3.1.3.

Performance

Performance and speed are very important factors that need to be considered in most

smart card application (Fancher, 1997). To achieve this, transistor scaling or the

reduction of the gate length (the size of the switch that turns transistors on and off),

must be taken into consideration. This idea not only improves the performances of

chips but also lowers their manufacturing cost and power consumption per

switching event. Recently, IBM have built a working transistor at 6 nanometers in

length which is per beyond the projection of The Consortium of International

Semiconductor Companies that transistors have to be smaller than nanometers by

2016 in order to continue the performance trend.

The ability to build working transistors at these dimensions could allow developers

to put 100 times more transistors into a computer chip than is currently possible.

The IBM results will lead to further research into small, high-density silicon devices

and allow scientists to introduce new structures and new materials (IBM Research

News, 2002).

3.2. FEATURES AND COMPONENTS OF SMART CARD READER

The features of the Smart Card Reader give it a maximum support and allow the

machine to carry out it functions. The features and component are working together,

hence one cannot work without the other, and therefore both of them are

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