Ksheerabdhi Krishna

A Simple(r) Interface Distribution Mechanism for Java Card

Conventional interface distributions rely on Interface Description Language (IDL) files. From these IDL files, stubs are automatically generated to allow code to link to the desired interfaces. In contrast, the Java Card interface distributions require both export files (IDL) and class files (stubs). This leads to the possibility of mismatched versions of the export files and class files. Furthermore, the class files distributed are typically generated from the original Java card sources, which allows access to private information contained in the class file. Modifying sources to strip private code is error prone. In order to address these problems, a mechanism is proposed by which the necessary Java class files may be synthesized from the export files, eliminating the need to distribute class files. This mechanism could be extended to other Java platforms as a general-purpose means for interface distribution.

A Flexible Invocation Framework for Java Card

The Java Card Specification specifies a framework suitable for most tasks that interface with ISO-7816 protocols. However, this framework limits Java Card applets to only handling tasks that are supported by this protocol. Tasks such as physical security, using the standard Wiegand protocol, cards which test ISO-7816 card renders by pushing the limits of the protocol, and applications that depend on interfacing to different communication mechanisms, such as full duplex serial, USB, TCP/IP, or Bluetooth are among the many applications that cannot be handled within the Java Card Framework. In this paper we describe an approach that maintains backwards compatibility with the current Java Card framework. while enabling applications a means to escape from some of the constraints of the framework when necessary.