Patent ID: 8186602

Claim:
A contactless multi-application smart card comprising: a processor having stored thereon a plurality of applications, wherein said processor is able to operate in a contact mode, in a contactless mode and in a mixed contact-contactless mode; a selection mechanism to enable a user to select a state among of a plurality of states, each one of said states corresponding to a respective application among said plurality of applications; and circuitry to: enable said processor to sample the state of said selection mechanism, wherein said circuitry is to sample the state of the selection mechanism if a radio frequency (RF) signal from a contactless reader is present, by: extracting contact supply voltage from said RF signal, maintaining a contact mode power up sequence, and engaging said processor in said mixed contact-contactless mode operation so as to enable said processor to sample a state of said selection mechanism; wherein said processor is to run said selected application based upon the sampled state of the selection mechanism.