JPS63188093A - IC card - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an IC card using light, and particularly to an optical IC card that supplies power and transmits signals by light to eliminate electrical contact.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional IC cards, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 53-6491, have electrical contacts at the power supply and external input/output terminals. This electrical contact point is the IC
Since it is provided on the surface of the card, it may cause damage due to static electricity, etc.
It has problems such as destruction of the SI and poor contact due to corrosion.

In order to cope with this, a light-to-power converter (hereinafter referred to as a solar cell) f used in calculators, etc. is used as a power source, and as an input/output element, a light input element such as a photodiode or a phototransistor is used. It is conceivable to use a light output element such as a light emitting diode to make it contactless.

By the way, when using an IC card that uses light,
An interface device is required to exchange data in the IC built into the C card with the outside. This interface device includes a light source for supplying power to the IC card, and an optical input element and an optical output element for transferring data to and from the IC card. The solar cell of the IC card is optically connected to the light source of the interface device, and the light output element and the light input element of the IC card are respectively optically connected to the light input element and the light output element of the interface apparatus.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, since the above concept uses light as power and input/output signals, it may start operating due to external light such as natural light or fluorescent light, causing malfunctions and destroying data in the memory inside the IC. There is a possibility that

Furthermore, in the above concept, a high-intensity light source is required as a light source for power, but the light from this light source becomes extraneous light for the optical input element that performs data communication with weak light. Things that may cause malfunctions may occur. Therefore,
There is a problem in that a special mechanism is required to physically block the light.

An object of the present invention is to protect optical IC cards from malfunctions caused by external light.

[Problem] Means for determining f:s

In addition to the elements for power supply and input/output signals, the above purpose is to
This is achieved by providing the IC card with an extraneous light detection element for detecting extraneous light.

Furthermore, the above object can be achieved by arranging the solar cell, the light input element, and the light output element on different sides of the IC card regarding external light from the power light source.

[Effect]

In addition to the solar cells that supply power, the present invention is provided with an extraneous light detection element that detects extraneous light, so by not applying power light to this extraneous light detection element, Easily distinguish between external light and transmitting/receiving equipment.

This can prevent malfunctions caused by external light.

If the surface on which the optical input element and optical output element for transmitting data are provided is the front side of the IC card, by providing the solar cell on the back side, the interface device can connect the power light source to the entire IC card from the back side of the IC card. Even when irradiated, it is easy to shield the light source from the light input element on the surface of the IC card and the light input element provided in the interface device. In other words, no special mechanism is required for light shielding.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First embodiment].

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

In the same figure, 1 is the IC card body, and there is a CPU inside.
, a memory, a semiconductor IC (not shown) constituting an input/output circuit, etc. are buried therein. Further, on one side of the IC card 1, a solar cell 2 for power supply, a light input element 6 and a light output element 4 for inputting and outputting signals, and a solar cell 5 as an external light detection element are provided. σ The power for this IC is supplied by the solar cell 2.

Information transfer between the IC card 1 and external devices such as IC card readers and writers is performed through the optical input element 3 and optical output element 4.Data transfer with the external device is performed serially, which reduces the number of input/output terminals. At least one input/output terminal name is sufficient.

Now, consider a case where information is transferred to an external device. Inside the external device ζ, there is a light source that supplies the solar cell 2, a light output element for the light input element 5, and a light input element for the light output element. , can convey information.

In this embodiment, a second solar cell 5 is placed on the surface of the IC card 1.
Therefore, no light source is provided to this solar cell 5 from an external device. The detection by the second solar cell 5 determines whether the IC card 1 is exposed to external light such as natural light or is incorporated into an external device. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the IC card 1 exposed to external light from performing unnecessary operations.

At this time, the second solar cell 5 may be shielded for some reason. In contrast, malfunctions can be prevented by, for example, arranging the solar cells 2 and 5 as shown in FIG. 2. At this time, the light source of the external S device must also be located at a corresponding position. Incidentally, it goes without saying that the degree positions of the solar cells 2 and 5 are not limited to the example shown in FIG.

Next, according to FIG. 3, the semiconductor IC inside the IC card 1
Explain the operation.

The semiconductor IC includes a CPU 6 and a PROM (Programmable Read
Only Memory) 7 and input circuit 8
．． 9 and an output circuit 10.

The CPU 6 performs internal arithmetic processing and input/output control with external devices. P ROkt 7 is an Erasable P ROM (Erasable P ROM) that retains information even when the power is turned off.
OM) or electrically erasable EEPROM (E
Electrical Frasable PROM) is mainly used. The input circuit 8 and the output circuit 10 are input/output circuits for transmitting information with an external device, and include optical input elements 11 . A light output element 12 is connected. Each block performs data transfers via bus 16.

5 is a solar cell that uses external light as input light;
The semiconductor IC power is supplied by a solar cell (not shown) in FIG. 3. On the other hand, the solar cell 5 generates its signal to the input circuit 9 depending on the presence or absence of an external source.

In a read/write operation using an external device, as described above, since no light is applied to the solar cell 5, the input circuit 9 determines that there is "no light", indicating that normal data transfer can be executed. . On the other hand, when natural light or the like is shining on the solar cell 5, the input circuit 9 determines that "light is present", indicating that data transfer cannot be executed. The CPU 6 can make an execution decision based on the state of the input circuit 9, and can prevent malfunctions.

[Second example] A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.

In the first embodiment, the second solar cell 5 is provided as a means for detecting external light, but this may also be a light input element. In the second embodiment, only one solar cell 2 is provided, and a light input element 14 for detecting extraneous light is provided independently of a light input element 3 for data transfer. Thereby, the same effect as the first embodiment is obtained.

Note that in this embodiment, the optical input element 14 is shielded,
Also, considering the condition in which the IC card 1 receives external light,
Two or more optical input elements 148 may be provided. Further, it is also possible to conceive of an arrangement such as placing the optical input element 14 close to the optical input element 5. In particular, the optical input element 14 is a semiconductor IC
Since it is possible to configure it on the same chip as
This embodiment has the effect of reducing the number of bondings from the semiconductor IC to the outside and improving reliability.

[Third Embodiment] The valley embodiment described above detects external light and prevents malfunctions caused by the influence of the external light, but an example will be shown below in which the influence of the power light source is dealt with. In other words, it is desirable for the power light source to have high illumination, but the input light from the optical input element is weak, so if it is not sufficiently shielded, it will malfunction, so it is necessary to prevent this. . However, since the shielding mechanism for this purpose is too complicated, the configuration of this embodiment eliminates the need for a special shielding mechanism.

A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

In Fig. 5, 1 is the front surface of the IC card using light (this is called the front for convenience of explanation), and 1'
8 shows the back side 8 of the IC card.

On the surface of the IC card 1, there are an optical input element 3 and an optical output element 4, which are input and output terminals for data transfer with the outside.
is the provision. In order to interface with the outside, it is sufficient to have at least one optical input element 31 and one output element 4 each. When increasing the number of input/output terminals, the optical input element 39 and the optical output element 4 may be provided on the same plane.

On the other hand, on the back side 1' of the IC card, a solar cell 2 is provided, that is, a light source for power supply, and a light input/output collector for the data person (support) blade are located at opposing positions across the IC card 1. Become.

Next, FIG. 6 shows the arrangement of the power light source and the optical input/output element for data input/output when the XC card 1 of the above 11 components is inserted into the interface device for data input/output. .

The IC card 1 is mounted on the mounter 25 inside the interface device (overall view, not shown), and a light source 26 for power supply is connected to the battery 27 from below the IC card 1 to irradiate the IC card 1 with light. do.

At this time, since the IC card 1 is placed in contact with the mounter 25 that is installed so as to surround the solar cell 2 on all sides, the IC card 1 is
The leakage of light from the light source 26 above the C card 1 can be extremely reduced. Further, even if light leakage becomes a problem, light leakage can be prevented by applying pressure using rollers (not shown) or the like for inserting and moving the IC card 1.

On the other hand, on the upper surface of the IC card 1, an optical output element 23 and an optical input element 24 on the interface device side are connected via a cable 20 to an output circuit 21. Each is connected to an input circuit 22 and sent as an electrical signal to the interface device. The interface device performs data processing 8 on these signals using a processing device such as a microprocessor (not shown).

Here, the cable 20 is used as an optical 7-iper, and the optical input element 2
4*i output cume 23/so input circuit 22. A configuration may also be adopted in which each of the output circuits is included in the output circuit 21. Sarah, I
It is clear that it does not depend on the orientation l in which the C card 1 is installed, and the operation is the same even if the solar cell 2 is placed upward1.In addition, instead of the light source 26, an indoor fluorescent lamp or A similar effect can be obtained even when using lights, external natural light, etc.

[Other Examples]

The IC card of the third embodiment can be provided with the optical-to-electrical conversion confectionery provided in the first or second embodiment i.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, in an IC card using light, external light such as natural light and signal light emitted by an external device can be distinguished, so that malfunctions due to external light can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an IC card according to the first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view of an IC card according to another embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of an IC card according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
A block diagram of the semiconductor IC in the card, FIG. 4 is a plan view of the IC card of the second embodiment, FIG. 5 is a front and back view of the optical IC card of the third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 FIG. 3 is a side view of the optical IC card according to the third embodiment of the present invention when it is attached to an interface group. 1...IC card 2...Taiyo'1 Pond 3...
Light input element 4...Light output element 5...Second solar cell 14...Second light input element as well

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. It includes an integrated circuit that performs calculations and storage, and includes a light-to-power conversion element for supplying power to the integrated circuit, an optical input element that responds to input from the outside, and an optical output element that outputs to the outside. An IC card comprising: In addition to the optical input element, a photo-electric conversion element is provided as an external light detection element. 2. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein a solar cell is provided as the external light element. 3. The IC card according to claim 1, wherein an optical input element is provided as the external optical element. 4. 4. The IC card according to claim 3, wherein at least two optical input devices are provided as the external light detection device. 5. It includes an integrated circuit that performs calculations and storage, and includes a light-to-power converter for supplying power to the integrated circuit, a light input element that responds to input from the outside, and a light output element that outputs output to the outside. An IC card, characterized in that the light-to-power conversion element, the optical input element, and the optical output element are respectively installed on different sides of the IC card. 6. 6. The IC card according to claim 5, wherein an extraneous light detection element is provided on the surface of the IC card on which the optical input element is provided.