TC SCP Management Report

Presented to OCG#19 February 2003

1. Issues requiring discussion/decision at OCG#19

None.

2 Management information

2.1 Main events since last OCG meeting

Microelectrónica Española hosted TC SCP #13 in Madrid, Spain from 6 to 8 May 2003. The meeting was attended by 31 delegates from 12 countries and included members of the financial sector. 

At that meeting, TC SCP members unanimously appointed Dr. Klaus Vedder (Giesecke & Devrient) as Chairman for a second term of office. 

The three Working Groups of TC SCP held their sixth (WG1 and WG2) and seventh (WG3) plenary meetings co-located. The meetings were hosted by ETSI in Sophia Antipolis from 25 to 28 March 2003.

2.2 Major results achieved during this period

One new technical specification was approved and the corresponding Work Item was closed:

-         TS 102 241 for Rel-6: “Java Card^TM Application Programming Interface for the UICC”.

This document defines the stage two description of the “Application Programming Interface and Loader Requirements” as defined in TS 102 240. It describes the functional capabilities and the information flow for the UICC API implemented according to the Java Card™ 2.2 specification.

In addition, the following Technical Report was approved and the corresponding Work Item was closed:

-       TR 102 242 for Rel-6: "Terminal - card interface; Considerations on robustness improvements".

Extensive use of the GSM specifications had highlighted a potential weakness of the communication interface between smart card and terminal. The evaluation showed that radiated RF bursts could generate significant I/O line voltage drops that could lead to major communication interference. 

The Technical Report describes the failure mechanisms that could potentially generate major operating issues between the terminal and the card, the countermeasures that should be applied within the current specifications and the enhancements that may further increase the interface robustness. This TR concludes the discussion on EMC issues mentioned in previous Management Reports 

2.3 Major problems encountered and how they were solved (if solved)

None.

2.4 Major outstanding issues

The definition of a 3^rd Form Factor (3FF, a smart card smaller than the Plug-in card which is currently used in GSM/3GPP) is still under discussion. While some companies doubt the need for such a card and see major implications for say, their logistics and physical backwards compatibility, other companies have some reservations about the current proposal being producible on a mass scale. However, there is a need, as perceived by some operators, for a smaller card. The discussion about the requirements and production issues will continue at the next plenary where new input is expected to be available.

2.5 Main events expected during the next four months

The approval of the following deliverables is expected at the next meeting:

-         TS 102 127 for Rel-6: "Transport Protocol for CAT Applications, Stage 2".

-         TR 102 216: "Vocabulary for Smart Card Platform Specifications".

In addition, the completion of the following Work Items is expected at the next meeting:

-         Class D voltage: creation of CRs to TS 102 221.

-         Support for large files: creation of CRs to TS 102 221.

-         Specification of the 3^rd Form Factor: creation of CRs to TS 102 221.

The three Working Groups will meet co-located in Sapporo, Japan 26 – 29 May 2003 hosted by NEC, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, DNP and NTT DoCoMo.

TC SCP #14 will be hosted by ETSI in Sophia Antipolis from 3 to 5 September 2003.

2.6 USER issues

None.