Method and device for selecting a reconfigurable communications protocol between and IC card and a terminal

• US 6,578,768 B1
• Filed: 12/21/2000
• Issued: 06/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mastercard International Incorporated (MasterCard Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mastercard International Incorporated (MasterCard Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hochfield, Barry, Hiolle, Philippe R., Binder, Philip A.
• Primary Examiner(s): TREMBLAY, MARK STEPHEN
• Application Number:
  US09/646,602
• Time in Patent Office: 908 Days
• Field of Search: 235/492, 235/380, 235/382.5, 705/39, 705/42, 705/43
• US Class Current: 235/492
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]

Abstract

There is provided a method and device for selecting a communications protocol between an integrated circuit card and a terminal. The terminal supports at least two communications protocols, with one of the at least two communications protocols being a preferred communications protocol. The terminal transmits a reset to the integrated circuit card and receives an answer-to-reset from the integrated circuit card indicative of a first communications protocol. The terminal determines whether the first communications protocol matches the preferred communications protocol. If the first communications protocol does not match the preferred communications protocol, the terminal transmits another reset to the integrated circuit card and receives another answer-to-reset from the integrated circuit card indicatives of a second communications protocol. According to another aspect of the invention, the integrated circuit card has a processing unit and a memory coupled to the processing unit, the memory having stored therein a plurality of answers-to-reset, where each of the plurality of answers-to-reset is indicative of a communications protocol. The integrated circuit card transmits one of the plurality of answers-to-reset responsive to a reset and transmits another one of the plurality of answers-to-reset responsive to a subsequent reset.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a communications protocol between an integrated circuit card and a terminal, the terminal being capable of communicating using at least two communications protocols, with one of the at least two communications protocols being a preferred communications protocol, the method comprising:

(a) transmitting a reset by the terminal to the integrated circuit card;

(b) receiving an answer-to-reset by the terminal from the integrated circuit card indicative of a first communications protocol operable in a first geographic region;

(c) determining whether the first communications protocol matches the preferred communications protocol;

(d) transmitting, if the first communications protocol does not match the preferred communications protocol, another reset by the terminal to the integrated circuit card; and

(e) receiving another answer-to-reset by the terminal from the integrated circuit card indicative of a second communications protocol operable in a second geographic region which is larger than the first geographic region.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the reset in step (a) is a cold reset and the reset in step (d) is a warm reset.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the second communications protocol matches any of the at least two communications protocols supported by the terminal; and

aborting communications between the terminal and the integrated circuit card if the second communications protocol does not match any of the at least two communications protocols supported by the terminal.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the second communications protocol matches the first communications protocol;

if the second communications protocol matches the first communications protocol, determining whether the second communications protocol matches any of the at least two communications protocols supported by the terminal; and

aborting communications between the terminal and the integrated circuit card if the second communications protocol does not match any of the at least two communications protocols supported by the terminal.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of, if the second communications protocol does not match the first communications protocol, determining whether the second communications protocol matches the preferred communications protocol.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of repeatedly transmitting a reset by the terminal to the integrated circuit card and receiving an answer-to-reset by the terminal from the integrated circuit card until the most current answer-to-reset is the same as a previous answer-to-reset or is indicative of the preferred communications protocol.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first communications protocol and the second communications protocol are compliant with, but different subsets of, a communications protocol standard.

8. A method for transmitting an answer-to-reset by an integrated circuit card, the integrated circuit card having a processing unit and a memory coupled to the processing unit, the memory having stored therein a plurality of answers-to-reset, each of the plurality of answers-to-reset being indicative of a communications protocol, and wherein the plurality of answers-to-reset include a first answer-to-reset indicative of a first communications protocol operable in a first geographic region and a second answer-to-reset indicative of a second communications protocol operable in a second geographic region, the second geographic region being greater than the first geographic region, the method comprising:

(a) transmitting one of the plurality of answers-to-reset responsive to a reset; and

(b) transmitting another one of the plurality of answers-to-reset responsive to a subsequent reset.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein step (a) comprises transmitting the first answer-to-reset responsive to a cold reset;

and wherein step (b) comprises transmitting the second answer-to-reset responsive to a warm reset.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the memory of the integrated circuit card comprises a pointer stored therein whose value is associated with one of the plurality of answers-to-reset, and wherein the step (b) comprises:

incrementing the pointer responsive to a reset; and

transmitting the answer-to-reset associated with the incremented pointer responsive to the reset.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the incrementing step comprises incrementing the pointer responsive to a reset only if the pointer is less than the number of the plurality of answers-to-reset.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of initializing the pointer to a predetermined value responsive to a cold reset.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the communications protocols associated with the plurality of answers-to-reset are each compliant with, but different subsets of, a communications protocol standard.

14. A terminal for communicating with an integrated circuit card comprising:

a processing unit;

a memory unit coupled to the processing unit, the memory having stored therein values representative of at least two communications protocols each operable in a different geographic region, with one of the at least two communications protocols being a preferred communications protocol;

means for transmitting a first reset by the terminal to the integrated circuit card;

means for receiving a first answer-to-reset from the integrated circuit card responsive to the first reset and indicative of a first communications protocol operable in a first geographic region;

means for determining whether the first communications protocol matches the preferred communications protocol;

means for transmitting, if the first communications protocol does not match the preferred communications protocol, a second reset by the terminal to the integrated circuit card; and

means for receiving a second answer-to-reset from the integrated circuit card responsive to the second reset and indicative of a second communications protocol operable in a second geographic region which is larger than the first geographic region.

15. The terminal of claim 14, wherein the first reset is a cold reset and the second reset is a warm reset.

16. The terminal of claim 14, further comprising:

means for determining whether the second communications protocol matches any of the at least two communications protocols supported by the terminal; and

means for aborting communications between the terminal and the integrated circuit card if the second communications protocol does not match any of the at least two communications protocols supported by the terminal.

17. The terminal of claim 14, further comprising:

means for determining whether the second communications protocol matches the first communications protocol;

means for determining, if the second communications protocol matches the first communications protocol, whether the second communications protocol matches any of the at least two communications protocols supported by the terminal; and

means for aborting communications between the terminal and the integrated circuit card if the second communications protocol does not match any of the at least two communications protocols supported by the terminal.

18. The terminal of claim 17, further comprising means for determining, if the second communications protocol does not match the first communications protocol, whether the second communications protocol matches the preferred communications protocol.

19. The terminal of claim 18, further comprising means for repeatedly transmitting a reset by the terminal to the integrated circuit card and receiving an answer-to-reset by the terminal from the integrated circuit card until the most current answer-to-reset is the same as a previous answer-to-reset or is indicative of the preferred communications protocol.

20. The terminal of claim 19, wherein the first communications protocol and the second communications protocol are compliant with, but different subsets of, a communications protocol standard.

21. An integrated circuit card comprising:

(a) a processing unit;

(b) a memory coupled to the processing unit, the memory having stored therein a plurality of answers-to-reset, each of the plurality of answers-to-reset being indicative of a communications protocol and wherein the plurality of answers-to-reset include a first answer-to-reset indicative of a first communications protocol operable in a first geographic region and a second answer-to-reset indicative of a second communications protocol operable in a second geographic region, the second geographic region being greater than the first geographic region;

(c) means for transmitting one of the plurality of answers-to-reset responsive to a reset; and

(d) means for transmitting another one of the plurality of answers-to-reset responsive to a subsequent reset.

22. The integrated circuit card of claim 21, wherein the means for transmitting one of the plurality of answers-to-reset comprises means for transmitting the first answer-to-reset responsive to a cold reset;

and wherein the means for transmitting another one of the plurality of answers-to-reset comprises means for transmitting the second answer-to-reset responsive to a warm reset.

23. The integrated circuit card of claim 21, wherein the memory of the integrated circuit card comprises a pointer stored therein whose value is associated with one of the plurality of answers-to-reset, and wherein the means for transmitting another one of the plurality of answers-to-reset comprises:

means for incrementing the pointer responsive to a reset; and

means for transmitting the answer-to-reset associated with the incremented pointer responsive to the reset.

24. The integrated circuit card of claim 23, wherein the means for incrementing comprises means for incrementing the pointer responsive to a reset only if the pointer is less than the number of the plurality of answers-to-reset.

25. The integrated circuit card of claim 23, further comprising means for initializing the pointer to a predetermined value responsive to a cold reset.

26. The integrated circuit card of claim 21, wherein the communications protocols associated with the plurality of answers-to-reset are each compliant with, but different subsets of, a communications protocol standard.

27. In a system including a plurality of integrated circuit cards and a plurality of terminals, each of the integrated circuit cards and terminals being capable of communicating with each other through a first communications protocol only, which is operable in a first geographic region, a method for migrating to integrated circuit cards and terminals being capable of communicating with each other through a second communications protocol, which is operable in a second geographic region larger than the first geographic region, comprising the step of issuing one or more integrated circuit cards supporting both said first communications protocol and said second communication protocol, wherein each of said one or more integrated circuit cards supporting both said first communications protocol and said second communications protocol includes:

(a) a processing unit;

(b) a memory coupled to the processing unit, the memory having stored therein a first answer-to-reset indicative of said first communications protocol and a second answer-to-reset indicative of said second communications protocol;

(c) means for transmitting one of the first or second answers-to-reset responsive to a reset; and

(d) means for transmitting the other one of the first or second answers-to-reset responsive to a subsequent request.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of replacing one or more of said terminals capable of communicating through said first communications protocol only with one or more terminals capable of communicating through said second communications protocol.

29. A system for allowing the interoperability of a plurality of integrated circuit cards and a plurality of terminals each of the integrated circuit cards and each of the terminals being capable of communicating with each other through one or more communications protocols, said system comprising:

a matrix of the operation of said integrated circuit cards and terminals, said matrix comprising a series of integrated circuit card communications protocols and a series of terminal support protocols and an indication of the interoperability of each of said series.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein said series of integrated circuit card communications protocols comprises three different communications protocols each having a plurality of answers-to-reset subsets and said series of terminal support protocols comprises four different support protocols.