Infineon Introduces Chip Card Controllers for Improved Security of Electronic Identity Cards and Passports

Infineon Introduces Chip Card Controllers for Improved Security of Electronic Identity Cards and Passports

Infineon's SLE66CLX640P security controller is designed for tomorrow's 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 precisely these requirements.

Infineon Technologies is offering new chip card controllers with foolproof security of electronic identity cards and passports.

In line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirements for electronic travel documents, the encrypted data on both chips includes 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, characteristics specific to the individual, which can be the face, the prints of one or more fingers, the image of the holder's iris or a combination of these characteristics.

Infineon's SLE66CLX640P security chip keeps these applications and the associated data records securely separate from each other. In addition, it permits graduated access authorizations, so that only an authorized group of individuals may access or modify the data.

The SLE66CLX640P designed for use in the ID cards of the future performs the contactless transfer of data up to a distance of around ten centimeters from the reader or via electrical contacts directly to the reader. The SLE66CLX641P, on the other hand, which could be integrated into the laminated side of the electronic passport, along with the holder's personal details, has a purely contactless interface.