiment, the RAM 12 is employed as a memory for storing a predetermined portion of the response APDU described above. More specifically, the information string (response APDU) received from the IC card 3 converted into a format that conforms to the communication protocol with the host device 2 includes an information group having an identifier (tag). . This information group is stored in the RAM 12 in this embodiment.

  This information group is represented by, for example, a data structure of TLV (tag / length / value) defined by ISO / IEC7816-4. Individual data can be uniquely identified using a tag. The TLV data structure will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In the present embodiment, a tag based on the TLV structure of ISO / IEC7816-4 is used to uniquely identify data. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As long as an agreement is reached between the host device 2 and the IC card reader / writer 1, a system that does not use the TLV data structure of ISO / IEC7816-4 may be used.

  In this embodiment, the RAM 12 is used as the memory for storing the information group. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the information group can be stored, for example, by separately providing an EEPROM or a flash memory. Any configuration may be adopted as long as it is a simple configuration. It may be an external memory.

[Information processing]
Next, information processing of the IC card reader / writer 1 will be described. First, information processing of a conventional IC card reader / writer will be briefly described, and then information processing of the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the information processing flow of the conventional IC card reader / writer. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the information processing flow of the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the conventional IC card reader / writer receives a command (command APDU1) from the host device 2 and converts it into a format (command TPDU1) according to the communication protocol with the IC card. Then, after converting the voltage, communication speed, etc., the command is transmitted to the IC card 3. In addition, after receiving the response from the IC card 3, reverse conversion (conversion from response TPDU 1 to response APDU 1) is performed, and the response is transmitted to the host device 2.

  Next, a command TPDU2 and a command TPDU3 are generated from the command APDU2, and a response TPDU2 and a response TPDU3 are received from the IC card 3 as respective responses. Thus, one APDU may become a plurality of TPDUs. Thereafter, inverse conversion is performed from the response TPDU2 and the response TPDU3 (a response APDU2 is generated), and the response is transmitted to the higher-level device 2.

  Similarly, for the command APDU 3, the command TPDU 4 and the response TPDU 4 are exchanged between the IC card reader / writer and the IC card 3, and the response APDU 3 is transmitted as a response to the command APDU 3.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the information processing of the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the present embodiment is basically similar to the information processing of the conventional IC card reader / writer. Therefore, versatility is high in that it is not necessary to make any special changes to the hardware configuration.

  In FIG. 4, first, the IC card reader / writer 1 receives a command APDU 1 from the host device 2, converts it to a command TPDU 1, and then transmits the command TPDU 1 to the IC card 3. When a response (response TPDU1) is received from the IC card 3, it is converted into a response APDU1. Further, the data portion of the response APDU 1 is stored in the RAM 12 (functioning as a buffer). The data part is often expressed by a data structure called TLV (Tag, Length, Value) defined by ISO / IEC7816-4, and each data is uniquely identified by a tag (identifier). can do.

  Next, the IC card reader / writer 1 receives a command APDU 2 from the host device 2. The IC card reader / writer 1 converts the command APDU 2 into a TPDU. As described above, one command APDU may be converted into a plurality of TPDUs. In this embodiment, the command APDU2 is divided and transmitted as a command TPDU2 and a command TPDU3.

  When receiving the response TPDU2 and the response TPDU3 from the IC card 3, the IC card reader / writer 1 converts them into the response APDU2. Further, the data part of the response APDU 2 is stored in the RAM 12.

  Here, the TLV data structure of the APDU will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5A, the command APDU is composed of a 4-byte command header part (including CLA, INS, P1, and P2) and a variable-length command body part (including Lc, data, and Le). Composed. The four bytes CLA, INS, P1, and P2 represent a command instruction. Lc represents the data length, and the data generally has a TLV structure (of course, a data structure other than the TLV structure may be used). Le is the data length expected from the IC card 3.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, the response APDU is composed of a variable-length response main body (including data) and a response subsequent section (including SW1 and SW2). The data has a TLV structure (of course, a data structure other than the TLV structure may be used), and SW1 and SW2 indicate execution results of commands. The data portion referred to in the present embodiment corresponds to the response main body described above.

  The TPDU differs depending on the type of card such as a contact IC card and a non-contact IC card. At this time, the IC card reader / writer 1 stores the data parts of the response APDU1 and the response APDU2.

  The host device 2 continuously issues a new command to the IC card reader / writer 1, but if the data to be used is included in the response APDU1 or the response APDU2 described above, the command is not issued as the command APDU3. It is transmitted to the IC card reader / writer 1 as a + tag (identifier). The IC card reader / writer 1 checks the tag value (identifier value) and creates a command TPDU 4 from the RAM 12. That is, when the IC card reader / writer 1 receives a specific information sequence (an information sequence having an identifier) from the host device 2, the IC card reader / writer 1 refers to the identifier included in the specific information sequence to communicate with the IC card 3. An information string (command TPDU4) in accordance with the rules is generated. The command TPDU 4 generated here is transmitted to the IC card 3.

  When the response TPDU 4 is received from the IC card 3, it is converted into a response APDU 4 and the data part of the response APDU 4 is stored in the RAM 12.

  Thereafter, the same procedure is continued until the end of the transaction. When the IC card reader / writer 1 receives the transaction end command, the IC card reader / writer 1 erases the data stored in the RAM 12 (the data portion of each response APDU) in order to improve safety. Thereafter, the IC card 3 is deactivated.

  In this embodiment, only one tag is attached to a command, but a plurality of tags may be added and transmitted.

[Main effects of the embodiment]
As described above, the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the present embodiment returns the data (response APDU) received from the IC card 3 to the upper level and simultaneously stores the data in the RAM 12 in the IC card reader / writer 1. I am doing so. The IC card 3 can be used at any time while the IC card 3 is activated. In addition, tags are attached to individual data so that they can be identified. Thereafter, when the host device 2 wants to use the data stored in the IC card reader / writer 1, it sends a tag (identifier) to the IC card reader / writer 1 instead of sending a command APDU. . In this way, even when communication data up to the subsequent transaction is required, the host device 2 does not need to transmit the command APDU itself.

  In other words, a specific information sequence (command + tag) having a tag (identifier) is included at least once in the information sequence (such as each command APDU) received by the IC card reader / writer 1 from the host device 2 a plurality of times. As a result (see FIG. 4), as a result, the transmission / reception data length of the command APDU transmitted from the host device 2 to the IC card reader / writer 1 is reduced. Accordingly, the amount of data transfer is reduced, and as a result, the communication time can be shortened.

  Further, according to the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to change the hardware configuration, so that versatility can be improved. Note that the hardware configuration need not be changed when, for example, the existing RAM 12 or the like is used as a recording memory for the data portion of the command APDU.

  Further, the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the present embodiment does not depend on the type of transaction. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the software of the IC card reader / writer 1 according to the application, and the effect of shortening the communication time can be expected in most transactions.

  Further, by storing a specific response APDU instead of all the response APDUs in the RAM 12, the communication time can be shortened even with the inexpensive IC card reader / writer 1 with a small RAM 12.

  Further, as described with reference to FIG. 4, when the IC card reader / writer 1 receives the transaction end command, the IC card reader / writer 1 erases the data (data portion of each response APDU) stored in the RAM 12 in order to improve safety. To do. As a result, transaction data cannot be inadvertently acquired after the transaction ends, and safety can be improved.

  In the present embodiment, the data part of the response APDU is considered to be stored in the RAM 12, but the present invention is not limited to this, and depending on the case, the response TPDU (or data converted into TPDU again) or the like is stored. It is good to do.

[Modification]
In the IC card reader / writer 1 shown in FIG. 4, processing for one IC card 3 is considered, but the present invention is not limited to this, and processing for a plurality of IC cards 3 a and 3 b may be considered. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of information processing when the present invention is applied to a plurality of IC cards 3a and 3b.

  In FIG. 6, first, the IC card reader / writer 1 receives a command APDU1 for the IC card 3a from the host device 2, converts it to a command TPDU1, and transmits it to the IC card 3a. When a response TPDU1 is received from the IC card 3a, it is converted into a response APDU1. At the same time, the data part of the response APDU 1 is stored in the RAM 12 in the IC card reader / writer 1.

  Next, the host device 2 issues a command for the IC card 3b to the IC card reader / writer 1. However, if the data to be used is included in the response APDU 1 described above, the command is not issued as the command APDU 2. Instead, it is transmitted to the IC card reader / writer 1 as a command + tag for the IC card 3b. The IC card reader / writer 1 checks the tag, generates a command TPDU2 from the RAM 12, and transmits it to the IC card 3b. When a response (response TPDU2) is received from the IC card 3b, it is converted into a response APDU2 and returned to the host device 2. At the same time, the data part of the response APDU 2 is stored in the buffer in the IC card reader / writer 1. Thereafter, the processing may be continued in the same manner.

  Even in the case of a system that performs processing on a plurality of IC cards, a data storage buffer is provided by storing only specific data rather than storing all data received from the IC card. The IC card reader / writer 1 can be reduced in size, and hence the IC card transaction time can be shortened even in an inexpensive IC card reader / writer 1 (buffer size is not large).

  On the other hand, in the IC card reader / writer 1 shown in FIG. 4, the data part of the response APDU is stored in the RAM 12 and the response APDU is returned to the host device 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, (Ii) A procedure for storing only in the IC card reader / writer 1 is also possible. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of information processing when no response APDU is returned to the higher-level device 2.

  In FIG. 7, the IC card reader / writer 1 receives a command APDU 1 from the host device 2, converts it to a command TPDU 1, and transmits it to the IC card 3. When the response TPDU 1 is received from the IC card 3, it is converted into a response APDU 1, and the data part of the response APDU 1 is stored in the RAM 12 in the IC card reader / writer 1. However, the host device 2 returns only a response indicating whether communication with the IC card 3 has been normally executed without returning the response APDU1.

  Then, the host device 2 issues a new command to the IC card reader / writer 1, but at this time, the command is not issued as the command APDU 2 but is specified to the IC card reader / writer 1 as a command + tag. The IC card reader / writer 1 checks the tag, generates a command TPDU 2 from the buffer (RAM 12), and transmits it to the IC card 3. When the response TPDU2 is received from the IC card 3, it is converted into a response APDU2. The data part of the response APDU 2 is stored in the buffer in the IC card reader / writer 1, and the response APDU 2 is returned to the host device 2.

  Thus, by storing the response APDU only in the IC card reader / writer 1, the communication time can be further shortened.

  Note that the host device 2 specifies whether to return only a response to the host device 2 or whether to return a response APDU to the host device 2. Accordingly, various transactions can be handled without changing the software of the IC card reader / writer 1 in accordance with the transaction processing.

  FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing how confidential data is maintained. As shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to store confidential data in a transaction only in the IC card reader / writer 1 without returning it to the higher-level device 2. Thereby, further safety can be secured.

  The IC card reader / writer according to the present invention is useful as a device capable of reducing communication time in IC card transactions.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an IC card reader / writer according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an IC card reader / writer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the information processing of the conventional IC card reader / writer. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the information processing of the IC card reader / writer concerning this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram about the TLV data structure of APDU. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the information processing at the time of applying this invention with respect to a some IC card. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the information processing when not returning a response APDU to a high-order apparatus. It is a conceptual diagram which shows a mode that the preservation | save of confidential data is aimed at.

Explanation of symbols

1 Card Reader 2 Host Device 3 IC Card 10 CPU
11 ROM
12 RAM
13 Host device I / F
14 Card I / F

Claims (4)

An IC card reader / writer that operates based on a command in an information string that conforms to a communication protocol with a host device and performs transmission / reception of an information string that conforms to a communication protocol with an IC card,
The information sequence received from the IC card converted into a format that conforms to the communication protocol with the host device includes an information group having an identifier,
An IC card reader / writer comprising a memory for storing the information group.   2. The IC card reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein the information string received from the host device a plurality of times includes the specific information string having the identifier at least once.   When the specific information sequence is received from a higher-level device, an information sequence in accordance with a communication protocol with the IC card is generated by referring to the identifier included in the specific information sequence. Item 3. The IC card reader / writer according to Item 2.   4. The IC card reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein when the command indicating the end of transaction is received from the host device, the information group stored in the memory is deleted.

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