Micropross today announced product availability of testing tools able to support the latest VHBR (Very High Bit Rates) contactless technology for smart cards.
Its latest generation of contactless testers is able to communicate and spy a VHBR communication, at speeds up to 6.8 Mbit/s (maximum bit rate specified according to ISO/IEC 14443 today is 848 kbit/s). Micropross used contactless high-security controllers of the semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies to demonstrate the 6.8Mbit/s capabilities of its readers.
Philippe Bacle, CEO of Micropross, stated: «Micropross is a company that has always been an innovator in terms of testing tools for the smartcard industry. We are delighted to collaborate with Infineon, and supply them readers that are allowing them to characterize their designs».
In September 2010, Micropross and Infineon contributed their achievements to the ISO/IEC meeting (WG8/TF2) in Takamatsu, Japan. A presentation showed that slightly modified ISO/IEC 14443 readers are already capable for high speed communication in both Reader- to-Card and Card-to-Reader direction. The technology proposed by Infineon extends already existing modulation and coding schemes allowing a fast migration path. At the end of the presentation this VHBR technology was demonstrated showing high speed communication up to 6.8 Mbit/s in both directions. This demonstration got a very positive feedback, as considered much evolved from a technical point of view.
Peter Raggam, Senior Manager, Contactless Systems at Infineon Technologies, Graz, Austria, commented: "Driving a new technology requires early availability of corresponding readers and testers. Micropross is an important partner in providing high-performance and highquality equipment to test outstanding contactless products."
Micropross will continue supporting innovation in the smartcard industry by supplying ever more sophisticated test equipment, starting by a VHBR compatible protocol analyzer.