News

Sharp, IBM introduce new smart card

April 14, 2005

CAMAS, Wash.  - Sharp Corp. and IBM are expected to begin shipping a 1-megabyte smart card next month, according to a news release.

Sharp's 1-megabyte smart card operates on IBM's Java Card Open Platform, an embedded operating system based on Java technology. Integrated circuit modules also are expected to ship by the mid-May.

The IC card can incorporate multiple functions, including credit, employee and membership information, and secure electronic identification data.

The cards use Flash memory technology, which allows them to offer 1-megabyte of memory rather than the traditional IC card capacity of 16 kilobytes to 64 kilobytes. Sharp also has one-chip CPU contact and contactless cards, which are based on ISO (International Organization Standardization) 14443 Type B interface.

"The successful porting of JCOP to Sharp's 1-megabyte Flash silicon is a major advance for IBM Client Technologies and yet another milestone in JCOP's continuing success," said Gregor McElvogue, IBM product manager, client technologies.

In addition, Sharp and IBM Japan have worked to successfully equip Sharp's large-capacity IC card with JCOP31 - a biometry-enabled dual-interface edition of JCOP.

JCOP31 may assist in the prevention of unauthorized smart card practices such as falsification.

JCOP31 supports the Advanced Encryption Standard, the U.S. government's next-generation standard encryption scheme, and the Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem, an encryption scheme that can provide high level security when using short key-lengths.