METHOD OF LOADING AN APPLICATION PROGRAM INTO A SMART CARD, SMART CARD, METHOD OF LOADING SCRIPTS INTO A SMART CARD, TERMINAL DEVICE CAPABLE OF OPERATING WITH A SMART CARD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM HOLDING AN APPLICATION PROGRAM

• US 6,681,995 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2000
• Issued: 01/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Mishina, Yusuke, Sukeda, Hiroko, Ohki, Masaru
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PAIK, STEVEN SANGYUL
• Application Number:
  US09/741,809
• Publication Number:
  US 20010006195A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,131 Days
• Field of Search: 235/492, 235/375, 235/380, 235/379, 235/381, 235/382, 235/383, 713/172
• US Class Current: 235/492
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3552 Downloading or loading of personalisation data
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3251 involving media of variable value, e.g. programmable cards, programmable tokens
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3255 Incentive, loyalty and/or promotion schemes, e.g. comps, gaming associated with a purchase, gaming funded by advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3262 Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system

Abstract

A method enables loading/unloading of a plurality of types of games as part of an application program, typically, a game application program installed on a smart card system with a high ability to store information for which highly-reliable security is achievable, extending the range of use of the card. Of a Program to run on the card, the processing parts that can be executed in common are packaged as modules and game definitions described in scripts are loaded/unloaded into/from the card as required from a terminal operating with the card. In the program, a script interpreter that interprets and executes scripts, a controller that controls the loading/unloading of scripts, a controller that performs the management of point data and rights to play a game are provided, whereby dynamic loading/unloading of types of games is possible and one application can offer a plurality of types of games that can be selectively executed.

Claims

1. A method of loading scripts into a smart card having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program that can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card, said method comprising:

wherein said application program includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing scripts which describe and define a sequence of executing components which are packaged in the application program, and

wherein each component defines a particular process to be performed,

loading the scripts from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued.

2. The method of loading scripts into a smart card according to claim 1, wherein the scripts are installed into the smart card after the application program is installed into the smart card.

3. The method of loading scripts into a smart card according to claim 1, wherein the scripts are stored into the storage means through the input/output interface after the application program is loaded.

4. The method of loading scripts into a smart card according to claim 1, wherein a first script is installed into the smart card after the application program is installed into the smart card and a second script that is different from the first script is installed into the smart card.

5. The method of loading scripts into a smart card according to claim 1, wherein processing defined in the scripts can generate different results, according to an input by the user of the smart card and the timing of execution thereof, and the user cannot predict the result of processing in advance.

6. The method of loading scripts into a smart card according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined authentication procedure is carried out to assure that valid scripts, free of falsity, are stored when the scripts are stored into the storage means through the input/output interface after the application program is loaded.

7. The method of loading scripts into a smart card according to claim 1, wherein the scripts define a game and by execution of a suite of scripts by using the smart card on which the suite of scripts has been installed, the game defined in the suite of scripts can be executed.

8. The method of loading scripts into a smart card according to claim 1, wherein the scripts define a game, points may be added, according to the result of executing the game, and the accumulated points are retained in the smart card.

9. A method of loading scripts into a smart card, having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program that can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card, said method comprising:

wherein said application program includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing scripts which describe and define a sequence of procedures to be run by the application program,

loading the scripts from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued, and

wherein the application program is configured such that common process components as a set of a plurality of processing modules each of which outputs a given result in response to a given command are packaged inside the application program in order that the processing modules in the common process components are selectively called when the scripts are interpreted and executed.

10. A method of loading scripts into a smart card having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program that can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card, said method comprising:

wherein said application program includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing scripts which describe and define a sequence of procedures to be run by the application program,

loading the scripts from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued, and

following execution of processing defined in the scripts, invalidating those scripts and making the processing impossible to do.

11. A method of loading scripts into a smart card having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program that can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card, said method comprising:

wherein said application program includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing scripts which describe and define a sequence of procedures to be run by the application program,

loading the scripts from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued,

wherein said smart card further includes storage for rights to execute that stores rights to execute scripts, defining the maximum number of times the processing defined in the scripts can be executed, and a function that, immediately following the execution of processing defined in the scripts, decrements the count of the rights to execute those scripts by one.

12. A method of loading scripts into a smart card having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program that can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card, said method comprising:

wherein said application program includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing scripts which describe and define a sequence of procedures to be run by the application program,

loading the scripts from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued,

wherein the scripts define a game, the game can be executed only if rights to play the game are given to the card user, and the rights to play the game defines the number of times a type of game can be executed and said rights are stored into the smart card when the game is issued.

13. A method of loading scripts into a smart card having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program that can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card, said method comprising:

wherein said application program includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing scripts which describe and define a sequence of procedures to be run by the application program,

loading the scripts from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued,

wherein data of the rights to play a game can be stored separately from the scripts or the rights to play a game can be included in the scripts,

wherein in the case where the rights are included in the scripts, the rights to play will be lost following the execution of the game.

14. A method of loading scripts into a smart card having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program that can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card, said method comprising:

wherein said application program includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing scripts which describe and define a sequence of procedures to be run by the application program,

loading the scripts from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued,

wherein the data of rights to play a game includes the script issuer that offers the point service, the type of game playable, and the count of games that the user can play with that game.

15. A method of loading scripts into a smart card having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program that can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card, said method comprising:

wherein said application program includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing scripts which describe and define a sequence of procedures to be run by the application program,

loading the scripts from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued,

wherein the point data is stored per script issuer that offers the point service.

16. A method of loading scripts into a smart card having storage means, an input/output interface, and an application program, said method comprising:

loading the scripts as part of the application program from outside of the smart card via the input/output interface into the smart card after the smart card has been issued,

wherein the application program can run under an operating system (OS) installed on the smart card and includes an interpreter for interpreting and executing the scripts which describe and define a sequence of executing components which are packaged in the application program,

wherein each component defines a particular process to be performed, and

wherein the application program is stored in the storage means.