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Infineon Technologies will be offering new chip card controllers for improved security of electronic identity cards and passports when the first global tests on electronic ID cards and passports commence later this year.
Infineon Technologies will be offering new chip card controllers for improved security of electronic identity cards and passports when the first global tests on electronic ID cards and passports commence later this year.

Infineon claims double the storage capacity at 64kBytes and state-of-the-art security features for its new products. The Infineon security controllers contain more than 50 individual security mechanisms built into the chip.

The SLE66CLX640P security controller is designed for chip card-format electronic ID cards, while the SLE66CLX641P controller is intended for integration into electronic passports. Until now, chip cards have been designed for a maximum useful lifetime of five years, whereas electronic ID cards and passports are generally valid for ten years. Infineon has aimed its new controllers at these more stringent requirements.

Both the new security controllers meet the provisions of the global Standard 9303-1, issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which has laid down framework standards for globally valid travel documents for 188 countries.

Encrypted data on both chips can include not just the details currently printed on ID papers, such as name, date of birth and period of validity, but also a number of biometric features. Individual characteristics on the cards can be the face, the prints of one or more fingers, the image of the holder's iris or a combination of these.

A multi-application card could integrate a personal identity card, a driver's license, an e-government card with a digital signature for using special official services, a credit card, and a monthly commuter ticket for urban transportation systems.

Tens of millions of examples of the forerunners to the two chips being launched now are already in use in ID projects. These include electronic ID cards in Macao, Hong Kong, Oman, Italy and the US Department of Defense, as well as the national healthcare cards in Taiwan and Italy.

The security controllers are being developed in Infineon's center of excellence for contactless technology in Graz, Austria. Here, Infineon is creating about 30 new jobs in development, marketing and application technology for chip card applications.

The chip package, specially developed for the requirements of ID cards and passports, originates in Regensburg, Germany, along with the inlay consisting of the antenna and its connection to the chip.

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