JPH06259609A - Management method for ic card issue process - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely manage the IC card issue process by recording the history of issue processings in an IC card. CONSTITUTION:A table is prepared in an EEPROM 15 of an IC card 10, and indication indicating that a processing is already executed and the result are recorded at each time of the completion of the issue processing, thereby leaving the history information of each issue processing in the IC card 10 itself. Contents of this table are read out from the IC card 10 to confirm the history of issue processings at any time. In the case of the management using a processing slip, a miss such as erroneous appending to another IC card is not brought about to perform the sure management. Even if the card which is not subjected to any processing processes is published to the actual society, the history of issue processings is analyzed to specify the cause of a trouble because this history can be read out at the time of the occurrence of the trouble.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of managing an IC card issuing process, and more particularly, to various kinds of test processing for hardware executed at the time of issuing an IC card and various writing for writing information necessary for card issuing to an EEPROM. The present invention relates to a method of controlling a process of performing processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art IC cards have attracted attention as a new information recording medium replacing magnetic cards. Especially CPU
Since the IC card having a built-in card has a high degree of security, it is expected to be used in various fields. Generally I
C card has 3 such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM
It has built-in types of memory, both of which are accessed by the built-in CPU. The reader / writer device exchanges data with the IC card. When a given command is given from the reader / writer device to the IC card, this command is executed by the CPU in the IC card. For example, in the case of a data write command, the data given to the IC card from the reader / writer device is written in the memory in the IC card, and in the case of a data read command, the data read from the memory in the IC card. Is transferred to the reader / writer device.

Various processes are required to issue such an IC card in a form that can be used in the real world. The processing required for this issuance is roughly classified into test processing and writing processing. The test process is a process for checking whether or not the hardware of the IC card properly functions, and a write test to the memory, a physical property test, a temperature property test, etc. are generally performed. The writing process is a process of writing information necessary for issuing a card into the EEPROM, and various directory information, key information, issuer identification information, etc. are written. After such a test process and a writing process, the IC card is officially issued and delivered to the customer.

[0004]

As described above, the IC
Various processes are required in the process of issuing a card.
Each of these processes is typically performed in separate sections or separate rooms. For example, a physical property test
It is necessary to perform the temperature characteristic test in a room where the impact test device is installed, but it is necessary to perform the temperature characteristic test in a room where the temperature test device is installed. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer this IC card to various rooms before issuing one IC card. For this reason, it is easy for human error to forget the processing that should be performed. Normally, when issuing an IC card, each process is performed in units of a lot consisting of a plurality of IC cards. Therefore, conventionally, a processing slip is attached to each lot, and the issuing process is managed by pressing a "done" rubber stamp on the processing slip every time one processing is completed. However, management using such a slip easily causes an error, and particularly when the slip is mixed in another lot, it is difficult to detect the occurrence of the error.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a management method capable of surely managing the IC card issuing process.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) At least a RAM, a ROM,
For an IC card having three types of EEPROM memories and a CPU having a function of accessing these memories, various writing processes for writing various information necessary for various test processes for hardware and card issuing to the EEPROM. When a card is issued by performing a process, in the method of managing the process of issuing the card, after each process is executed, at least information indicating that the process has been executed is recorded in the EEPROM. It is a thing.

(2) In the second invention of the present application, in the management method according to the first invention, after the execution of each processing, in addition to the information indicating that the processing has been executed, the result of the processing Is recorded in the EEPROM.

(3) The third invention of the present application is the management method according to the above-mentioned first invention, wherein a series of orders is defined for a plurality of processes necessary for the issuing process of the IC card, and before each process is executed. First, the information recorded in the EEPROM is read out, and a procedure for confirming that the preceding process has been executed in the defined order is performed.

[0009]

[Operation] The EEPROM built in the IC card is a non-volatile memory, but can be written to at any time. The main purpose of the present invention is to write the information, which was conventionally written in the attached processing slip, into the EEPROM of each IC card. That is, when a certain process is executed, conventionally, the information indicating "executed" is written in the process slip, but in the present invention, the I
Information indicating "executed" is written in the EEPROM in the C card. Since such information is written in the IC card itself, an error does not occur unlike when a processing slip is used. Further, by recording the information indicating the processing result such as the test together with the information indicating “executed”, the history of the test result can be left in the IC card. Further, when the order of a plurality of processes required for issuing the IC card is defined in advance, the information in the EEPROM is read out, and after confirming that the preceding process has been executed, the subsequent process is performed. By performing the processing, it is possible to prevent an error such as skipping the processing order.

[0010]

The present invention will be described below based on illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a state in which a general IC card 10 is connected to a reader / writer device 20. IC
In the card 10, an I / O device 11 for connecting to the reader / writer device 20, a CPU 12, a RAM 13,
The ROM 14 and the EEPROM 15 are built in. The CPU 12 receives an instruction given from the reader / writer device 20 via the I / O device 11 and executes it. Of the three types of memories, the RAM 13 is a volatile memory and is used as a work area for the CPU 12. The ROM 14 and the EEPROM 15 are both non-volatile memories, but the ROM 14 is read-only, whereas the EEPROM can be rewritten at any time. Therefore, a program to be executed by the CPU 12 is prepared in the ROM 14, and various kinds of information (file directory, user data, etc.) necessary when the IC card 10 is used for a specific purpose is recorded in the EEPROM 15. .

In order to use this IC card 10 for a specific purpose, various processes for issuing the card must be performed. As described above, the processes necessary for issuing are roughly classified into the test process and the writing process. Here, let us consider a simple example in which a card is issued through five issuing processes 1 to 5 as shown in FIG. The issuance process-is a test process, and the issuance process is a writing process. Issuing process "EEPROM writing test"
EE is a hardware test for EPROM15.
Write predetermined data to each address of PROM15,
It is a test to read the written data and check whether the writing was done correctly. In the issuing process “physical characteristic test”, the IC card 10 is subjected to a physical impact by applying a physical shock to the IC card 10 or a physical force is applied to the IC card 10 to bend the card. This is a test for checking whether or not the device operates normally (for example, whether or not the resetting operation is normally performed) after the answer. The issuing process “temperature characteristic test” is a test for checking whether or not the IC card 10 operates normally after being left in an environment of a predetermined temperature (a temperature higher or lower than room temperature) for a while. In addition, the electrical characteristic test is performed by IC
This is a test in which a predetermined electric signal is applied to the input / output terminal of the card 10 to check whether correct electric characteristics are obtained.

After such a test is executed, the issuing process "writing of issuing information" is performed. In this process, the information necessary for issuing the card is stored in the EEPROM 15
This is the process of writing in the directory, and various directory information, key information, issuer identification information, etc. are written. After such test processing and writing processing, the IC
The card is officially issued and delivered to the customer.

Generally, these issuance processes (1) to (3) are carried out in separate sections or separate rooms. Therefore, as described above, conventionally, a processing slip is attached to the IC card 10 to record whether or not a specific processing is completed. The feature of the present invention resides in that such recording is performed in the EEPROM 15. For example, a table as shown in FIG. 3 may be prepared in the EEPROM 15. Information indicating whether or not each process has been executed is recorded in the “not completed” column of this table, and the test result in the case of the test process is recorded in the “result” column. If it is a writing process, a result indicating whether or not the writing is performed correctly is recorded. In the table shown in FIG. 3, a 1-byte area is reserved for each issuing process in both the “unfinished” column and the “result” column. A display of "completed" in the "not completed" column indicates that the issuing process has been completed, and a display of "not completed" indicates that the issuing process has not been completed. Also, "Result"
In the column, "OK" indicates that there is no abnormality as a result of the issuing process, "NG" indicates that an abnormality is found, and "φ" indicates that the result has not been obtained yet. Is shown. Actually EEPROM
In the table created in 15, predetermined codes corresponding to these displays are recorded.

Prepare a table as shown in FIG.
By recording the fact that the process has been executed and the result thereof each time one issuing process is completed, the history information of each issuing process can be left in the IC card 10 itself. Moreover, by reading the contents of this table from the IC card 10, the history of the issuing process can be checked at any time. For example, when the table as shown in FIG. 3 is read, “Issuing process-is already executed for this IC card 10, and there is no abnormality in the process test, but the process We can confirm the history that the test was abnormal ”. In the management using the processing slip, there is a possibility that an error may be mistakenly attached to another IC card, but the method according to the present invention enables reliable management without such an error. In addition, even if a card with an unprocessed process circulates in the real world as a normal card, the history of the issuing process can be read when a trouble occurs, so by analyzing this history It is possible to identify the cause.

When it is desired to save the memory of the EEPROM 15, the table shown in FIG. 4 can be used instead of the table shown in FIG. In the table shown in FIG. 4, only the 1-bit area is reserved for each issuing process in both the “unfinished” column and the “result” column. "Un /
The bit “1” in the “completed” column indicates that the issuing process has been completed, and the bit “0” indicates that the issuing process has not been completed. Further, the bit “1” in the “Result” column indicates that there is no abnormality as a result of the issuing process, and the bit “0” indicates that the abnormality is found or the issuing process is not yet performed. .

When the order of a plurality of processes required for issuing the IC card 10 is defined in advance, the history information recorded in the above table is read and it is confirmed that the preceding process has been executed. After that, by performing the subsequent processing, it is possible to prevent an error that skips the processing order. For example, in the case where the five issuing processes shown in FIG. 2 are arranged to be executed in the order of to, the issuing process is executed after confirming that the issuing process has been executed. In order to make such a confirmation, each issuing process may be performed based on the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, in order to perform the i-th process, first, in step S1, (i-
1) Check the "not yet completed" column for all the processes up to the first. For example, when i = 4 (when issuing processing is performed)
Is checked, the "unfinished / finished" column of the issuing process-is checked. Then, in step S2, if all are “completed”, the process proceeds to step S3, and the i-th process is executed. Then, in step S4, "completed" is written in the "not yet completed" column for the i-th process,
Write the result in the "Result" column. If the result is "OK", the i-th process is completed through step S5. If the result is not "OK", some error notification is given in step S6, and then the i-th processing is also ended. On the other hand, in step S2, if it is confirmed that there is at least one process that is not “completed”, then in step S7, the execution of the i-th process is rejected, and the i-th actual process is ended without being executed. . In each issuing process, if the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is adopted, it is possible to prevent an error such as skipping the order of the processes.

When the processing order is defined in advance, the memory of the EEPROM 15 can be further saved and used. For example, if it is determined that five issuing processes are to be performed in the order of issuing process, and if it is not necessary to record the result of each process, as shown in FIG. Only one EEPRO
You just have to prepare it in M15. "0" is written as an initial value in the process number recording section. Then, when the issuing process is completed, the process of rewriting “0” to “1” may be performed. Next, when issuing processing is performed, it is performed after confirming that "1" is recorded in the process number recording unit. Then, when the issuing process is completed, the process of rewriting “1” to “2” is performed. Similarly, in the case of performing the issuing process, the process is performed after confirming that "2" is recorded in the process number recording section, and when the issuing process is completed, "2" is recorded.
Is rewritten to "3". The same applies hereinafter.
According to such a method, accurate process control can be carried out only by securing a region of only 1 byte in the EEPROM 15 as a process number recording section.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be implemented in various modes other than this. In particular, the issuing processes 1 to 3 shown in FIG. 2 are given as examples, and the present invention is not limited to such tests. Further, the description of the tables shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is also an example, and any code may be used to indicate whether or not “executed”.

[0019]

As described above, according to the management method of the IC card issuing process according to the present invention, the history of the issuing process is recorded in the IC card, so that the issuing process of the IC card is surely managed. Will be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates a general IC card 10 and a reader / writer device 2
It is a block diagram which shows the state connected to 0.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a specific process necessary for issuing an IC card.

FIG. 3 shows an EEPROM in the management method according to the present invention.
It is a figure which shows the process history table created inside.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example in which the processing history table shown in FIG. 3 is formed while saving memory capacity.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for confirming that the processes required for issuing an IC card are performed in a predetermined order in the management method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an embodiment for implementing the management method according to the present invention using only a 1-byte memory.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... IC card 11 ... I / O device 12 ... CPU 13 ... RAM 14 ... ROM 15 ... EEPROM 20 ... Reader / writer device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. At least RAM, ROM, EEPRO
For an IC card having three types of memory M, and a CPU having a function of accessing these memories, various documents for writing information necessary for various test processes for hardware and card issuing to the EEPROM. When issuing a card by performing an embedded process,
In the method of managing the process of issuing a card, after the execution of each process, at least information indicating that the process has been executed is recorded in the EEPROM. . 2. The management method according to claim 1, wherein after execution of each process, in addition to information indicating that the process has been executed, information indicating a result of the process is EEPRO.
A method of managing an IC card issuing process, characterized by being recorded in M. 3. The management method according to claim 1, wherein a series of orders is defined for a plurality of processes required for the issuing process of the IC card, and the EEPROM is provided before each process is executed.
A method of managing an IC card issuing process, characterized in that a procedure for confirming that the information recorded therein is read and that the preceding process in the order has been executed.