ELECTRONIC CARD AND METHOD FOR GENERATING A MAGNETIC FIELD FROM SWIPING THE ELECTRONIC CARD THROUGH A CARD READER

• US 20110108626A1
• Filed: 11/06/2009
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hepner, David F., Jubert, Pierre-Olivier, Imaino, Wayne I.
• Granted Patent: US 8,651,386 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/449
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06206 the magnetic marking being emulated
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/00 Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion G06K1/00; pattern recognition G06F18/00; arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding G06V10/00; character recognition, recognising digital ink or document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/00

Abstract

An electronic card and a method for processing data stored in the electronic card. The electronic card includes a memory containing data to be read by a card reader. The electronic card may include a programmable field source containing wire structures geometrically configured and energized in a manner that drives an electric current through only two wire structures at a time for generating a time varying magnetic field that induces a readback signal in the card reader as the electronic card is being swiped through the card reader. An electrical current in at least one wire in the electronic card generates a time varying magnetic field and may include a finite time derivative of electrical current whose magnitude does not exceed a specified maximum time derivative of electrical current corresponding to a peak voltage threshold (V_th) and an overshoot ratio (f) of the card reader.

Claims

1. A method for processing data stored in an electronic card, said method comprising:

accessing a sequence of binary bits, for each data track of at least one data track, from a memory in the electronic card;

determining a time varying electrical current configured to flow in two adjacent wire structures of N wire structures disposed in each data track of the at least one data track to generate a time varying magnetic field that encodes the sequence of binary bits, N being at least 3; and

generating the time varying magnetic field as the card is swiped through a card reader in a minus X direction by driving the time varying electrical current through the two adjacent wire structures, said time varying magnetic field inducing a readback signal in the card reader;

wherein the card comprises a substrate, a processor disposed in the substrate, the at least one data track disposed in the substrate such that each data track is oriented in the X direction, the memory disposed in the substrate, a switch apparatus disposed in the substrate, the N wire structures disposed in each data track, and a power source disposed in the substrate,

wherein the power source provides electrical power to the processor, the switch apparatus, and the N wire structures disposed in each data track,

wherein said generating the time varying magnetic field comprises said processor operating the switch apparatus with respect to the N wire structures,

wherein said operating the switch apparatus comprises electrically coupling the two adjacent wire structures of the N wire structures in each data track to the power source and to electrically decoupling all other wire structures of the N wire structures from the power source, and

wherein said electrically coupling the two adjacent wire structures and said electrically decoupling all other wire structures causes the power source to generate a voltage drop that drives the time varying electrical current through each wire structure of the two adjacent wire structures but no electrical current through any other wire structure of the N wire structures, which generates the time varying magnetic field above each wire structure of the two adjacent wire structures but not above any other wire structures of the N wire structures.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the N wire structures are N coils and the two adjacent wire structures consist of two adjacent coils of the N coils, wherein the N coils consist of at least one group of coils, wherein the coils in each group of coils are stacked in a Z direction normal to the X direction, and wherein the coils in each group of coils overlap each other in the Z direction and are displaced from each other in the X direction such that a minimum and maximum X coordinate for the X direction of spatially successive coils in each group of coils increases.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the time varying magnetic field is essentially spatially constant above each coil of the two adjacent coils and at a transition between the two adjacent coils.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein each coil of the N coils in each data track comprises essentially a same electrical resistance.

5. The method of claim 2,

wherein a coil structure associated with the coil of each coil of the N coils in each data track comprises an outer ring and an interior void,

wherein an outermost boundary of the outer ring is an outer envelope of the coil,

wherein an innermost boundary of the outer ring is an inner envelope of the coil,

wherein the interior void is devoid of the coil and has an outermost boundary that coincides with the innermost boundary of the outer ring,

wherein the N coils in each data track are denoted as coil 1 (C1), coil 2 (C2), . . . , coil N (CN), wherein the outer ring of coil Cn (n=1, 2, . . . , N) comprises branches that consist of a left branch denoted as CnL and a right branch denoted as CnR such that the interior void of coil Cn is disposed between and in direct mechanical contact with the left branch CnL and the right branch CnR,

wherein there is no overlap between the branches of different coils of the N coils,

wherein the branches of the N coils are in an ordered sequence in the X direction of C1L, C2L, C3L, C1R, C2R, C3R, . . . , C(N-2)L, C(N-1)L, C(N)L, C(N-2)R, C(N-1)R, C(N)R, and

wherein a first branch and a second branch of each two consecutive branches in the ordered sequence are positioned such that a minimum X coordinate of the second branch and a maximum X coordinate of the first branch are aligned in the Z direction to define an interface between the first and second branches.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein for n=1, 2, . . . , N-1, said processor controlling the time varying magnetic field comprising:

said processor ascertaining that the card reader is in a spatial position that enables the readback signal to be induced in the card reader from the time varying magnetic field generated by the electrical current in a branch CnI (I=R or L) of the coil Cn; and

responsive to said ascertaining, said processor operating the switch apparatus to electrically couple the two adjacent coils Cn and Ck, wherein the coil Ck has a branch CkJ (k=2, . . . , N and J=R or L) placed right after the branch CnI in the X direction, to the power source and to electrically decouple all other coils of the N coils from the power source to cause the power source to drive the electrical current through the two adjacent coils Cn and Ck and through no other coil of the N coils.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said processor operating the switch apparatus comprises said processor electrically coupling the two adjacent coils Cn and Ck to the power source in a mariner that results in electrical currents in the branches CnI and CkJ of about equal magnitude and same direction with respect to a Y direction normal to both the X direction and the Z direction.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said generating the time varying magnetic field comprises generating a finite time derivative of electrical current in each coil of the two adjacent coils at times when no finite time derivative of electrical current is logically required for generating the time varying magnetic field, and wherein a magnitude of the finite time derivative of electrical current does not exceed a specified maximum time derivative of electrical current corresponding to a peak voltage threshold (V_th) and an overshoot ratio (f) of the card reader.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the maximum time derivative is f*(2I₀/Δ

t_sw), wherein I₀ is a maximum electrical current that can be driven through each coil, and wherein Δ

t_sw, is a minimum switching time to change an electrical current through each coil from −

I₀ to +I₀.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the N wire structures are N sets of flat wires connected in parallel, and wherein each set of the N sets of flat wires comprises a plurality of flat wires.

11. An electronic card, comprising:

a substrate;

at least one data track disposed in the substrate, each data track oriented in a X direction;

a processor disposed in the substrate;

a sequence of binary bits for each data track stored in a memory within the substrate;

a switch apparatus disposed in the substrate;

N coils disposed in each data track and stacked in a Z direction normal to the X direction, said N at least 3, successive coils of the N coils overlapping each other in the Z direction and displaced from each other in the X direction such that a minimum and maximum X coordinate for the X direction of successive coils increases; and

a power source disposed in the substrate, said power source configured to provide electrical power to the processor, the switch apparatus, and the N coils in each data track,

said processor configured generate a time varying magnetic field including being configured to operate the switch apparatus, as the card is being swiped through the card reader in the minus X direction, to electrically couple two adjacent coils of the N coils in each data track to the power source and to electrically decouple all other coils of the N coils from the power source, which causes the power source to generate a voltage drop that drives about a same electrical current through each coil of the two adjacent coils but no electrical current through any other other coil of the N coils to generate the time varying magnetic field above the two adjacent coils but not above any other coil of the N coils, and

wherein the time varying magnetic field for each data track is configured to encode the sequence of binary bits for each data track and to induce a readback signal in the card reader.

12. The electronic card of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to generate the time varying magnetic field to be essentially spatially constant above each coil of the two adjacent coils and at a transition between the two adjacent coils.

13. The electronic card of claim 12, wherein each coil of the N coils in each data track comprises essentially a same electrical resistance.

14. The electronic card of claim 11,

wherein a coil structure associated with each coil of the N coils in each data track comprises an outer ring and an interior void,

wherein an outermost boundary of the outer ring is an outer envelope of the coil,

wherein an innermost boundary of the outer ring is an inner envelope of the coil,

wherein the interior void is devoid of the coil and has an outermost boundary that coincides with the innermost boundary of the outer ring,

wherein the N coils in each data track are denoted as coil 1 (C1), coil 2 (C2), . . . , coil N (CN), wherein the outer ring of coil Cn (n=1, 2, . . . , N) comprises branches that consist of a left branch denoted as CnL and a right branch denoted as CnR such that the interior void of coil Cn is disposed between and in direct mechanical contact with the left branch CnL and the right branch CnR,

wherein there is no overlap between the branches of different coils of the N coils,

wherein the branches of the N coils are in an ordered sequence in the X direction of C1L, C2L, C3L, C1R, C2R, C3R, . . . , C(N-2)L, C(N-1)L, C(N)L, C(N-2)R, C(N-1)R, C(N)R,

wherein a first branch and a second branch of each two consecutive branches in the ordered sequence are positioned such that a minimum X coordinate of the second branch and a maximum X coordinate of the first branch are aligned in the Z direction to define an interface between the first and second branches.

15. The electronic card of claim 14, wherein for n=1, 2, . . . , N-1, said processor configured to generate the time varying magnetic field comprising:

said processor configured to ascertain that the card reader is in a spatial position that enables the readback signal to be induced in the card reader from the time varying magnetic field generated by the electrical current in a branch CnI (I=R or L) of the coil Cn; and

said processor configured to respond to having ascertained that the card reader is in the spatial position by being configured to operate the switch apparatus to electrically couple the two adjacent coils Cn and Ck, wherein the coil Ck has a branch CkJ (k=2, . . . N and J=R or L) placed right after the branch CnI in the X direction, to the power source and to electrically decouple all other coils of the N coils from the power source to cause the power source to drive the electrical current through the two adjacent coils Cn and Ck and through no other coil of the N coils.

16. The electronic card of claim 15, wherein said processor configured to operate the switch apparatus comprises said processor configured to electrically couple the two adjacent coils Cn and Ck to the power source in a manner that results in electrical currents in the branches CnI and CkJ of about equal magnitude and same direction with respect to a Y direction normal to both the X direction and the Z direction.

17. The electronic card of claim 11, wherein said processor configured to generate the time varying magnetic field comprises said processor configured to generate a finite time derivative of electrical current in each coil of the two adjacent coils at times when no finite time derivative of electrical current is logically required for generating the time varying magnetic field, and wherein a magnitude of the finite time derivative of electrical current does not exceed a specified maximum time derivative of electrical current corresponding to a peak voltage threshold (V_th) and an overshoot ratio (f) of the card reader.

18. The electronic card of claim 17, wherein the maximum time derivative is f*(2I₀/Δ

t_sw), wherein I₀ is a maximum electrical current that can be driven through each coil, and wherein Δ

t_sw is a minimum switching time to change an electrical current through each coil from −

I₀ to +I₀.

19. A method for processing data stored in an electronic card, said method comprising:

accessing a sequence of binary bits, for each data track of at least one data track, from a memory of the electronic card;

determining a time varying electrical current configured to flow in at least one wire disposed in each data track of the at least one data track to generate a time varying magnetic field that encodes the sequence of binary bits; and

generating the time varying magnetic field as the card is swiped through a card reader in a minus X direction, said time varying magnetic field inducing a readback signal in the card reader;

wherein the card comprises a substrate, a processor disposed in the substrate, the at least one data track disposed in the substrate such that each data track is oriented in a X direction, the memory disposed in the substrate, the at least one wire disposed in the substrate, and a power source disposed in the substrate,

wherein the power source provides electrical power to the processor and the at least one wire,

wherein said generating the time varying magnetic field comprises generating a voltage drop that drives the time varying electrical current through the at least one wire to generate the time varying magnetic field, and

wherein said generating the time varying magnetic field comprises generating a finite time derivative of electrical current in the at least one wire at times when no finite time derivative of electrical current is logically required for generating the time varying magnetic field, and wherein a magnitude of the finite time derivative of electrical current does not exceed a specified maximum time derivative of electrical current corresponding to a peak voltage threshold (V_th) and an overshoot ratio (f) of the card reader.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the maximum time derivative is f*(2I₀/Δ

t_sw), wherein I₀ is a maximum electrical current that can be driven through each wire, and wherein Δ

t_sw is a minimum switching time to change an electrical current through each wire from −

I₀ to +I₀.