This next generation of biometric smart card architecture involves security controller and fingerprint authentication feature
According to a report by ABI Research, the market for biometric payment cards is predicted to reach 353 million pieces per year by 2025 globally.
To address this new growth and facilitate card manufacturers, Infineon Technologies AG and IDEX Biometrics together have launched a reference design for the next generation of biometric smart card architecture.
The reference design leverages Infineon’s SLC38BML800 security controller with additional GPIO-interfaces and from IDEX Biometrics’ TrustedBio solution, which enables fingerprint authentication with low latency, high accuracy and power efficiency. Biometrically authenticated transactions using SLC38BML800 are accomplished at a speed of fewer than 500 milliseconds. An internal clock frequency of up to 100 MHz not only enables biometric fingerprint card applications, but the SLC38BML800 is also very well adaptable for payment, ID and logical and physical access. TrustedBio delivers fingerprint images with high accurate authentication results (FRR/FAR and PAD performance) for payment applications. The integration of the fingerprint sensor, the secure element, power management and communications reduce the complexity of card manufacturing, shortening the time to market and lowering costs.
“This new design provides significant improvements at the card system level, which allow easy integration into existing hot lamination card manufacturing processes. Therefore, the architecture increases card performance, while reducing manufacturing complexity at the same time,” said Tolgahan Yildiz, head of the Payment and Ticketing Solutions product line at Infineon.
“Strong demand drivers for card-based fingerprint authentication are in place for both issuers and users of payment cards,” said Vince Graziani, Chief Executive Officer of IDEX Biometrics. “However, to date, the relatively high cost of manufacturing biometrically enabled smart cards has inhibited mass-market adoption. With TrustedBio, IDEX Biometrics has integrated a patented, highly differentiated polymer sensor into a single device delivering proprietary image capture, processing, and matching capabilities, as well as power management functions.”
Samples of Infineon’s SLC38BML800 security controller can be ordered now, mass production is planned to start at the end of 2021. A software development kit for the reference design is available from IDEX. Samples of IDEX Biometrics’ TrustedBio solution are available, with mass production starting by the end of the third quarter of 2021.
