Patent ID: 7540416

Claim:
A smart card authentication device comprising: a smart card authentication module configured to: identify a smart card; determine whether a default configuration of the smart card authentication module supports the smart card; if the default configuration supports the smart card, then read authentication data from the smart card using instructions provided by the default configuration of the smart card authentication module; if the default configuration of the smart card authentication module does not support the smart card, then read data from a first separate, user-defined configuration data that is dynamically configurable and never compiled, the first separate, user-defined configuration data comprising instructions that allows the smart card authentication module to read data from a particular type of smart card; determine whether the data read from the first separate, user-defined configuration data supports the smart card; if the separate, user-defined configuration data supports the smart card, use the data read from the first separate, user-defined configuration data to read authentication data from the smart card; attempt to authenticate the smart card using the authentication data read from the smart card; if the authentication module authenticates by accessing a remote authentication device, then determine whether the default configuration of the smart card authentication module supports communication with the remote authentication device; if the remote authentication device is not supported by the default configuration, then read data from a second separate, user-defined configuration data that is dynamically configurable and never compiled, the second separate, user-defined configuration data comprising data to support communication with a remote authentication device; and use the data read from the second separate, user-defined configuration data to communicate with the remote authentication device to authenticate the smart card.