ANSI
see American National Standards Institute 

Anti-collision
feature used in contactless cards to prevent conflicts between different signals 

ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. The protocol used by most small computers. It assigns a seven-bit code to 96 printable characters and 32 control characters 

authenticate
to provide identiy or origin 

authorisation
a card issuers`s undertaking to a card acceptor that it will honour a transaction 

authorisation code
a specific value issued and stored with the transaction data to allow confirmation that a valid authorisation occurred 

authorisation terminal
a terminal permitting authorisation of a transaction but not necessarily capturing the transaction data into a payment system 

Baud
Unit of signalling speed. Now obsolete and has been replaced by BPS 

binary
a numbering system using only the values 0 and 1

biometric authentication
any  method of verifying the identity of a person by measuring an individual biological characteristic (e.g. fingerprinting, retinal scanning, iris scanning, voice recognition)

bit
a binary digit. The smallest possible unit of information in a digital code

bit density
the number of vits per unit length recorded on a magnietic medium. On ISO standard identification cards track 1 and track 3 are recorded at 8.3 bpmm and track 2 at 3 bpmm

bit rate
the rate of transfer of information in bits per second on a communication channel

Bluetooth
technology that allows an array of devices to communicate over shor distance wireless communications

contact card
a smart card with a visible module cover (usually gold coloured) which has five or six contact points which transfer information. Contact cards may be memory only or microprocessor

contactless card
a smart card with no visible module which transfers data using radio frequency technolgy. Such cards are generally used for transport applications and ussually powered by an integral battery

cryptanalysis
decryption by analysing dat without knowing the key used for its encryption

Cryptogram
Result of a cryptographic operation. Used in transactions involving chips. Allows chip to exchange data with the issuer securely.

cryptographic key
a parameter used with a cryptographic algorithm to transform, validate, authenticate, encrypt or decrypt data

cryptography
the methods and practice of transforming  confidential information to make it unintelligible to parties not authorised to know it

crypto-processor
arithmetic unit for execution of asymmetric algorithms

Data Encryption Algorithm
the encryption algorithm specified in the Data Encryption Standard

Data Encryption Standard (DES)
A US standard defining a cryptosystem for use by the US Federal Government. Popularly known as DES, this cryptosystem is widely used in payment systems. DES is a type of encryption algorithm using a single key cipher.The encryption/decryption method is called symmetrical because the same key must be used to 'lock' and 'unlock' the data.

data integrity
data with integrity has not been altered or destroyed in an unauthorised manner

DEA
see Data Encryption Algorithm

deactivation
a secure prodcedure under control of the card/secure application module (SAM) issuer, switching a card or a SAM from ist active life state to a permanently disabled state which only allows unprotected data to be read. 

decryption
reversing the process of encryption to recover the original text of confidential information. To do this easily the recipient must possess the key used for the original transformation

DES
see Data Encryption Standard

DES cryptosystem
a cryptosystem complying with the Data Encryption Standard

EEPROM
Electronically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory which can be re-used many times, unlike EPROM, as in the re-loadable EP(electronic purse)card.

electromagnetic interference
interference to the operation of electronic equipment caused vy currents induced by external electromagnetic fields.

electronic purse/e-purse
(EP) loadable smart card scheme for small value purchases eg. VisaCash, Mondex and Proton

EMV
Collaboration between Europay, MasterCard and Visa

encrypt
to effect encryption

encryption
a transformation of information, based on a key, to make the information unintelligible to unauthorised parties. The authorised recipient possesses the key and recovers the original text by the revers process, decryption

EPROM
see PROM. Electronically Programmable Record Only Memory used for disposable cards such as telephone cards.

EVA kit
evaluation kit to operate sample cards

firewall
a method of defence against electronic intrusion into the corporate computer network

flash
a type of memory based on EPROM which offers all the usual reliability attributes of EPROM, but is in-system, electrically erasable/rewritable on a whole chip or block basis with low power consumption

FPGA
Field Programmable Gate Array. Semiconductor device which generates its outputs directly from ist inpput states according to a user definded program

FRAM
Ferroelectric RAM (patented by RACOM). A system using memory cells containing a layer of crystals of zirconium/titanium,oxygen and lead which form a tiny transistor. FRAM is said to be 20.000 times faster than flash memory and costs25%less than battery-backed SRAM.

frequency modulation
encoding of signals by changing the frequency of an alternative current. Often used, somewhat confusingly, to refer to two-frequency recording

gigabyte
a billion bytes

handshake
routine pulse exchange between the central processing units of computers to ensure synchronisation or that entry to the host computer is authorised

Hardwired
Electronic circuits that perform fixed logical operations, rather than a stored program

HCMOS
High power CMOS. Technolgy used in most smart card microcontrollers

ID card
see identification card

Interoperability
The ability of a system to handle transaction on cards of a different type (eg. VisaCash/Mondex/Proton).

IP
Intellectual Property

IP address
A unique number assigned by an intenet authority that identifies a computer on the internet

IPO
Initial Public Offering 

kilobit (kb)
210 (1024) bits 

kilobyte (kB)
Precisely 210 (1,024) bytes. A measure of memory capacity in a computer or the size of a file. The abbreviation is K, as in  254K 

microprocessor
a chip that serves as the central processing unit controlling a computer. A microprocessor is the result of an electronics miniaturisation technique and computer technology which provide programmable intelligence in a small package at relatively low cost. 

MIFARE
a technology developed for contactless communication between cards and readers 

modem
acronym for modulator-demodulator, a device which converts digital information from a computer into analogue signals for transmission over  a telephone line and then converts back into digital information on receipt 

module
packaging for easy imbedding of ICs into cards 

MROM
permanent memory IC where data is written (masket) at the time of manufacture 

network
generally a set of entities connected by links. In the context of computers a set of computing systems connected by data communication links via which they communicate and co-operate. 

network architecture
 the organisation of computer and communications systems which supports communication and so-operation between them 

PCB
see printed circuit board 

PCMCIA
Personal Computer Memory Card International Association-a US based association with members drawn from leading hardware and software companies worldwide working to develop international standards for storage and computer application memory cards which are fundamentally different from smart memory cards. 

personal identification number (PIN)
a number allocated to a cardholder to identify him unambiguously at point of sale. Such numbers need to be remembered by the cardholder and are usually short(4digits is common).A number this short cannot identify a cardholder uniquely within a cardbase, it is usually enough to distinguish him from other cardholders at the point of use of his card. 

Personalisation
Process whereby a smart card is modified to contain the users details 

PGA
Programmable Gate Array 

PIN
see personal identification number 

polling
the process of collecting batches of transactions from an offline EFTPOS terminal 

protocol
a set of rules and procedure governing interchange of information between communicating entities(see also network protocol) 

proximity card
a non-contact card whose presence and containde data  can be sensed by an interface device not in physical contact with the card. Such cards are often used in access control systems in which doors open automatically if an authorised person approaches carrying his card. 

RAM
see random access memory 

reader-writer
a device which can both read from and write to a recording medium 

RF card
see radio frequency card 

RFID
Radio Frequency Identification. Automatic identifcation and data capture system using readers and tags. Data is transferred by using modulative inductive or radiating electromagnetic carriers 

ROM
see read-only memory 

SAM
a logical device used to provide security for insecure environments. Protected against tampering and a store for secret or critical information 

SDK
Software Development Kit. A set of development utilities used to write software applications 

server
a computer that serves other computers connected to it by LAN's or Wide Area Networks 

SIM
Subscriber Identification Module. The chip card necessary for the operation of GSM phones. It provides the subscribers identify to the network operator for billing purposes. 

smart card
a card capable of processing and storing information. An integrated circuit card with microprocessor and memory. See chip card. 

SRAM
see static random access memory 

stand-alone terminal
an electronic payment terminal not connected on-line to a computer-based payment system 

Tag
read only or read-write electronic device carried inside a vehicle for toll payment. An identification number on the tag can be read remotely. 

tamper-proof
made resistant to interference. Most electronic payment terminals are tamper-proof to some extent. Common tamper-proofing measures include automatic erasure of sensitive information, automatic shutdown and automatic physical locking. 

USB
Universal Serial Bus. An inout/output bus that can allow up to 120 devices to be daisychained. 

white list
a database containing the list of all authorised card numbers.