Method and system for the transfer of information between two populations of persons, one nomadic and the other sedentary

A system enabling two populations of persons, one sedentary the other nomadic to exchange data in a sure and speedy manner, said system comprising:

• portable objects placed at the disposal of the persons belonging to the nomadic population, said portable objects being cards having a credit card format and which are customized by specific identifiers for each person and each card,
• said card comprising means for the transmission of at least partly encrypted DTMF type brief acoustic identification signals, the acoustic identification signals being transmitted by the card when it is activated by the person having it at his disposal, by means of at least one element accessible from the exterior of the card,
• a standard telephone set comprising:
• a microphone against which the person having the card at his disposal places this card when the acoustic identification signal is transmitted,
• means for the standard processing of said acoustic identification signals so that the resulting identification signal can be transmitted onwards to a distance, through a telephone communications network, by transmission means,
• a data-processing service comprising data-processing means at the disposal of at least one of the persons of the sedentary population, connected to the telephone communications network and liable to receive the identification signal coming from the telephone set,
• the reduced size and the format of the card as well as the conditions of use of the card, such as the presence of aging microphones, poor acoustic coupling between the card and the microphone, ambient noise, temperature, etc., not permitting the onward transmission, in the present state of the art, of DTMF acoustic signals of a quality such that the signal received can always be exploited, as it is, by the vocal servers existing in the data-processing services,
• said data-processing means comprising:
• means for correcting the signals coming from the card, through the microphone, the standard telephone set or the communications network, comprising a specific correction software program whose parameters are transmission parameters of a transfer function of transmission between said card and said data processing service, said transmission parameters being a function of the characteristics of the card, its conditions of use in combination with the microphone of the telephone set, characteristics of the communications network for signals of a particular type corresponding to the identification data transmitted,
• so that after correction, the signals that come from the card and are received by the data-processing services contain the data elements that the nomadic population wishes to transfer to the sedentary population,
• means for the decryption of the signals making it possible, through these signals, to obtain the specific identifiers of the card and of the person holding the card,
• a database containing the references of the cards and of the persons having these cards at their disposal and their identification data,
• means for the comparison of the specific identifiers of the card and of the person holding the card with the identification data of the card and the person holding the card, contained in the database,
• so that, after the implementation of this speedy and sure process of identification, the persons of each of the two populations may exchange data in full security.

A method enabling two populations of persons, one being stationary and the other being mobile, to exchange data in a sure and speedy manner, the method comprising:

• providing a portable card having a credit card format to a user in the mobile population, the card being customized by specific identifiers identifying the user and the card,
• transmitting at least partially encrypted DTMF type brief acoustic identification signals from the card upon activation by the person to whom it is provided,
• receiving the acoustic identification signals by a microphone and processing the received signals so that a resulting signal is transmittable through a communications network,
• transmitting the signal through a communications network to a data processing service of the stationary population,
• determining transmission parameters of a transfer function of transmission between said card and said data processing service by receiving and analyzing a calibration signal transmitted by the card,
• correcting the signal received by the processing service using the transmission parameters so as to permit exploitation of the DTMF signals transmitted by the card even under poor acoustic transmission conditions,
• decrypting data elements received from the user and comparing the decrypted data elements with the stored data elements to determine identity of the user, so as to ensure secure communications between the stationary population and the identified user.

A system to enable a stationary population of persons to exchange data with a mobile user over a communications network, comprising:

• a card, portable for use by the user, having a credit-card format and customized by specific identifiers identifying the user and the card, the card including an acoustic transmitter to transmit an acoustic identification signal that is at least partly DTMF-type encrypted, the acoustic identification signal including a calibration signal of known power and frequency, and an activation element accessible from an exterior surface of the card to activate transmission of signals by the card, the card being acoustically connectable to the communications network, and
• a data-processing service connectable to the communications network including data processor controllable by a member of the stationary population to receive the identification signal transmitted by the card, the data processor including an input processor to receive the calibration signal from the card and generate transmission parameters in response to the calibration signal, the data processor adapted to correct signals received from the card according to the transmission parameters and further including a decryptor to decrypt signals received from the card and obtain the identifiers of the card and of the user, a database containing references of a number of possible cards and users and their respective identification data, and a comparator to compare the identifiers of the card and the user respectively with the identification data of the card and user contained in the database.