News
New GlobalPlatform Card Specification Will Facilitate the Management of
Next Generation Java Card™
GlobalPlatform, the international specifications body, has announced plans to collaborate with the Java Card Forum and Sun Microsystems on the forthcoming GlobalPlatform Card Specification v3.0. This new specification will be designed to support the Next Generation Java Card™ platform when it is released by Sun Microsystems next year.
GlobalPlatform’s aim is to ensure that its card specification, which is currently used on more than 100 million smart cards and a billion GSM cards worldwide, continues to offer compatibility with Java Card technology when it moves to a new release. The Next Generation Java Card™ technology will add seamless integration of smart cards into IT and telecom infrastructures and will set the scene for breakthrough smart card based applications and services. The GlobalPlatform Card Specification v3.0 will ensure the secure management of applications and cards based on this new architecture and will facilitate the migration of cards to an IP-based environment.
It is expected that mobile telecoms operators will be among the first to benefit from Next Generation Java Card™ technology as many have already begun to migrate their networks and services to IP. GlobalPlatform plans to synchronize with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to provide the same support for Over-the-Air (OTA) servlet management as that which is currently proposed for applications on the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.2.
Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform’s Technical Director and Technical Advisor for the Standardization and Technology Department at Gemalto, comments: “The main revision to GlobalPlatform’s Card Specification will be to provide a new Application Program Interface (API) for the management of network aware smart card applications, in order to ensure that programmers can easily write applications consistent with the Next Generation Java Card™ technology. There will be no change to the secure application management concepts defined by the current version of the GlobalPlatform Card Specification.”
Gordon Yamamoto, Director of Java Card Engineering at Sun Microsystems, comments: “Sun Microsystems is looking forward to partnering with GlobalPlatform on card and application management solutions that can complement its Next Generation Java Card™ platform. This collaboration should ensure a smooth transition for operators to Next Generation Java Card™ technology, and accelerate the roll-out of innovative SIM based network services.”
Christian Goire, President of the Java Card Forum, adds: “We are proud of the cooperation that the industry has achieved in building this new technology. It will encourage new markets and introduce Java Card technology into markets where it was previously absent. The Next Generation is the result of many years of communication, both with our clients and our partners, to better define the right product at the right time. It has been the vocation of our Forum.”
The updated GlobalPlatform Card Specification is scheduled for publication in Q1 08.
GlobalPlatform is a platform independent technology and in addition to supporting Java Card, GlobalPlatform is also compatible with MULTOS operating systems. Current work towards the revision of the GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.2 will make the technology compatible with any network aware smart card.
www.globalplatform.org