Introduction

A smart card, or integrated circuit card (ICC), is defined as credit card-sized token with embedded integrated circuits. As they exist today there are essentially two key methodology types in the world of smart cards; Memory cards, which have some amount of memory the host can access surrounded by little or no processing capability, and Microprocessor Cards which have some memory and provide a processor by which to manipulate such memory.

Memory Cards:

• Raw Memory, essentially give unprotected access to the small amount of memory on the card.
• Stored Value, these cards are produced for a specific purpose and are typically either rechargeable or disposable, they typically have hardwired security measures in them, that were established during the manufacturing process.
• Protected/Segmented Memory Cards, These cards have limited processing capability that allow them to protect individual sections of memory, and perform a small subset of actions on that memory.

Microprocessor Cards:

These cards have evolved over time and have gained in popularity for deployment in the last few years, so much so that they are driving older memory card manufacturers to evolve their product, to meet some of the functionalities of these cards. Their biggest advantage, is their vastly superior functionality. These types of cards have been known to even serve a web page. Typical applications include; ID cards, Electronic signatures and Access Control. Their major drawback over the years has been their diminished storage area and higher cost, however the storage problem is quickly fading, as manufacturers now make cards with as much as 1MB of memory.