Chip cards-the application revolution

Chip card ICs are facing an exciting future: the most progressive semiconductor technologies are allowing the manufacture of increasingly smaller chips of higher performance and, together with innovative production concepts, providing the prerequisite for applications on chip cards that have previously been undreamed of. The future will lead us from the present 'chip on card' to the 'system on card', a highly secure pocket-size computer with up to 64 Mbytes of memory that will feature diverse interfaces such as a display, a keyboard, a loudspeaker, a solar cell, as well as biometric sensors. Chip cards will play a central role in the global information and service society of the future.