Portable object reader terminal, portable object, and process for self-diagnosis and supervision of same

• US 6,505,144 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2001
• Issued: 01/07/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Bull CP8 (Schlumberger NV)
• Original Assignee: Bull CP8 (Schlumberger NV)
• Inventors: Lapie, Ronan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hilten, John S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): VO, HIEN XUAN
• Application Number:
  US09/827,905
• Publication Number:
  US 20020022943A1
• Time in Patent Office: 638 Days
• Field of Search: 702/183, 702/188, 702/182, 714/25, 714/30, 714/26, 714/39, 714/718, 235/380, 235/432, 235/383, 235/462, 235/487, 235/492
• US Class Current: 702/183
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/341 Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3552 Downloading or loading of personalisation data
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/084 Additional components relating to data transfer and storing, e.g. error detection, self-diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system

Abstract

Terminal equipped with an application program, with at least one output constituted either by a display, or by a printer, or by a communications network, or by a portable object, and cooperating with a portable object equipped with a non-volatile memory area (ZD) containing data, and comprising a reader which communicates with said portable object, characterized in that the device comprises means for reading or storing, in its memory, self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk) and means for sending said data to outputs (1-4) specified as a function of information supplied by the self-diagnostic or supervisory data following the execution of at least one task Tt of its application program in connection with the portable object.

Claims

1. A portable object reader terminal having a memory in which an application program is stored and at least one output (1-4) constituted by at least one of a display (3), a printer (2), or a communications network (1), or a portable object (4), said reader adapted to cooperate with a portable object including a non-volatile memory area (ZD) containing data including self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk), said reader terminal comprising:

means for reading or storing, in said memory, said self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk) and means for sending data (Dj) of said self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk) to the output (1-4) specified by a data (Sk) as a function of data supplied by the self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk) following execution of at least one task Tt of said application program corresponding with the task (Ti) defined by the self-diagnostic data (Ti, Dj, Sk) of the portable object.

2. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, further comprising means for activating the means for sending the self-diagnostic data (Ti, Dj, Sk) a predetermined number of times.

3. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, wherein the means for sending the self-diagnostic or supervisory data comprises means for writing into the portable object connected to the terminal.

4. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, wherein the self-diagnostic or supervisory data are constituted by at least one triplet (Ti, Dj, Sk) of information corresponding, for a first piece of information (Ti), to a predetermined task of the application program, for a second piece of information (Dj), to a data type correlated to the task executed and to be presented to an output, and for a third piece of information, to a value (Sk) for specifying the output to which the data type must be presented among those present in the terminal.

5. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a means for testing for the presence of self-diagnostic or supervisory data in the portable object and for initiation of reading and storage of said data in a specific area (ZTD) of the memory of the terminal.

6. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, further comprising means for entering self-diagnostic or supervisory data into the portable object.

7. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, wherein when the value of the datum (Sk) is equal to a first value, a value VAL of the datum (Dj) is output to the network.

8. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, wherein when the value of the datum (Sk) is equal to a second value, a value VAL of the datum (Dj) is output to the printer (2).

9. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, wherein when the value of the datum (Sk) is equal to a third value, a value VAL of the datum (Dj) is output to the display (3).

10. The portable object reader terminal according to claim 1, wherein when the value of the datum (Sk) is equal to a fourth value, a value VAL of the datum (Dj) is written into the non-volatile memory (ZD) of a portable object, at an address “

Adr-V”

.

14. The method according to claim 6, further comprising outputting to the printer (2) a value VAL of the datum (Dj) stored temporarily in the memory of the terminal when the value of the data (Sk) is equal to a second value.

30. The portable object according to claim 1, wherein a code (KD) is used by the terminal to execute a procedure for authenticating the card before information contained in the area (ZD) of the card is read.

11. A method for self-diagnosis and supervision of a portable object reader terminal having a memory in which an application program is stored and at least one output (1-4) constituted by at least one of a display (3), a printer (2), or a communications network (1), or a portable object (4), said reader adapted to cooperate with a portable object including a nonvolatile memory area (ZD) containing data including self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk), said method comprising:

storing, in said memory, said self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk); and

sending data (Dj) of said self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk) to the output (1-4) specified by a data (Sk) as a function of data supplied by the self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk) following execution of at least one task Tt of said application program corresponding with the task (Ti) defined by the self-diagnostic data (Ti, Dj, Sk) of the portable object.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising entering self-diagnostic or supervisory data into the portable object.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising outputting to the network a value VAL of the datum (Dj) stored temporarily in the memory of the terminal when the value of the data (Sk) is a first value.

15. The method according to claim 11, further comprising outputting to the display (3) a value VAL of the datum (Dj) stored temporarily in the memory of the terminal when the value of the data (Sk) is equal to a third value.

16. The method according to claim 11, further comprising writing into the non-volatile memory (ZD) of a portable object, at an address “

Adr-V”

, a value VAL of the datum (Dj) stored temporarily in the memory of the terminal when the value of the data (Sk) is equal to a fourth value.

17. A portable object for use with a terminal equipped with an application program and having at least one output selected from a group of outputs including a display, a printer, a communications network, and said portable object, said portable object also having a non-volatile memory for reading or storing, in said memory, self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk) associated with a task (Ti,) and means for sending a data (Dj) of said self-diagnostic or supervisory data (Ti, Dj, Sk) to outputs specified by a data (Sk) as a function of information supplied by the self-diagnostic or supervisory data following execution of at least one task Tt of the application program corresponding to said task (Ti) defined by the self-diagnostic data (Ti, Dj, Sk) of the portable object, the portable object comprising a microprocessor card operating system for said card stored in a first memory part of a non-volatile memory in the card, said non-volatile memory containing at least one triplet (Ti, Dj, Sk) of information stored in a predetermined area (ZD) of said non-volatile memory, the location of which is defined by address fields located in the first memory part used to store the operating system.

18. The portable object according to claim 17, further comprising means for activating the means for sending the self-diagnostic data (Ti, Dj, Sk) a predetermined number of times.

19. The portable object according to claim 17, wherein the means for sending the self-diagnostic or supervisory data comprises means for writing into the portable object connected to the terminal.

20. The portable object according to claim 17, wherein the self-diagnostic or supervisory data are constituted by at least one triplet (Ti, Dj, Sk) of information corresponding, for a first piece of information (Ti), to a predetermined task of the application program, for a second piece of information (Dj), to a data type correlated to the task executed and to be presented to an output, and for a third piece of information, to a value (Sk) for specifying the output to which the data type must be presented among those present in the terminal.

21. The portable object according to claim 17, further comprising means for testing for the presence of self-diagnostic or supervisory data in the portable object and for initiation of reading and storage of said data in a specific area (ZTD) of the memory of the terminal.

22. The portable object according to claim 17, further comprising means for entering self-diagnostic or supervisory data into the portable object.

23. The portable object according to claim 17, wherein when the value of the data (Sk) is a first value, a value VAL of the datum (Dj) stored temporarily in the memory of the terminal is output to the network.

24. The portable object according to claim 17, wherein when the value of the data (Sk) is a second value, a value VAL of the datum (Dj) stored temporarily in the memory of the terminal is output to the printer (2).

25. The portable object according to claim 17, wherein when the value of the data (Sk) is a third value, a value VAL of the datum (Dj) stored temporarily in the memory of the terminal is output to the display (3).

26. The portable object according to claim 17, wherein when (Sk) is a fourth value, the supervisory data are formed by a quadruplet formed of said triplet (Ti, Dj, Sk) and a fourth field the content of which is initially constituted by the write address (Adr-V).

27. The portable object according to claim 17, wherein the area (ZD) is labeled by its starting address ADD-ZD and its end address ADF-ZD, the two address values ADD-ZD and ADF-ZD being stored in a part (230, 231) of the programmable memory (ZS) allocated to the operating system.

28. The portable object according to claim 17, wherein the location of the area (ZD) can be allocated dynamically by the operating system of the card after correct entry of a code (KD).

29. The portable object according to claim 17, further comprising a secret memory area of the portable object, the secret memory area containing a code (KD) which, after presentation to the card, authorizes the writing of the self diagnostic data into the programmable memory of the card.