Integrated production of smart cards

A system for building a smart card creation script for use in producing a smart card, said system comprising:

• a computer;
• a first computer file including application profile data, said application profile data representative of a software application intended for said smart card, said application profile data describing requirements of said software application;
• a second computer file including card profile data, said card profile data describing resources of said smart card;
• a third computer file including issuer data, said issuer data common amongst a plurality of smart cards;
• and
• software means for performing the function of building a smart card creation script using said first, second and third computer files, said smart card creation script being generic to any type of personalization equipment and being arranged to be interpreted by said personalization equipment, whereby said smart card creation script may be used to produce a smart card.

A smart card creation script data structure embodied in a computer-readable medium, said script data structure comprising:

• a physical section including physical attributes of said smart card;
• an initialization section including card common data to be written to said smart card;
• a personalization section including unique data to be written to said smart card;
• and
• a data table including values or references for data used by an application of said smart card, said smart card creation script data structure being generic to any type of personalization equipment and being arranged to be interpreted by said personalization equipment, whereby said script data structure may be used to produce a smart card having said application.

A method of building a smart card creation script for use in producing a smart card, said method comprising:

• receiving an application profile representative of a software application of said smart card, said application profile describing requirements of said software application;
• receiving a card profile describing resources of said smart card;
• comparing said application profile to said card profile;
• writing a physical section of said smart card creation script including physical attributes of said smart card;
• and
• writing an initialization section of said smart card creation script including data common amongst a plurality of smart cards;
• whereby said smart card creation script may be used to produce a smart card.

A method of building a smart card creation script for use in producing a multi-application smart card, said method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of application profiles each representative of a software application intended for said smart card, each application profile describing requirements of said corresponding software application;
• comparing said application profiles to determine compatibility of said software applications;
• receiving a card profile describing resources of said smart card;
• determining whether said resources of said smart card are sufficient for said software applications;
• and
• writing an identity section of said smart card creation script including names of said software applications of said smart card, whereby said smart card creation script may be used to produce a multi-application smart card.

A method of producing an updated card profile for a smart card, said method comprising:

• receiving a card profile describing resources of a smart card;
• identifying an application to be loaded onto said smart card;
• determining an amount of memory to be available on said smart card after loading of said application onto said smart card;
• and
• modifying said card profile to include an identification of said application and an indication of said amount of memory on said smart card, said modification producing an updated card profile reflecting said application and said amount of memory, whereby said updated card profile may be used in a post-issuance load or in a multi-step personalization of said smart card.

A method of building a smart card loading script for use in post-issuance loading of an issued smart card, said method comprising:

• producing an updated card profile reflecting a status of said issued smart card;
• receiving an application profile representative of a software application intended for said issued smart card, said application profile describing requirements of said software application;
• selecting said updated card profile identifying an application loaded on and resources of said issued smart card;
• comparing said updated card profile to said application profile;
• and
• a step for performing the function of building a smart card loading script using said application profile and said updated card profile, whereby said smart card loading script may be used to load said software application onto said issued smart card.

A system for building a smart card loading script for use in post-issuance of an issued smart card, said system comprising:

• a computer;
• a first computer file including application profile data, said application profile data representative of a software application intended for said issued smart card, said application profile at describing requirements of said software application;
• a second computer file including updated card profile data which reflects a status of said issued smart card, said updated card profile data identifying application loaded on and resource of said issued smart card;
• softwear means for comparing said first computer file to said to said second computer file;
• and
• software means for performing the function of building a smart card loading script using said first and second computer files, whereby said smart card loading script may be used to load said software application onto said issued smart card.

A method of building a smart card loading script for use in loading multiple applications onto an issued smart card, said method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of application profiles each representative of a software application intended for said issued smart card, each application profile describing requirements of said corresponding software application;
• comparing said application profiles to determine compatibility of said software applications;
• receiving an updated card profile identifying an application loaded on and describing resources of said issued smart card;
• determining whether said resources of said issued smart card are sufficient for said software applications;
• and
• writing an identity section of said smart card loading script including names of said software applications of said issued smart card, whereby said smart card loading script may be used to load said multiple applications onto said issued smart card.