International Business Machines Corporation

Visa International Service Association

Klaus P Gungl

Tobias Webel

James Lewis Levine

David C Wentker

Thomas Gentner

Thuyen Le

Son Dao Trong

Guenther Hutzl

Ralf Ludewig

A system is disclosed, which may include a clock distribution circuit. The clock distribution circuit may include a duty cycle controller to distribute a clock output signal to a plurality of remote locations on a clock grid. The duty cycle controller may adjust, in response to a duty cycle control signal, a duty cycle of the clock output signal. The clock distribution circuit may also include a duty cycle measurement unit, to measure the duty cycle of the clock output signal at one of the remote locations, generate the duty cycle control signal, and generate and write duty cycle data values to a memory unit. The system may also include control logic to calculate and transmit a clock distribution circuit end-of-life date, by applying a model to stored duty cycle data values and to a duty cycle controller adjustment state.

Integrated circuit failure prediction using clock duty cycle recording and analysis

The various embodiments described herein relate to a system for performing a serial communication between a central control block and a plurality of satellite components within a semiconductor chip. The system comprises at least one logical ring that serially connects the satellite components to the central control block. The system further comprises a centralized timer. The satellite components aid the system in obeying protocols and performing direct accesses to and/or from registers. The logical ring comprises at least one data channel that is provided for transmitting data packets and address packets. Single-envelope transactions are implemented. Errors of the satellite components associated with the single-envelope transactions are reported to the central control block as additional acknowledgement information.

System for performing a serial communication between a central control block and satellite components

A smart card architecture includes a run-time environment, a card manager, one or more security domains, a provider application and an issuer application. One or more APIs provide communication. The life cycle of the card and card manager includes states: Pre-production, Ready, Initialized, Secured, Locked and Terminated. The life cycle of an application includes states: Installed, Selectable, Personalized, Blocked, Locked and Deleted. A card registry keeps track of card manager and application data elements. The functionality of a security domain on a smart card is extended to allow it to perform delegated management of smart card applications: delegated loading, installation and/or deletion of an application. A provider of an application is assured of more direct control and management of their application, yet an issuer still maintains some control over the management of the card. The card issuer empowers application providers to initiate changes to the issuer's smart cards that are pre-approved by the card issuer. A method of delegated loading of an application onto a smart card first receives a load command from an application provider via a card acceptance device. The load command includes an indication of an application to be loaded and an appended command authentication pattern. Next, the load command is verified using the command authentication pattern. Then, an application is received from an application provider via the card acceptance device; the application also includes an appended application authentication pattern which is used to verify the application. Finally, the application is loaded into memory of the smart card.

Delegated management of smart card applications

The integration of multiple application programs on one chip card is described, whereby the application programs stored on it do not have access to each other, which is achieved through a separation and de-coupling of the individual programs from one another. A first embodiment has several mutually-independent units, consisting respectively of a processor unit and a memory unit. Communication of these independent units with the external world and also with each other takes place through a control unit. A communication of the independent units with each other can only take place through the respective processor units, so that the linked memory units may not be accessed by circumvention of the processor unit. In a further embodiment, the separation of different applications on a chip card with only one processor takes place through the insertion of a separation of the application segments in the memory area of the chip card. The separation has as a result that each application may only access one predetermined area within the memory, and that access outside of the specified memory area is disabled for this application.

Multiple application chip card with decoupled programs

A method and apparatus for determining a position of a member contacting a touch screen includes determining initial coordinates of the member at a first time, determining subsequent coordinates of the member at a subsequent time, and defining possible coordinates of the member to be between the initial coordinates and subsequent coordinates, then redetermining subsequent coordinates of the member at a further subsequent time, and redefining possible coordinates of the member to be between redetermined subsequent coordinates and previously defined possible coordinates. Redetermining subsequent coordinates and redefining possible coordinates may be repeated until subsequent coordinates and redefined coordinates are within a predetermined distance for a predetermined number of repetitions. The method and apparatus may be reinitialized if subsequent coordinates are beyond a specified distance of previously determined possible coordinates.

Growing community of inventors

Sindelfingen, Germany

Klaus P Gungl