GlobalPlatform Technology Supports Internet Connectivity

15 December 2008 – An HTTP remote application management framework has been released by international smart card specifications body, GlobalPlatform. This new technology represents GlobalPlatform’s first advancement towards internet connectivity as it offers an application provider with the ability to issue commands using the HTTP internet communication protocol. For further information and to download the document, please visit https://globalplatform.wpengine.com/specificationscard.asp.

This latest amendment (Amendment B) to GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.2 aims to align GlobalPlatform smart card technology with web services. It achieves this by defining a mechanism for an application provider to perform remote management of its applets – such as loading, installing, and personalization - using the HTTP communication and SSL cryptographic protocols. In summary, the document describes:

• How to open an over-the-air (OTA) connection with a remote server, and send commands to a security domain.
• How responses to these commands can be returned to a remote server.
• How application providers can implement this mechanism over a third party network, as the specification is fully compatible with the Card Specification v2.2 Amendment A: Confidential Card Content Management*.

A key benefit of the technology is its ability to significantly reduce the costs of updating cards OTA. For example, for issuers that regularly connect and provide software updates to their deployed cards, it becomes resource-intensive to continually try to connect to cards that are offline at the time an update is issued. Using Amendment B the card checks if an update is waiting on the server and then instinctively connects to the issuer’s system to receive the required commands. This advancement is therefore of particular interest to mobile network operators and governments implementing national ID card programs due to the scale of these deployments and the significant cost savings that can be achieved using a standard IP infrastructure.

Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform’s Technical Director and Technical Advisor for the Standardization and Technology Department at Gemalto, comments: “This document has been created in response to the smart card industry’s requirement to migrate to the IP technology within its solutions to ensure existing products do not become isolated and detached from the increasingly web-based IT marketplace. With this work now complete, the industry has a platform to facilitate IP connectivity to their token.”

This technology is compatible with the smart card web server technology developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA).

-ENDS-  

For further media information, please contact Georgina D’Arcy or Sarah Jones at iseepr: globalplatform@iseepr.co.uk or telephone +44 (0) 113 274 5252

Notes to Editors

*Card Specification v2.2 Amendment A – This technology enables application providers to confidentially and independently manage applications while using a third party’s infrastructure. To find out more visit https://globalplatform.wpengine.com/specificationscard.asp.

About GlobalPlatform

GlobalPlatform is the global leader in smart card infrastructure development and its proven, technical specifications for cards, devices and systems are known as the standard for smart card infrastructure. GlobalPlatform is a member driven association with cross-industry representation from all world continents. For more information about GlobalPlatform, visit: www.globalplatform.org