Portable terminal apparatus compatible with a plurality of applications of an IC card

Abstract: A data processing apparatus for an IC card includes an interface section (16) for receiving and accessing an integrated circuit medium (10), a first application function (11, 12, 51) for performing data processing for the integrated circuit medium on the basis of the first application, a second application function (11, 12, 53) for performing data processing on the basis of the second application, and a control unit (11) for selecting one of the first and second application functions on the basis of an instruction from a keyboard (3) and controlling it so as to perform data processing.

Description: The present invention relates to a portable terminal apparatus for an IC card which selectively reads and displays various transaction data, amount data, and the like from an IC card used as, e.g., a credit card and electronic money and supporting a plurality of applications. In recent years, IC cards which incorporate IC chips having nonvolatile memories and control elements such as CPUs (Central Processing Units) for controlling the memories have been utilized as portable storage media in various industrial fields. When an IC card of this type is used as, e.g., a credit card and electronic money, it is very convenient to selectively read and display various transaction data, amount data, and the like stored in the IC card, as needed. For this purpose, a portable terminal apparatus for an IC card that the user can always carry has recently been developed. This portable terminal apparatus for an IC card is formed into a card-like shape, similar to the IC card, and comprises a keyboard, a liquid crystal display section, and a battery for a self-operation and a power supply of the IC card. Upon insertion of the IC card, various transaction data, amount data, and the like are selectively read from the IC card in accordance with a keyboard operation, and displays them on the liquid crystal display section. Conventionally, such a portable terminal apparatus for an IC card copes with only a single application, such as the apparatus disclosed in DE 295 15 015 41, which forms the preamble of claim 1, which copes with a pay card ("Geldbörsenkarth") only. Since the above-mentioned conventional portable terminal apparatus for an IC card copes with only a single application, when data are to be read from an IC card which supports a plurality of applications, dedicated portable terminal apparatuses for an IC card are required for the respective applications. When data are to be read from the IC card, it is impossible to determine whether key collation is necessary to read the data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal apparatus for an IC card which is compatible with a plurality of applications. This object is achived by a portable data a processing apparatus according to claim 1. A preferred embodiment of the present invention can automatically determine whether key collation is necessary in reading data from the IC card. Further developments of the invention are given in the dependent claims. The portable terminal apparatus is compatible with a plurality of applications, unlike a conventional apparatus for a single application. Therefore, as for a recent IC card for a plurality of applications (e.g., a credit card, point accumulation, and a prepaid card), data can be read/written from/in the medium by only one portable terminal apparatus, instead of using conventional portable terminal apparatuses dedicated for the respective applications. That is, the cardholder can call the application of, e.g., a prepaid card and confirm the outstanding balance of the prepaid card by selecting the application from the keyboard section of the portable terminal apparatus. Thereafter, the cardholder or user can call the application of a credit card by a selection operation from the keyboard section and confirm the credit card outstanding balance. This invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing the outer appearances of a portable terminal apparatus for an IC card and an IC card according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the arrangement of the portable terminal apparatus for an IC card; FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the arrangement of the IC card; FIGS. 4A and 4B are flow charts for explaining the read operation of data from the IC card; and FIG. 5 is a table showing the contents of a key collation table for determining whether key collation is necessary. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows the outer appearances of a portable terminal apparatus for an IC card and an IC card according to this embodiment. More specifically, a portable terminal apparatus 1 for an IC card is formed into a card-like shape. One surface of the portable terminal apparatus 1 has a liquid crystal display section 2 serving as a display means for displaying various data, and a keyboard 3 serving as an input means for inputting password data and other data. One side surface of the portable terminal apparatus 1 for an IC card has a card slot portion 4 in which an IC card 10 is inserted and set. The keyboard 3 includes an upward selection key 4a, a downward selection key 4b, an enter key (determination key) 5, an exit key 6 which is depressed when the current display is advanced to the next one, a power supply ON/OFF key 7, a ten-key pad 8, and the like. The selection keys 4a and 4b are keys for selecting one of a plurality of applications displayed on the liquid crystal display section 2, i.e., "credit card" 31, "point accumulation" 33, "prepaid" 35, and "other" 37 or for selecting data to be read by moving cursors 9a and 9b displayed on the liquid crystal display section 2. The IC card 10 supports a plurality of applications such as a credit card, a point accumulation function, and a prepaid card, and a contact portion 6 (see FIG. 3) to be electrically connected to the interface section of the portable terminal apparatus 1 for an IC card is arranged at a predetermined portion on one surface. FIG. 2 schematically shows the arrangement of the portable terminal apparatus 1 for an IC card. More specifically, a control unit 11 for performing overall control is mainly constituted by a CPU and the like. The control unit 11 is connected to a ROM (Read-Only Memory) 12 storing control programs and the like, a RAM (Read Access Memory) 13 serving as a storage means used as a work memory, a display drive circuit 14 for controlling and driving the display section 2, a voltage conversion circuit 15 for driving an IC card, and the keyboard 3. The voltage conversion circuit 15 is connected to an IC card interface (I/F) section 16 serving as an interface means for exchanging a signal with the IC card 10 via the contact portion 6, and a battery 17 serving as a power supply section. In this embodiment, a battery having an output voltage of, e.g., 3 V is used as the battery 17. The voltage conversion circuit 15 converts the power supply and signal voltages of the IC card I/F section 16 from a low voltage (+3 V) as the output voltage of the battery 17 into a specific voltage (+5 V) for an IC card. FIG. 3 schematically shows the arrangement of the IC card 10. More specifically, the IC card 10 is constituted by the contact portion 6 and an IC chip 21. The IC chip 21 has a CPU 22 serving as a control element, a ROM 23 storing the control programs of the CPU 22, a RAM 24 serving as a work memory, an EEPROM 25 serving as a nonvolatile memory for storing data, and the like. The EEPROM 25 stores data 57 for the credit card, data 59 for point accumulation, data 61 for the prepaid card, and the like. That is, the IC card is compatible with a plurality of applications and exhibits a plurality of functions by external instructions. Next, the read operation of data from the IC card 10 in the above arrangement will be explained with reference to flow charts shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. When data in the IC card 10 is to be read, the IC card 10 is inserted and set in the card slot portion 4. First, a plurality of applications 31, 33, 35, and 37 as shown in FIG. 1 are displayed on the selection window 2 (S11). A desired application is selected by the application selection keys 4a and 4b in the keyboard 3, the cursor 9a is moved to the application display 31, 33, 35, or 37 to be selected, and the determination key is depressed to determine the desired application (S13). Data of the selected application are read out from the EEPROM 25 of the IC card 10 to start this application (S15). Upon depression of the determination key, the control unit 11 performs an activation operation for the IC card 10 (S17) to wait for initial response data from the IC card 10. If the initial response data from the IC card 10 are normally received, the control unit 11 refers to data in a key collation table shown in FIG. 5 to determine whether the selected application requires key collation (S19). The key collation table of FIG. 5 is stored in the ROM 12. Data representing whether each of a plurality of applications supported by the IC card 10 requires key collation are registered in the key collation table. If key collation is required as a result of the above determination, the control unit 11 displays a prompt for of inputting a password on the display section 2. When password data (e.g., a password number) for key collation is input from the keyboard 3 (S21), and the control unit 11 determines that the password data is normally input (S23), the control unit 11 executes a key collation command for the IC card 10 on the basis of the input password data to perform key collation processing (collation of password data) in the IC card 10 (S25). If an error occurs in this key collation processing (S27), the control unit 11 performs an inactivation operation for the IC card 10 (S39) to display a message representing a password error on the display section 2 (S41). When the key collation processing is normally completed, or when key collation is unnecessary as a result of the above determination (S27), the control unit 11 performs selection processing of the application having selected for the IC card 10 (S29), and executes a data read command for the application (S31). With this processing, data of the selected application are read out from the EEPROM 25 of the IC card 10 and stored in the RAM 13. When an error occurs in this read processing (S33), the control unit 11 executes an inactivation operation for the IC card 10 (S43). The control unit 11 displays a message representing a data read error on the display section 2 (S45). On the other hand, when the readout processing is normally completed (S33), the control unit 11 executes an inactivation operation for the IC card 10 (S35). Thereafter, the control unit 11 displays on the display section 2 data which is read from the IC card 10 and stored in the RAM 13 (S37). Note that when the selected application is "credit card", a plurality of credit card transaction results are read from the IC card 10 in the read processing and temporarily stored in the RAM 13, and a selection operation is performed (upward and downward keys are operated) with the keyboard 3. With this operation, data in the RAM 13 are sequentially read out and displayed on the display section 2. When the selected application is "point accumulation", a service point based on the amount of purchase or the like is input from the keyboard 3 by the operation of a store clerk, and the input point is stored in the IC card 10. Further, when the selected application is "prepaid", the outstanding balance is read from the IC card 10 and temporarily stored in the RAM 13, and the data in the RAM 13 are read out and displayed on the display section 2. In some cases, by performing a predetermined key operation with the keyboard 3, a calculation based on a specific algorithm is performed for data in the RAM 13 to display the calculation result on the display section 2. As has been described above, according to the present invention, since the portable terminal apparatus for an IC card has a function of arbitrarily selecting a plurality of applications supported by the IC card, only one apparatus is compatible with a plurality of applications. Therefore, only one portable terminal apparatus for an IC card is compatible with respective applications which conventionally require dedicated apparatuses, resulting in an improvement in portability. In addition, according to the present invention, the portable terminal apparatus can automatically determine whether key collation is necessary in reading data from an IC card. When key collation is necessary, data are read and displayed upon completion of key collation; and when key collation is unnecessary, data are immediately read and displayed.

Claims: A portable terminal apparatus for an integrated circuit card, comprising: accessing means (16) for receiving and accessing a received integrated circuit card (10) storing data, processing means (11, 12, 51) for performing data processing for the integrated circuit card, inputting means (3) for inputting an instruction concerning data processing of the integrated circuit medium, selecting means (11, 4a, 4b) for selecting a data processing in accordance with the instruction input from the inputting means, and controlling means (11) for controlling the processing means in accordance with the selection by the selecting means so as to perform data processing, characterized in that the apparatus is adapted for an integrated circuit card (10) for a plurality of applications, the processing means comprises first processing means (11, 12, 51) for performing data processing for the integrated circuit card (10) on the basis of a first application, and second processing means (11, 12, 53) for performing data processing for the integrated circuit card (10) on the basis of a second application different from the first application, the selecting means (11, 4a, 4b) is adapted for selecting one of the first processing means and the second processing means in accordance with the instruction input from the inputting means, and the controlling means (11) is adapted for controlling the one of the first processing means and the second processing means selected by the selecting means so as to perform data processing. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising third processing means (55) for performing data processing for the integrated circuit card (10) on the basis of at least one third application different from the first and second applications, wherein the selecting means (11, 4a, 4b) is adapted for selecting one of the first second, and third processing means in accordance with the instruction input from the inputting means, and the controlling means (11) is adapted for controlling the one of the first, second, and third processing means selected by the selecting means so as to perform data processing. An apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the first processing means includes means (11, 12, 51) for performing data processing for the integrated circuit card on the basis of an application concerning a credit card, the second processing means includes means (11, 12, 51) for performing data processing for the integrated circuit card on the basis of an application concerning point accumulation, and the third processing means includes means (11, 12, 51) for performing data processing for the integrated circuit card on the basis of an application concerning a prepaid card. An apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the processing means includes data read/write means (11, 12, 51) for performing a data read operation and/or a data write operation on the basis of an application selected for the integrated circuit card, and display means (2, 11) for displaying data. An apparatus according to one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising storing means (12, FIG. 5) for storing necessity/nonnecessity data concerning necessity/nonnecessity of key collation in correspondence with one of the applications and determining means (2, 11, 12) for determining whether the key collation is necessary by reading the necessity/nonnecessity data corresponding to the one of the applications which is selected by the selection means. An apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the determining means includes display means (2) for displaying a message which causes an operator to input data for the key collation when the determinating means determines that the key collation is necessary, and fourth processing means (11, 12) for performing processing on the basis of the selected one of the applications when the determining means determines that the key collation is unnecessary. An apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, further comprising collation means (11, 12) for executing, when the determinating means determines that the key collation is necessary and input data for the key collation is input, the key collation by comparing predetermined data with the input data, wherein the display means (2, 11) is adapted for displaying data corresponding to the selected one of the applications of the integrated circuit card when a result of the collation means is determined to be normal and for displaying an error when the result of the collation means is determined to be abnormal.

Inventors: KURIYAMA RYOUICHI, KURIYAMA, RYOUICHI
Applicants: TOSHIBA KK, KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
Application year: 1997
Main classification: G06F15
IPC codes: G06K19, G06F15, G07F7, G06K17