Applications include identification and digital signature for corporate and government deployments, as well as home-banking schemes such as the MasterCard Chip-Authentication-Program. TDKs former generation of card controller reader ICs (the 73S11xxF, still the highest-performance smart card reader controller circuits available in this price range as of today) has been developed in conjunction with ActivCard, leveraging their expertise in portable high-performance EMV smart card readers. Taking advantage of this experience, the new 72S12xx products will offer cost reduction and enhanced features such as a high-speed 20-MIPS 80C52 core, built-in ISO-7816 interface, optional USB and PIN-pad interfaces, real-time clock, and more. The 73S12xx will allow manufacturers of PIN-pads to build, at an attractive cost, USB-connected PIN-pad smart card readers with features such as high-speed card communication, full-speed USB, and PIN encryption. Various flavors will be introduced to cover particular applications such as a small pin-count option to enable PC manufacturers to incorporate a turnkey smart card reader solution into laptops or PC keyboards, and a high pin-count option for single-chip PIN-pad readers. ActivCard, a global provider of strong authentication and trusted digital identity solutions, has already evaluated the TDK smart card reader controller platform for the latest member of its PIN-pad card reader family, the ActivReader SOLO. Availability An FPGA-based board is available now to start validating the performance and develop the application. Samples of new 73S12xx ICs will be available in mid-2005 and production is scheduled for the end of the year. Existing users of current 73S11xxF products will be able to migrate to the new platform very easily, since the TDK libraries will be compatible.
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