User guide

13
card. Even dual interface readers (which can read contacted and contactless
cards) are designed for specific card specifications.
Contact Cards
Contact cards have electrical contacts on the card. The
actual chip is embedded in the card under the
contacts. Physical features of the card are specified by
the ISO 7816 standard.
Contactless Cards
Contactless cards contain one or more
contactless integrated circuits within the
card and an antenna. Some cards
operate at 125 KHz. Newer 13.56 MHz
contactless RFID cards are covered by
the ISO 14443 (Contactless Smart Card)
standard in addition to the ISO 7816
standard. Both types are sometimes called proximity (or prox) cards, although
some manufacturers prefer to call those that operate at 125 KHz “prox” cards.
Within the ISO 14443 standard, different protocols are possible, and some have
proprietary names, including Mifare
®
and iCLASS
®
by HID
®
.
The contactless card reader presents an electrical field and the card is positioned
within range of the field. The cards use an integrated circuit chip, a capacitor and
a coil to detect and react to the field. Typically, they have a range of 0-4 inches. A
more powerful reader and a larger antenna can increase this distance somewhat.
Some cards are battery powered and have a range of a few feet. These cards are
too thick to be used in the card printer.
Cards used for access control, such as iCLASS
®
cards, can have a serial number,
which is the only data transmitted. The security system associates that serial
number with a user and their access profile. Serial numbers are created to ensure
unique numbers for each card. Often, the first several bits are identical, which is
called the facility code or site code.