Types of Smart Cards
A smart card is a plastic card with a microprocessor and memory embedded in it. These cards are available in various sizes, and are of different types. They can be as big as a credit card or as small as SIM cards. Some cards have only non-programmable memory in them. These cards are read-only, and the information on them cannot be changed or manipulated. The ones with a microprocessor in them have various functionalities.
Classification Based on Capabilities
Microprocessor-Based Cards
These have a greater memory storage as compared to the cards without a microprocessor. The security of data on the microprocessor cards is greater than any other storage device because it has the microprocessor embedded in the plastic card along with the memory. The microprocessor-based smart cards available today have an eight bit processor and 512 bytes random access memory (RAM) and 16 KB read-only memory. Some of them use cryptography for securing a digital identity, and have a card operating system (COS) that manages the data on the card. The card operating system makes it possible to make the smart cards multi-functional.
Memory-Based Cards
These are used for applications in which the function of the card is fixed. These cards need a card reader to manipulate the data on the card. These cards communicate to the reader using some synchronous protocols. Memory-based smart cards have no processing power and cannot manage the data stored in them. These cards are widely used as prepaid phone cards.
Classification Based on Mechanism
Contact Cards
They are named so because they come in contact with the reader. These are the size of a credit card. A metallic chip is embedded inside the plastic card with a microprocessor and a memory or only with a memory. They are widely used in network security, access control, e-commerce, electronic cash and as health cards.
Contactless Cards
As the name suggests, the contactless cards do not directly come in contact with the card. These cards have an antenna built in the card. The antenna of the contactless cards is used to communicate to the card reader for reading and writing data on the card. The working of these cards is based on radio frequency identification technology. These cards are used as parking cards, student identification and electronics passports.
Combination Cards
These are a combination of the contact and contactless smart cards. These cards can be read and written with contact or without contact with the reader. The antenna of the card is used or the contact pads are used to manipulate data. These are used as vending passes, meal passes, access control and network security.
Proximity Cards
The proximity cards are contactless cards and they have an antenna embedded in the card. However, the proximity cards are read-only cards and the information on these cards cannot be manipulated. The proximity cards also use the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The applications of these cards include access control, identification and security.
Hybrid Cards
These have more than two technologies embedded inside a single card. These cards use any two of the above-mentioned types in a single chip. Some applications of smart card require more than two technologies like the proximity card and the contact card integrated in a single chip.
The smart card technology of embedding different functions along with the basic ones is progressing rapidly. There are many benefits that are making the use of smart cards very popular.
