Patent ID: 8485449

Claim:
A smart card reader (SCR) for managing concurrent access to a smart card by a plurality of accessing devices, the SCR comprising: a processor configured to provide a channel manager interfacing with the smart card, the channel manager configured to prioritize commands received by a plurality of devices; a communication subsystem responsive to the channel manager for communicating with the plurality of accessing devices, wherein, when the channel manager receives a close session request from a first accessing device, and a first session is open on a first channel between the first accessing device and the smart card and a second session is open on a second channel between a second accessing device and the smart card, the channel manager is configured to: issue a close channel command to the smart card to close the second channel; issue the close session request from the first accessing device to the smart card to close the first session and the first channel; and notify the first accessing device that the smart card is available to establish another secure session.