CLIAMS:We Claim:

1. A smart card (100) comprising:
a first substrate card (110) comprising a memory and processor for securely storing information and security keys for establishing a mobile connection; and
a second substrate card (120) accommodating the first substrate card (110);
the second substrate card (120) comprising:
a key pad (122) disposed on an external surface of the second substrate card for receiving input from a user;
a memory (124) storing security keys for use in an authentication process; and
at least one microprocessor (126, 128) for (a) establishing a mobile connection with a mobile service provider using the information and security keys stored in the first substrate card (110) and (b) participating in an authentication process using the security keys stored in the memory (124) of the second substrate card (120).

2. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a source of electrical energy (130) accommodated by the second substrate card (120).

3. The smart card as claimed in claim 2, wherein the source of electric energy (130) is in the form of a battery having a thickness of less than 1.5 mm thickness.

4. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a display means (132) disposed on the external surface of the second substrate card (120).

5. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a power ON/OFF switch (134) disposed on the external surface of the second substrate card (120).

6. The smart card as claimed in claim 5, wherein the ON/OFF switch (134) is in the form of a slider switch.

7. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a solar panel (136) disposed on the external surface of the second substrate card (120).

8. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first substrate card (110) has a length in the range of 24.50 to 25.50 mm and a width in the range of 14.50 to 15.50 mm.

9. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first substrate card (110) has a length in the range of 14.50 to 15.50 mm and a width in the range of 11.50 to 12.50 mm.

10. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first substrate card (110) has a length in the range of 12.20 to 12.40 mm and a width in the range of 8.70 to 8.90 mm.

11. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second substrate card (120) has a length in the range of 85.0 to 86.0 mm and a width in the range of 53.5 to 54.5 mm.

12. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first substrate card (110) is a subscriber identity module (SIM) card.

13. The smart card as claimed in claim 12, wherein the SIM card is selected from the group comprising of a second form factor card (Mini-SIM card), third form factor card (Micro-SIM card) and forth form factor card (Nano-SIM card).

14. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the key pad (122) provides function of an ON/OFF switch.

15. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the key pad (122) is a touch based alphanumeric keypad.

16. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one microprocessor (126) along with the memory of the first substrate card (110) are configured to establish a mobile connection as per Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, IS-95 standard, UMTS standard, CDMA-2000 standard.

17. The smart card as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one microprocessor (128) along with the memory (124) of the second substrate card (120) are configured to participate in public key infrastructure (PKI) based authentication process.
,TagSPECI:Field of the Invention:
The invention relates to the general area of electronic smart card which has the inbuilt capacity to establish a mobile connection with a mobile service provider and participate in an authentication process.

Background of the Invention:
There are currently many ways to deploy digital signatures. Some of the most commonly available routes include:
1) Mobile Digital Signature Solution is available in SIM as applet, which has all the option to handle RSA PKI operations.
2) Smart card with built-in PKI is already available, but it is used to generate a one-time token and the user needs other form of communication to transfer this, like submitting to a website, or using a card reader etc.
3) Secured Element in the form of external token device which communicates with the computing device via an active data connection or particularly with a mobile handset via Bluetooth or NFC is available.

Most of these solutions have one or more problems. By way of example, a SIM-based solution is dependent on the mobile operator because a SIM-swap is needed for operating the same. An approach involving SD cards require additional applications to be installed on the phone as well an active data connection.

Therefore, there is a need to provide an electronic smart card that addresses one of more disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention:
Accordingly, the present invention provides a smart card comprising:
a first substrate card (SIM card) comprising a memory and processor for securely storing information and security keys for establishing a mobile connection with a mobile operator; and
a second substrate card accommodating the first substrate card; the second substrate card comprising:
a key pad disposed on an external surface of the second substrate card for receiving input from a user;
a memory storing security keys for use in an authentication process; and
at least one microprocessor for (a) establishing a mobile connection with a mobile service provider using the information and security keys stored in the first substrate card and (b) participating in an authentication process using the security keys stored in the memory of the second substrate card.

To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings:
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 illustrates a front view of the smart card in accordance with a first embodiment;
Figure 2 illustrates a front view of the smart card in accordance with a second embodiment;
Figure 3 illustrates the internal connection details of the smart card in accordance with the second embodiment;
Figure 4 illustrates detailed internal connection details of the smart card in accordance with the second embodiment;
Figure 5 shows the provision contained in the second substrate card for accommodating the first substrate card in a removable manner;
Figure 6 shows the box-like structure in an open condition;
Figure 7 shows an alternative construction for providing the box-like structure to the second substrate card, which clearly illustrates the construction of the box-like structure; and
Figure 8 illustrates the schematic of a system in which the smart card of the present invention functions.

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have been necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the drawings may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, the one or more elements may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

Detailed Description of the Invention:
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof. Throughout the patent specification, a convention employed is that in the appended drawings, like numerals denote like components.

Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment”, “another embodiment” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment”, “in another embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices or other sub-systems or other elements or other structures or additional devices or additional sub-systems or additional elements or additional structures.

The present invention provides an independent device that combines the functionality required from a GSM phone with an embedded secure element. Particularly, the present invention provides a standard credit-card sized smart card with embedded crypto processor handling all PKI operations with an option to insert a micro SIM for GSM based communication channel and the whole system powered by a thin rechargeable battery is envisioned. In short, it is almost like a limited function mobile handset having form factor of smart-card and dedicated to be used for user authentication and authorisation equivalent to a mobile digital signature.

Referring to figure 1, the present invention provides a smart card (100) comprising:
a first substrate card (110) comprising a memory and a processor (not specifically illustrated) for securely storing information and security keys for establishing a mobile connection; and
a second substrate card (120) accommodating the first substrate card (110);
the second substrate card (120) comprising:
a key pad (122) disposed on an external surface of the second substrate card for receiving input from a user.

Referring to figure 2, 3 and 4, the smart card further comprises:
a memory (124) storing security keys for use in an authentication process; and
at least one microprocessor (126, 128) for (a) establishing a mobile connection with a mobile service provider using the information and security keys stored in the first substrate card (110) and (b) participating in an authentication process using the security keys stored in the memory (124) of the second substrate card (120).

Referring to figures 2, 3 and 4, the smart card (100) further comprises a source of electrical energy (130) accommodated by the second substrate card (120). In another embodiment of the present invention, the source of electric energy (130) is in the form of a battery having a thickness of less than 1.5 mm thickness.

Once again referring to figures 2, 3 and 4, the smart card (100) further comprises a display means (132) disposed on the external surface of the second substrate card (120).

In another embodiment as depicted in figures 2, 3 and 4, the smart card (100) further comprises a power ON/OFF switch (134) disposed on the external surface of the second substrate card (120). In a further embodiment of the present invention, the ON/OFF switch (132) is in the form of a slider switch or a press button switch.

In still another embodiment as depicted in figures 2, 3 and 4, the smart card (100) further comprises a solar panel (136) disposed on the external surface of the second substrate card (120).

As illustrated in figures 1 and 2, the first substrate card (110) has a length in the range of 24.50 to 25.50 mm and a width in the range of 14.50 to 15.50 mm. While not illustrated, the first substrate card (110) can alternatively have a length in the range of 14.50 to 15.50 mm and a width in the range of 11.50 to 12.50 mm. Once again, while not illustrated, the first substrate card (110) can alternatively have a length in the range of 12.20 to 12.40 mm and a width in the range of 8.70 to 8.90 mm.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the first substrate card (110) is a subscriber identity module (SIM) card.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the SIM card is selected from the group comprising of a second form factor card (Mini-SIM card), third form factor card (Micro-SIM card) and forth form factor card (Nano-SIM card).

As illustrated in figures 1 and 2, the second substrate card (120) has a length in the range of 85.0 to 86.0 mm and a width in the range of 53.5 to 54.5 mm.

Although not illustrated, the key pad (122) can be configured to provide function of an ON/OFF switch (132).

As illustrated in figures 1 and 2, the key pad (122) is a touch based alphanumeric keypad.

Referring to figures 3 and 4, the microprocessor (126) along with electronic contents of the first substrate card (110) (i.e. the memory and the inbuilt processor, which are not illustrated) are configured to establish a mobile connection as per Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, IS-95 standard, UMTS standard, CDMA-2000 standard. Also, the microprocessor (128) along with the memory (124) of the second substrate card (120) are configured to participate in public key infrastructure (PKI) based authentication process.

Now coming to the construction of the smart card as described above, the first substrate card (110) is a standard device which is readily available in the market and sold by multiple telecom operators. Now coming to manufacturing the remaining components, the memory (124), the at least one microprocessor (126, 128), the key pad (122), the power ON/OFF switch (134), the source of electrical energy (130) and the display means (132) are appropriately connected with each other and embedded in a transparent resin by a technique known to a person skilled in the art.

In one embodiment of the invention, the second substrate card can be configured such that in one embodiment to accommodate the first substrate card in a removable manner. Referring to figure 5 a construction to enable the aforesaid is illustrated. It may however, be noted that the other mechanisms for accommodating the first substrate card in a removable manner with respect to the second substrate card can be followed.

In figure 5, the second substrate card 120 is provided with a hinge mechanism with, wherein a first end of the hinge is attached portion of the second substrate card and a second end of the hinge mechanism is attached to an open box-like structure that accommodates the first substrate card 110 (may be called as SIM holder). The open box-like structure defines within the cavity contacts which are adapted to come in come in electrical contact with the contact defined on the first substrate card. While figure 5 shows the hinge (and the box-like structure) in a closed position, if required, the hinge and the attached box-like structure can be brought to an open position as illustrated in figure 6. Figure also demonstrates a side view, when the box-like structure has been brought to an open position and the action of removing / inserting the SIM card therein.

An alternative construction is shown in Figure 7, wherein the box-like structure is clearly visible.

While in the above paragraphs the construction of the smart card and the process of manufacturing the same has been described in detail, in the following paragraphs, the functioning of the same will be described in detail with reference to figure 8. As shown in figure 8, the smart card constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention functions in a system comprising of a registration authority server (RA) and a mobile signature service provider (MSSP). The registration authority server (RA) communicates with the card over, for example, GSM to initiate a key generation process. Based on the requirement of the organization using the card, more optional flows can be integrated such as OTP verification, certificate generation etc., which depends on how the RA is configured. The MSSP is a standard protocol to get mobile digital signature, which communicates with the device over GSM. The smart card and especially the microprocessor (128) along with the memory (124) of the second substrate card (120) are configured to participate in public key infrastructure (PKI) based authentication process. In order to do so, a symmetric key will be preloaded in the microprocessor (128) and the memory (124) of the second substrate card (120) and the necessary details of the symmetric key are also stored in the server in a secure fashion. Once the symmetric key has been loaded, the communication between the smart card and registration authority server (RA) or the mobile signature service provider (MSSP) server are through secured binary SMS encryption using AES symmetric key based method.

The overall process of making the smart card usable by the end user comprises three broad steps namely:
(a) Provisioning of the smart card;
(b) On-boarding of the customer; and
(c) Signing.

When going into details of the process of making the smart card usable by the end user, it can include:
Step 1: The smart card provider (also referred to as identity provider) gets plain smart cards from the vendor who is manufacturing the card.
Step 2: The identity provider provides an identity to the smart card, for example, by registering the same with the RA server and MSSP server and loading the required symmetric keys into the card and the server.
Step 3: A digital signature (RSA PKI) is generated inside the card against the details of the customer by communicating with a certified authority.
Step 4: An initial 4-digit customer PIN will be set by the identity provider and the card is provided to the user.
When the user uses the smart card for the first time, the user will be prompted to personalize the 4-digit customer PIN.
Thereafter, the identity provider will use the MSSP to authorize the user for any transaction (e.g., replacement for OTP, or two factor authentication etc.)

During subsequent uses, the customer can sign an incoming request with the personalized PIN to authorize the identity or authenticate the transaction.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any component(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or component of any or all the claims.

While specific language has been used to describe the disclosure, any limitations arising on account of the same are not intended. As would be apparent to a person in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein.