NXP, a Netherlands-based semiconductor company, has been chosen to provide its SmartMX contactless chip to the VDV-Kernapplikations GmbH & Co. KG to power future electronic transport ticketing systems in Germany. Along with German card and inlay-manufacturer Cardag, NXP will provide its chips for some eight million contactless cards that will be issued throughout Germany by 2012. The aim is to provide a single ticketing solution for all national transport networks.
NXP’s contactless microcontroller technology will be integrated in smart cards created and personalized by Cardag, and is compliant with the national data and interface standard defined for contactless ticketing and automatic fare collection in Germany. The development of the standard was driven by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs to ensure standardized electronic tickets in a range of formats such as smart cards, bank cards and mobile devices.
NXP’s SmartMX chips comply with VDV’s security standards, including public key cryptography based on the RSA algorithm. The chips comprise a number of unique security features, such as the recently introduced Secure Fetch technology, which guards against light and lasers attack scenarios and a dedicated hardware firewall to protect specific sections of the chip. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/contactlessnews-4.gif)
