Secured multi-directional, multi-interface transaction processing

• US 9,594,917 B2
• Filed: 06/28/2013
• Issued: 03/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NXP B.V. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Original Assignee: NXP B.V. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Inventors: Buer, Mark, Awad, Mohamed
• Primary Examiner(s): POTRATZ, DANIEL B
• Application Number:
  US13/930,604
• Publication Number:
  US 20150007335A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,355 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/606 by securing the transmission between two devices or processes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/74 operating in dual or compartmented mode, i.e. at least one secure mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe an apparatus, method, and computer readable medium for processing a secure transaction. One embodiment describes an apparatus comprising: a processor; a secure element coupled to the processor; and a connectivity device coupled to the secure element, and configured to exchange communications with a device that is external to the apparatus, and receive and execute one or more unsolicited commands from the secure element.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to execute an application;

a secure element coupled to the processor, and configured to receive sensitive information and to execute a secure application that resides in the secure element and that processes a transaction using the sensitive information while maintaining the sensitive information within the secure element and without exposing the sensitive information to the processor, wherein the application is configured to communicate with the secure application regarding the transaction but excluded from processing the transaction; and

a connectivity device coupled to the secure element, and comprising a first interface for receiving the sensitive information from a device that is external to the apparatus, and a second interface for transmitting the sensitive information to the secure element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the secure element is further configured to receive a transaction request and to activate the secure application residing in the secure element in response to the transaction request, and

the secure application is configured to generate one or more unsolicited commands in response to the transaction request.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

the secure application generates the one or more unsolicited commands in a format compatible with the connectivity device.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

the processor is configured to generate and send the transaction request to the secure element, and

the secure application is further configured to receive the transaction request from the processor, and to generate and send one or more unsolicited commands to the connectivity device.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

the connectivity device is configured to receive the transaction request from the device that is external to the apparatus via the first interface, and to send the transaction request to the secure application via the second interface, and

the secure application is further configured to generate and send one or more unsolicited commands to the processor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a second connectivity device coupled to the secure element,

wherein the connectivity device and the second connectivity device are configured to communicate using different communications protocols.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein:

the connectivity device is further configured to receive a transaction request from the device external to the apparatus, and to send the transaction request to the secure element, and

the secure element is configured to establish a secure communication channel with the device external to the apparatus using the second connectivity device in response to receiving the transaction request from the connectivity device.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the secure element is implemented as an integrated circuit that is disposed in a subscriber identification module, disposed in a secure digital card, or embedded in a printed circuit board.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the connectivity device comprises at least one of a near field communication device, a Bluetooth communication device, a wireless local area network communication device, a cellular communication device, a satellite communication device, or an infrared communication device.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second interface supports communication with the secure element via single wire protocol.

11. A method for executing a transaction in a mobile device comprising a processor and a secure element, comprising:

receiving, at the secure element, a transaction request to execute the transaction;

activating, at the secure element, a secure application configured to process the transaction in response to the transaction request;

receiving, at the secure element, sensitive information related to the transaction request;

processing, by the secure application, the transaction using the sensitive information while maintaining the sensitive information within the secure element and without exposing the sensitive information to the processor; and

executing, by the processor, an application that is configured to communicate with the secure application regarding the transaction but excluded from processing the transaction.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

generating, at the processor, the transaction request; and

sending, from the processor, the transaction request to the secure element.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, at a connectivity device disposed in the mobile device and coupled to the secure element, an unsolicited command from the secure element; and

executing, at the connectivity device, the unsolicited command to establish communications with an external device.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, at the processor, an unsolicited command from the secure element; and

sending, from the processor, a response to the unsolicited command to the secure element.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, at a connectivity device disposed in the mobile device and coupled to the secure element, the transaction request from an external device; and

sending, from the connectivity device, the transaction request to the secure element.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving, by the secure element, the transaction request from a first connectivity device coupled to the secure element;

and establishing, by the secure element, a secure communication channel with a device external to the mobile device using a second connectivity device in response to receiving the transaction request from the first connectivity device,

wherein the first connectivity device and the second connectivity device are configured to communicate using different communications protocols.

17. A non-transient computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions, which when executed by a secure element coupled to a processor causes the secure element to:

receive a transaction request to execute a transaction;

activate a secure application, residing in the secure element, to execute the transaction in response to the transaction request;

receive sensitive information related to the transaction request;

process, via the secure application, the transaction using the sensitive information while maintaining the sensitive information within the secure element and without exposing the sensitive information to the processor; and

communicate, via the secure application, with an application executing on the processor regarding the secure transaction, wherein the application is excluded from processing the transaction.

18. The non-transient computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising computer readable instructions, which when executed by the secure element causes the secure element to:

receive the transaction request from the processor; and

send an unsolicited command to a connectivity device.

19. The non-transient computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising computer readable instructions, which when executed by the secure element causes the secure element to:

receive the transaction request from a connectivity device coupled to the secure element; and

send an unsolicited command to the processor.

20. The non-transient computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising computer readable instructions, which when executed by the secure element causes the secure element to:

receive the transaction request from a first connectivity device; and

send an unsolicited command to a second connectivity device to establish a secure communication channel with an external device in response to receiving the transaction request from the first connectivity device, wherein the first connectivity device and the second connectivity device are configured to communicate using different communication protocols.