Patent ID: 7350717

Claim:
In a system having a reader for securely reading data from a portable card, the card comprising: a connector to enable the card to be coupled to the reader to enable the reader to at least retrieve information stored on the card; a first controller connected to the connector for enabling the reader to read data at a first slower speed from a first memory on the first controller; a second controller connected to the connector for enabling the reader to read data at a second faster speed; an interface switch coupled to each of the first and second controllers for detecting whether the connector is connected to a reader operable at the slower speed or the faster speed; a memory controller coupled to the interface switch and to a second memory to enable the reader to read information from the second memory; an authentication controller coupled to the interface switch for determining whether the card and the reader are permitted to exchange information; a command controller coupled to the interface switch for detecting commands received by the interface switch from the reader and retrieving information in accordance with received commands.