ADVANCED RESEARCH FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A HYBRID SMART CARD READER IN A PCMCIA FORMAT.

INTERNATIONAL MICRO INDUSTRIES (IMI) IS WELL QUALIFIED TO PERFORM THE SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING RESEARCH (PHASE 1) REQUIRED TO DEFINE A HYBRID SMARTCARD READER (HSR) IN A PCMCIA CARD FORM FACTOR, AND TO DEVELOP IT IN PHASE 2. THE PROBLEM IS HOW TO PROCESS, INTERCONNECT AND ASSEMBLE A NUMBER OF HIGH PERFORMANCE, HIGH LEAD COUNT, KNOW-GOOD UNPACKAGED (NAKED) SEMICONDUCTOR CHIPS TO CREATE A HYBRID SMARTCARD READER IN THE PCMCIA FORM FACTOR FOR ECONOMICAL PRODUCTION, WHILE MAINTAINING MECHANICAL INTEGRITY, FUNCTIONAL RELIABILITY AND ACCEPTABLE LIFE CYCLE COSTS. IMI WILL RESEARCH THE OPTIMUM SUBSTRATE AND INTERCONNECT COMBINATIONS. IN RECENT SUBSTRATE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS, NEW FR4-LIKE MATERIALS CAN BE PRODUCED WITH 2 MIL LINES AND SPACES AND WITHSTAND MODEST THERMAL EXCURSIONS. TAPE AUTOMATED BONDING (TAB) AND FLIP CHIP TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE COMPUTER MODELLED AND SIMULATED FOR OPTIMAL MECHANICAL AND DYNAMIC CONFIGURATION, UTILIZING 3D AND SPICE SOFTWARE. UTILIZING NIST SMARTCARD INTERFACE SOFTWARE, NSA CAPSTONE PROCESSOR, ISO 7816 READER, AND IMI'S HIGH PERFORMANCE MULTITAB INTERCONNECTION, A SUCCESSFUL HSR DEVELOPMET WILL RESULT IN A VERSATILE HYBRID SMARTCARD READER WITH CRYPTOGRAPHIC BANDWIDTH THAT WILL INTERFACE VIRTUALLY EVERY KNOWN ISO AND CRYPTOGRAPHIC CARD TO A HOST SYSTEM WITH UTMOST SECURITY. FUTHERMORE, LIFE CYCLE COSTS WILL BE ATTRACTIVE.