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Multi-purpose student card system using smart card technology

Conference Paper · January 2004

DOI: 10.1109/ITHET.2004.1358229 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 Multi-Purpose Student Card System Using Smart
Card Technology :
S. Ornar, Member, IEEE, H. Djuhari
T h e University of New South Wales
UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
(omar, hdju784)@cse.unsw.edu.au~
Abstract - Smart cards have been around for a while now; it has
been mainly used to store some kind of monetary value. Currently
smart cards can he seen in the transportation, telecommunication
and ietail sectors. This paper aims to design a student card system
~ cards and their advantages
for an educational institute using smart card technology that can he
usable in the transportation, retail and educational sectors. The
smart card will he used as means for identification, security and
cash. From there we can see the potential and power of smart
cards their versatility, practicality and usability.
1. INTRODUCTION
Currently student cards are implemented with either
magnetic strip or ordinary plastic cards which have very limited
or no space to store data and most have one use,i.e. as an
identification card. Smart cards have a great advantage over
magnetic strip cards in space, security, reliability and
functionality [I].As mentioned above magnetic strip cards have
very low storage mainly a few bytes and in general smart cards
can store hundred times more information than magnetic. With
more space to store information, smart cards can have more use
and may be more versatile than magnetic cards, in addition to
being a student identification card it could also be used to store
monetary values such as a cash card for retail and as an access
card to login to computers and enter rooms. Smart cards have
the benefits of storing comprehensive records with the
advantages of accuracy and reliability, in other words it can he
seen as a mobile d a t a h e .
Currently smart card implementations can he seen around
the world hut they are not unified i.e. each developer uses
different programming standards and data structures, therefore a
variety of smart cards exist in our society today. An example
can be seen in Singapore where they have variety of smart card
for the same purpose i.e. storing monetary value. One called E 2
Link is used for their public transport system and is also usable
in some food courts while the other cash cards are used for their
toll system ERP, parking and supermarkets. This is a problem
that exists today and one that needs to be noted or fixed.
Our,aim is to create a student card system'using sman card
technology that is to be implemented in educational institutes in
other words a card with many uses. This will enhance the
current student cards that can be seen in many educational
02'004 IEEE
0-7803-8596-9/04/$20.00
institutes and abolish the current problem of having multiple
cards with the same use.
The next section will give background information on smart
over. magnetic strip cards,
Afterwards 3 highlights the motivation of this papperand
the benefits of adopting smart card technology.' ,Section 4
describes the overall Of the system and Ihe
implementation of the student card and the applications. Finally
section S is the conclusion.
11. SMART CARDS VS MAGNETIC STRIP CARDS
A Smart Card is a piece of plastic the size of a credit card
that has a computer chip embedded on or in it. The card can be
programmed to store data or information as well as to perform
specific tasks. Smart cards have a greater use than their relatives
the magnetic strip cards; they are designed to do greater things.
Smart cards can be programmed to he used in more than one
area e.g. as an identification card and cash card while magnetic
strips mostly has one use in addition to that smart cards can .he
used in multiple industries.
Although smart card's main use is the same as a magnetic
strip cards they have certain advantages over them, these are:
More reliable than a magnetic strip card
Can store hundred'times more information than a magnetic
strip card
More secure or higher security
Disposable and reusable
Multiple functions over wide range of industries
Compatible with many consumer electronics
. .
111. MOTIVATION
Take a look in your wallet and what do you find? Notes,
coins, a driver's license, a library card and more cards. Soon all
these documents will he replaced by just two or three smart
cards because they can store and protect relatively large amounts
of data. Smart cards are being used in a number of ways around
the world, replacing a wallet's content bit by hit [2]. By
adopting smart card technology one card can be used for all.
527
 Many organizations including educational institutes such as
universities currently use magnetic strip cards as their means for
identification and not many applications have been created or
implemented that uses these particular cards. , There is
insufficient numbers of applications that work with the current
student cards in universities which results in the benefits of the
cards not being recognized or used, in addition to this problem
the current implementation i.e. the magnetic strip cards are not
secure, reliable, flexible nor versatile therefore there must be a
reform in the current system.
Fig. 1, illustrates some uses of smart cards in an educational
institute, as seen below it will have some func!ionalities that you
will recognize with a few extras.
Drh cud
Fig. I . Overview diagram ofthe Student Card System
The new student card system is designed’to benefit students as
well as the university. The system is intended to supersede the
old magnetic student.card system. .Although features of the old
magnetic student card system will carry on, new features will
also be implemented. As noted in section 2 smart cards have a
huge advantage on magnetic strip cards in security, storage,
reliability, versatility and functionality. By using smart card
technology the student card will be more powerful, more
versatile, more secure and more reliab]e.,,The student card will
be used in the areas of security, retail and identification around
the university and i n the sectors of transportation and retail in
the general community.
IV. APPROACH
The proposed system can be implemented in educational
organizations, the prototype created was to illustrate how the
system operates and interact with the users so an environment
had to he chosen, that environment is a university. Designing a
smart card system for a university requires the design of the card
itself such as what card t use, what data it should store, what
security features to use and finally the applications that works
with the card. ’
A. Types <$Smart Cards
Currently smart cards can be categorized as either contact or
contactless. Contact smart cards are programmed using a reader
that connects to the computer chip on the card. While
contactless smart cards communicate through radio waves via a
built in antenna to an external receiver similar to a reader
mentioned before. Contact smart cards have an advantage over
contactless based on its cost but contactless are more efficient
and convenient for the users. Contact smart cards were chosen
for this implementation since programming can be done with
ease and its advantage on cost over contactless. Although in
reality contactless would be more ideal for the student card
system.
Contact smart cards can thenibe broken into two groups one
that has both a microprocessor and a memory chip and one that
has only a mernory.chip with non-programmable logic. The
microprocessor cards are able to manipulate and alter the data
inside the card while a memory chip cards can only undertake
pre-defined operations, with that note microprocessor cards
would be better suited for the student card system.
With the reasons given above the microprocessor based contact
smart cards were used for the implementation.
B. File Structure
To manage all the data that is to be stored in the smart card,
they must be grouped or categorized so that data can be
retrieved, altered and managed easily and efficiently. Four files
are necessary for this purpose, they are listed below:
Identification - First name, Last name, Student ID &
Degree code
Status - Card status (Enabled or Disabled), Student type,
Expired date
Extras - Telephone & Address
Transport - EnterExit, Time last used, Date last used,
Transport ID (Route)
Some smart cards which are microprocessor based already
have an account data structure for managing monetary values
i.e. a file has already been created for this purpose and
transactions (account inquire, credit, debit) are done through the
card’s own internal commands. But if a particular smart card
does not have this feature. an extra file should be created to
manage the monetary funds that are to be stored i n the card.
Each file has different levels of access so that privacy of the
cardholder can be respected and security be implemented. For
example the identification file will be able to be read by anyone
since the data stored in file are not confidential and are used in
nearly all applications but write access will only be given to card
administrators to protect the consistency and accuracy of data.
Reading and ,writing access will be protected by several secret
codes, the code must be submitted before any actions can he
performed.
C. Securit?; Fig. 2. shows the algorithm of how the student card is
Security is a big issue with smart cards as the cards can be initialized while the screenshot of the actual application is
used for manipulation and fraud; there is even a greater risk if illustrated in Fig. 3.
the card is to be used to store monetary values. To provide the
resources to identified users is quite important. thus in order to
protect these resources from any unauthorized access both user
authentication and access control are required for resource
protection in distributed computer systems [3]. Different cards
have different security features. The features that exist with the
cards used for the implementation includes authentication, single
and triple DES encryption, MAC checksums Qnd secret codes
such as PIN.

D. Application
This section will go through all the applications
implemented for the proposed student card system. Some
applications such as Login and Tutorial Attendances are meant
for educational organizations while Shop and Transport are
designed for the public arena. Altogether seven applications
were created.
Currently there are a few programming standards available
for smart cards, they are:
Personal Computer / Smart Cards (PC/SC)
JavaCard
OpenCard Framework (OCR. '
PC/SC was created by Microsoft and is a smart card
application interface for communicating with s m m cards from
window based platforms but it does not support other'platforms.
Building on' the same spirit as the original Java, Sun has
developed the lava Card API Specification, to facilitate the
concept of "write once, run on all cards". It allows Java applets
to run directly on the card and enables chip independent
Fig. 2. Flowchart to initialize student card
execution of different applications.
OpenCard Framework '(OCF) is a standard framework
announced by an Industry consortium that provides for inter-
operable smmt cards solutions across many hardware and
software platforms [4].
As I will be using lava for my implementation OCF would
be ideal since OCF itself is 100% lava so guarantees full
compatibility. OCF is also open source therefore would provide
great support and no fees. Finally it suppons both OCF and
PC/SC devices therefore more choice on hardware.
The OpenCard Framework will be used for the
communication between the application and smart card. All
applications were created with JAVA and OCF.

a. Initialize card
This application is basically to personalize and initialize the card
i.e. to create the student card. The application will initialize all Fig. 3. Screenshot of the Initialize card application
secret codes and references for authentication and. create the
necessary user data files. Once the user data files have been
created personal data can then be written to the card. Section
4.2 talks about these user data files.

529
 h. . Login required to insert their card into the designated reader. The
Login as the name suggest is an application that allows application will then verify the id if the id exist appropriate
cardholders to access computers or any other accounts around records will besreated else the cardholder is denied to borrow
the university. It requires the cardholder to simply insert their the hooks.
student card into the designated reader once done the system c - - A -- - P - - - s
verities the id if the id exists the cardholder k t h e n asked to
submit the pin and,then verified: If the pin is correct access is
granted otherwise denied. As a ,security feature incorrect pins
can be entered only so many times, if the limit is exceeded the
card will he blocked. To logout or lock the, workstation the user
will be required to remove the student card when that action has
been completed then the student will have those options.
Fig. 4. shows the algorithm of how the student card can be
used to record attendances while screenshot of the actual
application is illustrated in Fig. S.

ii. Recharge cash card

Inylf.n,&*tcnd The Recharge Station is used to add value into the account
structure of the card. A limit is created so that a card may not he
abused. To start up the application the cardholder is required to
insert their card once done .the balance is displayed. The
cardholder then specifies the amount to be inserted if the new
balance exceeds. the maximum value an error is prompted else
the value will he added. To exit the session the user is required
to remove their card from the reader.
Fig. 7. shows'the algorithm of how the student card can be
used to record. attendances while screenshot of the actual,

application is illustrated in Fig. 6.

1 Ba.m:m -. ___..

Fig. 6 . Screenshot of Recharge Applicalion

iii. Shop
Fig. 4. Flowchart for Login Application' The ever increasing growth of virtual business world will
. . ,
lead to more and more electronic based payment systems [SI. In
i. Librurj' the future one or more cards will be used for a wide variety of
The Library-application works like any system found in a purposes, not only in electronic commerce [5]. The student card
Library but much simpler. Firstly all the hooks that are to he will nor only be used for identification hut will be adopted in the
borrowed are all entered into the system then the cardholder~is retail sectors as a method of electronic payment

530
 . .
. .
Shop is basically an app:icatidn that can be used in shops of the smart card in this industry will try t o improve the
and food courts. The strticture is.?implc all the products being following [7]: . . ~

bought must firstly be entered it will.11m calculate the total and
asks the customer to insert :their card. t LC itF$icntioii will
firstly check the balance.of the card if there is insufficient funds
an error is prompted else the total will be deducted from the
card.
reducing fare abuse e.g. short payment'
improving ridership data i.e. data generated from fares can
. .
be used as a mean for surveying
flexibility e.g. all cards will be usable in all routes
security e.g. ability to track transactions
convenience for customers: since the cards can be used for
all routes and customers will not have. to worry about
carrying the exact change

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b.hrnrnowrrril

Fig. 1.Flowchart for Recharge Application

Fig. 8. Flowchart for Tuturial Appliration

io. TuutoridAnr,zdmcr
The card can he used with applications to record
attendances in meetings, at work or in our situation to record all
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students that attended a particular class. I". ( I
"b'L19__J
Fig. 8. shows the algorithm of how the student card can be
used to record attendances while screenshot of the actual
application is illustrated in Fig. 9.
In many cases conventional means o f fare collection are
lahour intensive, insecure. and cause delays in both travel and
boarding and are relatively inflexible [6]. To solve this problem
the student cards are used as a means for calculating and
Fig. 9. Screenshot of Tutorial Application
collecting fares. By using smart cards collecting fares will be
more efficient and secure and by the flexibility of the card it will
bring convenience to the pessengers. The design and adoption

531
 v. Transporr
Transport is an application that calculates and collects
transport fares. It requires passengers to insert their card when
entering and exiting the vehicle. The student card has a user file
Transport that contains data about the transportation details such
as the transport identification, entedexit flag and last date and
time the card was used.
Fig. IO. shows the algorithm of how rhe student card works
as a fare card while the screenshot of the actual application is
illustrated in Fig. 1 I .
‘I -on i
Fig. IO.Flowchart far Transporl Applicati?”
As shown the application can also detect fare abuse and
take the appropriate actions. Fares are deducted when exiting
the vehicle and if a passenger ignores this step the application
will be aware the next time the passenger enters another vehicle
since the previous transport information is recorded inside the
card. When found out a fine will he given to the passenger, i.e.
the application will automatically deduct an amount from the
card.
532
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Fig. I I . Screemhot of Transpon Application
v. CONCLUSION
The implementation is just the beginning of what could he
achieved with smart cards. As seen in the implementation smart
cards will improve security in general, efficiency caused by a
cashless society, data consistency and functionality of the
student card. Through the applications we can see how
versatile, practical and usable smart cards are and how they can
improve the environment they were introduced in. Education as
shown in the implementation is just one sector where smart
cards can he adopted others can also take on the adoption to
improve their functionality and usability.
REFERENCES
[I] Rinaldo Di Giorgio, :Smart cards: A primer”, JavaWorld
December 1995, http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-l2-
1997/jw-12-javadev_p.html
[2] Carol Hovenga Fancher, “In Your Pocket: Smart Cards”,
IEEE Spectrum, February 1997
[3] Nam-Yih Lee, “Integrating Access Control With User
Authentication Using Smart Cards”, IEEE Transactions on
Consumer Electronics, Vol46, No. 4, November 2000
[41 Opencard Framework, “Opencard Framework 1.2 General
Information Web Document”, OpenCard Consortium, October
1998
[ 5 ] Karin Schier, “Multifunctional Sman Cards For Electronic
Commerce - Application Of The Role and Task Based
Security Model”, Computer Security Applications
Conference, December 1998
161 Phil Blythe, “Integrating Ticketing - Smart Cards In
Transport”, IEEE Colloquium: Using ITS in Public Transport
and in Emergency Services, December 1998
[7] N. 0. Attoh-Okine, L. David .Shen, “Security Issues’ of
Emerging Smart Cards Fare Collection Application in Mass
Transit”, ‘Vehicle Navigation and Information Systems’
Conference. 1995. ‘A Ride into the Future’, July 1995