Meeting the needs for convenience and durability

Given their security-critical nature, government ID cards have to be designed to the very highest standards to enable robust protection against fraud and tampering. They are required to maintain this performance over a minimum ten-year period – which is significantly longer than typical payment or loyalty cards, for instance. In addition, identification cards are increasingly being merged with payment or other applications, which requires manufacturers to implement contactless or dual-interface (DIF) production capabilities.

ID card manufacturers face a number of production challenges. On the one hand, they are looking for ways to support contactless or DIF functionality without complicating their production landscape. This entails mitigating costs by avoiding capital investments, saving on consumables, maximizing production yield and taking a lean approach to stock management. Ready-to-run solution bundling the security chip with a module and an antenna can accelerate time-to-market here by simplifying production. And, on the other, they face growing space constraints as a result of new card constructions e.g. with additional security or transperent layers that limit the area available on the card for the module.

Infineon has developed an innovative inductive coupling technology. Coil on Module (CoM) replaces traditional electro-mechanical links with inductive connections. This entails placing a small antenna directly on the chip module. This connects with a coupling area on a standard-size antenna in the card using an electromagnetic field within the card body. This radio frequency (RF) connection resolves space constraints, as the chip module is almost 30% slimmer than common modules. In addition, the wire embedded antenna fully supports the polycarbonate (PC) monoblock concept which is stronger, more robust and more flexible than mixed material designs, allowing full compliance with the extended lifetime requirements of ID documents. Moreover the module also supports customized designs like featuring a logo on the module. Last but not least, with CoM, card manufacturers do not need to invest in new equipment to support DIF functionality, as the production process flow is similar to contact-based card production.

• S-COM10.6 with inductive coupling
• Wire-embedded class 1 (ISO14443) card antenna on PC
• re-use of existing card lamination process
• Full compliance with PC monoblock security requirements
• PVC and PET-G also available
• One universal card antenna for any chip / module combination
• Available in solution bundles combining high-security SLE 77, SLE 78 and SLC52G controllers and operating systems