Developing Smart Card-Based Applications Using Java Card

In this paper we describe a methodology for developing smart card-based applications which accounts for both internal and external software production: on-card and client programs. This development methodology is based on the application of distributed object-oriented principles to Java Card. We design a model in which a card application is viewed as a remote object accessed through method invocations handled by a proxy object executing on the terminal. With a simple example, we show how this model enhances the development of smart card-based applications by allowing Java programmers to rapidly design and develop on-card and oo-card programs without worrying about the speciic smart card features. This scheme has been implemented as the core technology in the Gemplus Java Card application development environment GemX-presso RAD. 1 Background and Objectives In this section we review the emergent and promising open smart card development platform based on the Java Card speciication. We give an overview of the processes involved in the creation of a Java Card-based application. We outline the limits of the Java Card speciication as a model for the interaction between Java Card applets and the outside world. We then show how this limit has brought us to deene a development methodology based on distributed object-oriented principles applied to Java Cards. During the past twenty years smart cards have evolved from simple dedicated devices (phone cards, french \Carte Bleue") to open computing platforms 14, ? Java and Java Card are trademarks of Sun Microsystems Inc. GemXpresso RAD is a trademark of Gemplus. All other product names mentionned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.