Stores credit card, electronic cash, owner identification and address
Makes shopping easier and more efficient
Eliminates need to repeatedly enter identifying information into forms to purchase
Works in many different stores to speed checkout
Amazon.com one of the first online merchants to eliminate repeat form-filling for purchases
Using the basic concepts of Embedded Systems, an idea for changing the future of Cards (Banking, Petro,Health, Televoice, etc.) is proposed in this paper. Requirement of a special card reader, limited lifetime,acceptance being the main disadvantages of today’s traditional cards, led to the design of e-Wallet. The main objective of e-Wallet is to make paperless money transaction easier. The main idea behind this paper is to bring in a cheaper, more versatile and much more easily usable kind of a card. Using this e-Wallet the transaction procedure can be as simple as: the customer goes to the point of sale (POS), does the purchasing and when it comes to the payment, the customer submits his e-Wallet to vender who connects it to his terminal (PC).The vender displays the billing information to the customer who finalizes it. The amount in the e-Wallet is updated accordingly.
Later at periodic intervals, the vender intimates the bank (in case of credit cards) which transfers the amount from the customer’(s) account to his. The advantages of e-Wallet are its ease of use (doesn’t require a separate card reader), ease of maintenance, flexibility, safety, being the primary ones. The designing of the card is similar to any other embedded card. The designing cost of the card (e-Wallet) being as low as the price of a pizza. There are ample enhancements to this application from credit cards to televoice cards. Unlike traditional cards which are application oriented, all the applications’
software can be embedded into this e-Wallet which provides multifunctionality.
INTRODUCTION:
With the advent of computers many technologies are taking this world by a surprise.
These include Embedded Systems (ES), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Neural Networks (NN), Fuzzy Logic, Bluetooth and many more are upcoming. This paper deals with Embedded Systems in a new perspective.I n easy terms, Embedded Systems can be viewed as a combination of hardware and software components, in which the software is implanted into the hardware to do the specific job. These ES were implemented in various fields from Battery chargers to Aviation Systems besides Cell phones (GSM,GPRS, CDMA, etc.). These ES are being developed in ‘leaps and bounds’. The never- ending efforts of many scientists in the field of ES led to the evolution of Smart Technology (ST).
Using the basic concept of ES, an idea for changing the future of Cards (Banking, Petro, Health, Televoice, etc.) is proposed in this paper. To interpret this idea, it is first needed to know the pros & cons of today’s ‘traditional’ cards.
• Agile Wallet
Developed by CyberCash
Allows customers to enter credit card and identifying information once, stored on a central server
• eWallet
Developed by Launchpad Technologies
Free wallet software that stores credit card and personal information on users’
computer, not on a central server; info is dragged into payment form from eWallet
• Microsoft Wallet
Comes pre-installed in Internet Explorer
All information is encrypted and password protected
Microsoft Wallet Merchant directory shows merchants setup to accept Microsoft
• No memory to hold the current balance
• Limited lifetime and acceptance
• No particular user authentication
• Unsecured remote transaction
• Vulnerable to moisture, heat, dirt etc.
a n d the list goes on…… Keeping these pros & cons in view, the Smart Technology is introduced to develop a new class of cards. This stream of Smart Technology can be termed as Smart Card Technology (SCT).T his smart card has a microprocessor or memory chip embedded in it that, when coupled with a reader, has the processing power to serve many different applications. Such cards can be referred to as e-Wallet (electronic Wallet).
E-Wallet:
The main objective of e-Wallet is to make paperless money transaction easier. The electronic wallet (Wallet) is just like a leather wallet as it does the same, in terms of e-cash. In today’s life where monetary value and security both, go hand in hand, it is difficult to satisfy customers using the routine cards. The main idea behind this paper is to bring in a cheaper, more versatile and much more easily usable kind of a card.
Salient features of e-Wallet are:
More than 40 years of data retention
Firewall encrypted security logic
Compatible with many supporting hardware.
No separate card reader is required to access our card.
Polarity reversal indicator is pre-built in our card.
Reusability of our card is unlimited.
Multiple card features are incorporated in the same card.
The random word generator unit generates a random word which replaces the password (correct password) in the buffers and other terminals with a random word after the transaction is over. Hence it is almost impossible to replicate the behavior of the ASIC and thereby obtain the encryption key or algorithm used.
On Chip Security Power Management: This unit protects the card (ASIC) against over voltage or under voltage and over frequency or under frequency of the clock signals given for operation.
Access Control: Access control unit protects the on chip memory. It provides address and data bus scrambling and detects any non-standard attempt to acquire memory access.
Flash ROM / ROM: Flash ROM stores the instruction set for the microcontroller unit, the necessary monitor routine programs and the application code. Here the flash ROM is used because there are 32 available instructions sets for different applications. But only one instruction set is used. If another instruction set is used the card can be used for only the specific application.
EEPROM: EEPROM is used to store the processed data i.e. the balance amount in the card. This part is of commercial importance as it holds the monetary information of the card. Also the EEPROM sends the data to be read for establishing transaction
RAM: It provides the workspace for both the microcontroller unit and the crypto co-processor. It’s where the actual comparison of the stored password (original password) and the given password for transaction to take place. Only if the given password is the actual password, the access is given to view the details of the card, deposition, withdrawal are allowed.
Serial Interface: It has six valid pins CS-chip select, CLK-external clock, DI-data input, D0-data input, VOC-voltage input, GND-ground. Actually a parallel printer port is used for interface of the card with PC. But only the six required pins of the printer ports are activated. Thus the advantages of parallel and serial communication are utilized. There is no need for a separate USB.
RF Interface: This unit provides establishment of transaction using Blue tooth technology which is our future enhancement.External complexities are less.
Internal 16 Bit Address/Data Bus: This provides communication between different units inside ASIC chip. This ASIC chip is built satisfying ISO 7816 standards.
Operation:
1. Once the card is given the power supply all the units are activated.
2. The password is sought and the password is sent. The first bit is chip select then the start bit, two opcode bits, 6-address bits and 16 data bits. The dedicated embedded microcontroller looks after this process.
3. Then the given password is sent to the RAM work space.
4. The password (original password) after decryption by the crypto processor is sent to the RAM.
5. Here the passwords are compared by the microcontroller. Only if the both the passwords are correct, the access control unit brings the flash ROM, EEPROM units of low impedance state.
6. Otherwise the units are kept in high impedance state.
7. The on-chip security power management unit provides the correct voltage and correct frequency (CLK signal) for functioning of the ASIC.
8. If the password is correct, then the microcontroller fetches the instructions from the instruction set in the FLASH ROM.
9. The balance amount can be fetched form the EEPROM, through the D0 pin of the serial interface.
10. After the transaction is over the balance amount is stored in the EEPROM through D1 pin of the serial interface.
11. Once the transaction is over, the random word generator generates a random word and sends it to the terminal ends and other buffers where the original password is present.
This protects the original password from being hacked by hackers.
Thus the ASIC is designed for effective transaction with proper security to the customers.