Electronic circuit for interconnecting a smartcard chip

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10810476-B2
Application number	US-201013387792-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2010
Priority date	Aug 5, 2009
Publication date	Oct 20, 2020
Grant date	Oct 20, 2020

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic circuit for interconnecting a smartcard chip with a peripheral device, comprising: —a dedicated communication interface adapted to communicate with a smartcard chip; —a configurable communication interface adapted to communicate with a peripheral device; —a configuration module adapted to receive on said dedicated communication interface a request for configuring the configurable communication interface, adapted to configure the communication protocol of the configurable communication interface with the peripheral device based on the received request; —a bridging module adapted for converting data exchanged between the peripheral device and the smartcard chip through the dedicated communication interface and the configurable communication interface.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic circuit for interconnecting a smartcard chip with a peripheral device, comprising:
a dedicated communication interface adapted to communicate with a smartcard chip according to a first communication protocol;
a configurable communication interface, comprising a plurality of electrical contacts connectable to said peripheral device for communicating with said peripheral device according to a second communication protocol selectable among several communication protocols, and being configurable according to configuration settings among a group of configuration settings stored in a memory of said electronic circuit, wherein said configuration settings comprise an attribution of said electrical contacts, signal voltage levels applied on said electrical contacts, a communication protocol among said several communication protocols, and a conversion between the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol;
a processing unit adapted to receive on said dedicated communication interface a request comprising configuration settings for configuring the configurable communication interface, adapted to set the configurations of the configurable communication interface based on the received request by setting the attribution of said electrical contacts, the signal voltage levels applied on said electrical contacts, the second communication protocol to communicate on said electrical contacts, and the conversions between the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol; and
the processing unit further adapted for converting data exchanged between the peripheral device and the smartcard chip through the dedicated communication interface and the configurable communication interface using said set conversions.

2. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , wherein said dedicated communication interface is not configurable.

3. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , wherein said dedicated communication interface complies with the Single Wire Protocol standard.

4. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the electronic circuit is adapted to run as a slave peripheral of the smartcard chip during the configuration of the communication protocol.

5. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the configurable communication interface comprises several electrical contacts to be connected to a peripheral device, and wherein, during the configuration of the communication protocol, the processing unit is adapted to set the voltage levels applied on these electrical contacts.

6. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , wherein said dedicated communication interface is a serial communication interface.

7. The electronic circuit according to claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is adapted to switch the dedicated communication interface between
a master and a slave mode further to a configuration request received on this dedicated communication interface.

8. A system of devices comprising:
an electronic circuit for interconnecting a smartcard chip with a peripheral device having:
a dedicated communication interface adapted to communicate with a smartcard chip according to a first communication protocol;
a configurable communication interface, comprising a plurality of electrical contacts connectable to said peripheral device for communicating with said peripheral device according to a second communication protocol selectable among several communication protocols, and being configurable according to configuration settings among a group of configuration settings stored in a memory of said electronic circuit, wherein said configuration settings comprise an attribution of said electrical contacts, signal voltage levels applied on said electrical contacts, a communication protocol among said several communication protocols, and a conversion between the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol;
a processing unit adapted to receive on said dedicated communication interface a request comprising configuration settings for configuring the configurable communication interface, adapted to set the configurations of the configurable communication interface with the peripheral device based on the received request by setting the attribution of said electrical contacts, the signal voltage levels applied on said electrical contacts, the second communication protocol to communicate on said electrical contacts, and the conversions between the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol; and
the processing unit adapted for converting data exchanged between the peripheral device and the smartcard chip through the dedicated communication interface and the configurable communication interface using said set conversions;

a peripheral connected to the configurable communication interface of the electronic circuit;
a smartcard connected to the dedicated communication interface of the electronic circuit.

9. A smartcard comprising an electronic circuit a dedicated communication interface adapted to communicate with a smartcard chip;
a configurable communication interface, comprising a plurality of electrical contacts connectable to said peripheral device for communicating with said peripheral device according to a second communication protocol selectable among several communication protocols, and being configurable according to configuration settings among a group of configuration settings stored in a memory of said electronic circuit, wherein said configuration settings comprise an attribution of said electrical contacts, signal voltage levels applied on said electrical contacts, a communication protocol among said several communication protocols, and a conversion between the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol;
a processing unit adapted to receive on said dedicated communication interface a request comprising configuration settings for configuring the configurable communication interface, adapted to set the configurations of the configurable communication interface based on the received request by setting the attribution of said electrical contacts, the signal voltage levels applied on said electrical contacts, the second communication protocol to communicate on said electrical contacts, and the conversions between the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol;
the processing unit further adapted for converting data exchanged between the peripheral device and the smartcard chip through the dedicated communication interface and the configurable communication interface using said set conversions; and
an embedded peripheral connected to the configurable communication interface and a smartcard chip connected to the dedicated communication interface.

10. The system of devices of claim 8 wherein the dedicated communication interface of the electronic circuit is not configurable.

11. The system of devices of claim 8 wherein the dedicated communication interface of the electronic circuit complies with the Single Wire Protocol standard.

12. The system of devices of claim 8 wherein the electronic circuit is adapted to run as a slave peripheral of the smartcard chip during the configuration of the communication protocol.

13. The system of devices of claim 8 wherein the configurable communication interface of the electronic circuit comprises several electrical contacts to be connected to a peripheral device, and wherein, during the configuration of the communication protocol, the processing unit is adapted to set the voltage levels applied on these electrical contacts.

14. The sy

Assignees

• Thill Michel
• Pomet Alain
• Thales Dis France Sa

Inventors

• Thill Michel
• Pomet Alain

Classifications

• G06K7/10247

  issues specific to the use of single wire protocol [SWP] in NFC like devices · CPC title

• G06K19/07733

  the record carrier containing at least one further contact interface not conform ISO-7816 · CPC title

• G06K19/077 Primary

  Constructional details, e.g. mounting of circuits in the carrier · CPC title

• G06K19/07

  with integrated circuit chips · CPC title