WO1996026500A1

WO1996026500A1 - A magnetic stripe card simulation means, system and method

Info

Publication number: WO1996026500A1
Application number: PCT/NZ1996/000002
Authority: WO
Inventors: Garry Peek
Original assignee: Garry Peek
Priority date: 1995-02-21
Filing date: 1996-01-11
Publication date: 1996-08-29
Also published as: AU4498296A

Abstract

A magnetic stripe card simulation means or 'test card' comprises a planar substrate component of a similar size to a magnetic stripe card and one or more small electrical coils carried by the test card such that the coil will be positioned adjacent the read head of a magnetic stripe card reader unit when the test card is inserted into the reader unit. The coils are energised to simulate the changing magnetic field at the read head created by movement of a magnetic stripe card past the read head. The system is useful by software developers in development of software for apparatus operated by magnetic stripe cards.

Description

A MAGNETIC STRIPE CARD SIMULATION MEANS, SYSTEM & METHOD

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention comprises a magnetic stripe card simulation means, system and method useful by software developers in development of software for apparatus operated by magnetic stripe cards and incorporating a magnetic stripe card reader unit, such as retail point of sale units, apparatus used in security applications, automatic teller machines or ATMs and other applications in banking and finance or similar, and useful in testing the performance or developing of such magnetic card reader units.

BACKGROUND

Magnetic stripe cards are now in everyday use. Retailers including oil companies issue cards to their customers as credit cards or preferred customer cards or similar. Banks and financial institutions issue such cards to their customers as credit cards, debit cards and cards enabling use of ATMs. Magstripe cards are also commonly used as security cards issued to persons to allow access to buildings and similar. Inevitably the use of magstripe cards in various applications will increase.

A magstripe card is typically a planar plastic card comprising a strip of magnetic media which acts as a store for data. International standards define the physical size of the card and the size and characteristics of the magnetic stripe. These standards allow for up to

three tracks to be defined along the length of the magnetic stripe, each for storing data which may be programmed onto the card on issue of the card to the user by the card issuing authority. Typically track 1 is a read only track used to carry the customers name and account information in banking or retail applications for example. Typically track 2 is a read only track carrying data which identifies the card type, the customers account number, any personal identification number or PIN and other issuer specific data. Typically

track 3 is designated a read/write track and can carry rewritable data such as customer account balances. The physical position of each track on the card is closely defined by international standards.

Magnetic card reader units generally comprise 1, 2 or 3 adjacent pick-up coils mounted in a read head assembly. The read head is mounted in the reader unit such that the coils are centered where the encoded tracks 1 , 2 and 3 of a magnetic stripe card inserted into the reader will be positioned. The magnetically encoded card is passed over the read head either by a motorised transport mechanism of the reader unit or by a manual card swipe. Card guides ensure correct location of the magnetic media over the read head. As the encoded card moves past the read head, the magnetic lines of force emanating from the magnetic media of the card induce a current in the pick-up coils. This current is amplified and processed by decoding circuits to recover stored data. Tracks 1 , 2 and 3 can be read simultaneously if all are used.

Each application which uses magnetic stripe card technology requires software to be produced for that application. For example, each time a retailer converts to use of magcard technology, software must be developed for use in the associated point of sale terminals of the retailer. The same is true for other magcard users such as individual banks and financial institutions, and in security card applications where magcards are used as access cards. Various aspects of the software development require simulation of the end use of the cards. For example, in testing new software it may be necessary to trial various card

encodings, to test the system response to expired cards, to trial a range of account codes, PINs, purchase restrictions and similar. At present this is commonly carried out by encoding a number of cards with each parameter to be tested and manually swiping a card through a reader unit during the software development.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention provides a magnetic stripe card simulation means, system and method suitable for use by developers of software for magcard applications such as those referred to above, for testing the performance of and in the development of magcard reader units, and in other related applications.

In broad terms in one aspect the invention comprises a magnetic stripe card simulation means or "test card", comprising a planar substrate component of a similar size to a magnetic stripe card, at least one electrical coil carried by the substrate component such that the coil will be positioned adjacent the read head of a magnetic stripe card reader unit when the substrate component is inserted into the reader unit, and conductors from the substrate component enabling passing of a series of electrical pulses through the coil to simulate the changing magnetic field at the read head created by movement of a magnetic stripe card past the read head.

In broad terms in another aspect the invention comprises a magnetic stripe card simulation

system, comprising: at least one electrical coil positionable adjacent a read head, and

programmable test means connectable to said electrical coil and programmable to pass a series of electrical pulses through the coil to simulate the changing magnetic field at the read head created by movement of a magnetic stripe card past the read head.

Preferably the electrical coil(s) is/are carried by a substrate component of a similar size to a magnetic stripe card such that the coil(s) will be positioned adjacent the read head of a

magnetic stripe card reader unit when the substrate component is inserted into the reader unit.

In broad terms in a further aspect the invention comprises a method of simulation of movement of a magnetic stripe card past a read head, comprising providing at least one electrical coil positioned adjacent the read head, and passing a series of electrical pulses through the coil to simulate the changing magnetic field at the read head created by movement of a magnetic stripe card past the read head.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, by way of example and without intending to be limiting, wherein:

Figure 1 schematically illustrates use of a magnetic card simulation system in software

development using a personal computer, Figure 2 shows a typical magnetic stripe card from one side showing the approximate position of the three data tracks,

Figure 3 shows a preferred form magnetic stripe card simulation means or test card of the

invention,

Figure 4 shows one preferred coil design,

Figure 5 shows positioning of a test card adjacent the read head of a magstripe card reader unit when the test card is inserted into the reader unit, and

Figure 6 schematically shows the interaction between the coil(s) of a test card of the invention and the pickup coil of a magcard read head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED FORMS

Typically, but not exclusively, the test card and simulation system of the invention will be used with a personal computer used by a software developer or similar. Figure 1 schematically shows a personal computer 1 and a magstripe card reader unit 2. The test card 3 is inserted into the reader unit as shown, and a small cable 4 connects the test card to a port of the computer via a standard plug 5, so that test software in the personal computer may energise the test card to simulate swiping of a standard magstripe card

through the reader unit. Figure 2 shows a standard magnetic stripe card. The card typically comprises a substrate 6 of standard dimensions and thickness, carrying a stripe 7 of magnetic media again in a standard position on the card. The magnetic media 7 provides three tracks in accordance with international standards, for storing data on the card. Tracks 1 , 2 and 3 are indicated at Tl, T2 and T3 in Figure 2.

As stated previously, track 1 is typically used as a read only track to carry a customers name and account information. Track 2 is typically used as a read only track most often used by the banking and oil industries. On track 2 the first six digits after the start sentinel are termed the card prefix and identify the card type e.g. Visa, Mastercard, Fuelcard, Debitcard, etc. The next digits give the customers account number. Together the prefix and account number make up the Primary Account Number or PAN. A separator designates the end of the PAN which may vary between 13 and 19 digits in length. The PAN separator is usually followed by the card expiry date, a PIN offset plus other issuer specific data. Track 3 is designated a read/write track and can carry rewritable data such as customer account balances (but is generally not used).

Various applications use different tracks. For example, a security access system may use only track 1 for encoding access privileges, a banking application such as EFTPOS may use only track 2 for customer account identification, and an oil industry application may use both tracks 1 and 2 using track 1 for account information and track 2 for product purchase restrictions. While three tracks are provided for by international standards at present, it is possible in the future that a larger number of tracks may be provided on a magnetic stripe card such as 4 or 5 tracks, and it is also possible that the data tracks may be located at other positions on the card than shown in Figure 2.

Figure 3 shows a preferred form magnetic stripe card simulation means or "test card". The test card comprises a substrate component 10 which is typically a piece of plastic or other suitable material of the same or similar dimensions to those of a standard magnetic stripe card. Where the magnetic stripe cards of a particular system do not comply with the international standards because the cards are for use with an in-house system of the card issuer who desires that the cards are of a non-standard size or that the data track(s) are in

a non-standard location, the test card will also be of a non-standard size for use with the particular reader units used. Instead of a magnetic stripe, three small electrical coils 1 1 are carried by the substrate component 10. The coils 11 are positioned on the substrate component 10 such that they will in turn be positioned adjacent the read head of a standard magcard reader unit when the test card is inserted into the unit, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 shows how the small coils 11 are positioned on the substrate component 10 such that when the test card is inserted into the reader unit the coils 11 will be positioned

immediately adjacent the read head 12.

In the preferred form test card shown each coil 11 is mounted in a shallow recess 13 formed in the thickness of the substrate component 10 forming the test card. For example the recesses 13 may be formed using a router. A shallow channel 14 is provided from the recesses 13 to an edge of the test card and wires pass from the coils 1 1 along the channel 14 to connect to a cable 15 the other end of which carries a plug for connecting the test card to the port of a personal computer for example. The coils 11 may be secured in position in the recesses 13 as well as protected, by a resin or filler compound which also covers the wires in the channel 14. Optionally the whole surface of the card may then be covered with an adhesive film or similar. One, two or three coils may be provided depending upon the application and the number of tracks used, and it is also possible that four or more adjacent coils 1 1 or similar could be carried by the test card for some particular non-standard application.

The coils 11 may be small coils of any suitable configuration but in the preferred form each coil is wound such that the magnetic field generated when an electrical pulse is passed through the coil is substantially cancelled on either side of the coil in the plane of the test card to avoid detection of the magnetic field created by the coil by another read head pick up coil i.e. to avoid adjacent channel crosstalk. In the preferred form this is achieved as shown in Figure 4, by winding each coil 1 1 in two parts around the legs of a U-shaped core 17, the ends of which are subsequently crimped together, so that when the coil is energised a magnetic flux will radiate predominantly in directions perpendicular to the plane of the card as indicated by arrows F in Figure 4. Figure 4 shows the coil before crimping of the ends of the legs of the core together. The core 17 may be formed from permalloy sheet or other suitable coil material or alternatively the coils may be air cored. Use of a magnetic coil material increases the field strength generated. Various other coil constructions are possible however.

As stated, when the test card is inserted into a reader unit, the coils 11 are positioned

adjacent the read head as shown in Figure 5. A series of electrical pulses may then be sent through each coil 1 1 to be picked up by the read head to create a changing magnetic field at the read head which simulates movement of a magnetic stripe card past the read head. Energising the coil or coils 1 1 with a series of pulses will simulate movement of a magstripe card comprising a number of stored data digits past the read head. Figure 6 shows the interaction of a test card coil 1 1 with a pickup coil 19 of the read head.

The driving current to the coils may be supplied directly from a parallel or serial port of the PC. Current limiting resistors may be provided, in the port adaptors for example, to restrict the current flow through the coils. Variable resistors may be inserted into the current path to allow adjustment of the magnetic field strength of each of the coils. Other electronic circuits may be included to limit or boost the driving current, modify its wave

shape or buffer the signal. A microprocessor may be included to remove some of the processing load and time dependency from the PC.

More than one test card may be operated from the designated system port. Additional cards may be connected to the same port using appropriate adaptors and each card may be individually driven by the PC. Additional cards may be wired together in series or in parallel to operate simultaneously.

Associated software generates the pulse stream which energises the coils of the test card to simulate swiping or motorised movement of a magnetic stripe card. In the design and development of magnetic card readers and decoders the software may be arranged to energise the test card to simulate faster and slower or maximum and minimum swipe speeds, in both directions, to introduce and vary sub-integral and/or adjacent bit to bit jitter in the test signal, to vary the number of leading and trailing clock pulses, and to vary the magnetic field strength for example. In the development of software applications based around magnetically encoded cards various card encodings can be quickly and easily simulated to check the response of the application software during development, such as purchase limitations, expiry dates, security access levels, invalid check characters, and similar. Test cards can be stored in a card data base for easy access. In production and test centre testing of card based systems test scrips using a data base of cards can be repeatedly played. A single PC can connect to many cards simulating multiple simultaneous swipes or to test maximum system load. The swipes can be triggered from an external event to synchronise the next swipe to the availability of the card reader. The ability to simulate a card avoids having to encode real magnetic cards for each and every combination of card type.

While in the preferred form test card the coils 11 or similar are carried by a substrate component of a size the same as or similar to a standard mag stripe card, it is possible in other forms that the coils may be carried by other means enabling the coils to be placed adjacent the read head of a card reader, such as a smaller substrate strip which may be inserted into a card reader or other means insertable into a card reader to position the coils adjacent the read head.

The foregoing describes the invention including a preferred form thereof. Alterations and modifications as will be obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be incorporated within the scope hereof, as defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A magnetic stripe card simulation means comprising a planar substrate component of a similar size to a magnetic stripe card, at least one electrical coil carried by the substrate component such that the coil will be positioned adjacent the read head of a magnetic stripe card reader unit when the substrate component is inserted into the reader

unit, and conductors from the substrate component enabling passing of a series of electrical pulses through the coil to simulate the changing magnetic field at the read head created by

movement of a magnetic stripe card past the read head.

2. A magnetic stripe card simulation means according to claim 1 , wherein the electrical coil(s) is/are sealed in a shallow recess or recesses in the substrate component.

3. A magnetic stripe card simulation means according to either one of claims 1 and 2 comprising two or more coils and wherein each coil is wound such that the magnetic field produced when an electrical pulse is passed through the coil is substantially cancelled on

either side of the coil in the plane of the substrate component to minimise adjacent channel crosstalk.

4. A magnetic stripe card simulation means according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the or each coil(s) is/are wound around a U-shaped core oriented so that the two arms of the core lie above and below each other perpendicular to the plane of the substrate

component.

5. A magnetic stripe card simulation system, comprising:

at least one electrical coil positionable adjacent a read head, and

programmable test means connectable to said electrical coil and programmable to pass a series of electrical pulses through the coil to simulate the changing magnetic field

at the read head created by movement of a magnetic stripe card past the read head.

6. A magnetic stripe card simulation system according to claim 5, wherein the electrical coil(s) is are carried by a substrate component of a similar size to a magnetic

stripe card such that the coil(s) will be positioned adjacent the read head of a magnetic stripe card reader unit when the substrate component is inserted into the reader unit.

7. A magnetic stripe card simulation system according to claim 6, wherein the coil(s) is/are sealed in a shallow recess or recesses in the substrate component.

8. A magnetic stripe card simulation system according to either one of claims 6 and 7 comprising two or more coils and wherein each coil is wound such that the magnetic field produced when an electrical pulse is passed through the coil is substantially cancelled on either side of the coil in the plane of the substrate component to minimise adjacent channel

crosstalk.

9. A magnetic stripe card simulation system according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the or each coil(s) is/are wound around a U-shaped core oriented so that the two arms of the core lie above and below each other perpendicular to the plane of the substrate component.

10. A magnetic stripe card simulation system according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein said programmable test means is programmed to energise the coil(s) in a test regime comprising any one or more of:

a) causing the electrical pulses to simulate stored card data representative of data of actual magnetic stripe cards,

b) faster and slower series of electrical pulses representing stored card data to simulate faster and slower card movement past the read head,

c) introduction of sub-integral and/or adjacent bit-to-bit jitter into the electrical pulses representing stored card data for test purposes,

d) variations in the number of leading and trailing clock pulses in the electrical pulses simulating stored card data, and

e) variations of the amplitude of the electrical pulses to vary the magnetic field strength produced by the coil(s), for test purposes.

1 1. A magnetic stripe card simulation system according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the programmable test means is a personal computer.

12. A method of simulation of movement of a magnetic stripe card past a read head, comprising providing at least one electrical coil positioned adjacent the read head, and passing a series of electrical pulses through the coil to simulate the changing magnetic field created by movement of a magnetic stripe card past the read head.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein said read head is the read head of a magnetic stripe card reader unit and the electrical coil(s) is/are carried by a substrate component of a similar size to a magnetic stripe card such that the coil(s) will be positioned adjacent the read head when the substrate component is inserted into the reader unit.

14. A method according to either one of claims 12 and 13 including energising said coil in a test regime comprising any one or more of:

a) causing the electrical pulses to simulate stored card data representative of a real magnetic stripe card,

c) introduction of sub-integral and adjacent bit-to-bit jitter into the electrical

pulses representing stored card data for test purposes,

d) variations in the number of leading and trailing clock pulses in the electrical pulses simulating stored card data, and e) variations of the amplitude of the electrical pulses to vary the magnetic field strength produced by the coil(s), for test purposes.

15. A magnetic stripe card simulation means substantially as described herein with reference to Figs 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A magnetic stripe card simulation system substantially as described herein.

17. A method of simulating movement of a magnetic stripe card past a read head substantially as described herein.