| Ic-card service period setting method, ic card, ic card case and battery charger -> Monitor Keywords |
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Ic-card service period setting method, ic card, ic card case and battery chargerRelated Patent Categories: Registers, Records, ConductiveIc-card service period setting method, ic card, ic card case and battery charger description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060192020, Ic-card service period setting method, ic card, ic card case and battery charger. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a divisional of and claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Ser. No. 10/720,100, filed Nov. 25, 2003, and is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-023220, filed Jan. 31, 2003, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to an IC card and an IC card case devised to prevent illegal use and battery charger for supplying power to the IC card case. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Integrated circuit (IC) cards have come to be used in various fields as employee ID cards, club member ID cards, insurance ID cards, etc., in addition to business transaction cards, such as credit cards and debit cards. Since IC cards are equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, etc., which are not incorporated in conventional magnetic cards, they can have various functions and are hard to forge, which significantly enhances their security. Therefore, IC cards are often used to store personal information (see, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-312711). [0006] Attention has recently been paid to power analysis attacks against IC cards. In these attacks, the key used in an encryption scheme, such as DES and RSA, which is often utilized when IC cards are identified by a card reader, is found by analyzing the power consumed while the decryption algorithm is being executed. Such methods as the above for attacking IC cards without opening the cards have greatly advanced. [0007] As described above, IC cards are hard to forge and hence have come to be widely used to store personal information, while IC card attacking methods have greatly advanced. Therefore, if an IC card is lost and acquired by a third party, it can be used illegally, resulting in serious damage. [0008] As a countermeasure to cope with, for example, an IC card being lost and acquired by a third party, the amount of money that can be transacted in a single month is limited, or the number of occasions the card can be used is limited. However, this is not a fundamental solution for preventing illegal use when an IC card is lost. As another countermeasure, some IC cards have a built-in timer for limiting the period of the validity of the card. In this case, however, a power supply must be incorporated in the card to allow the timer to operate continuously, which is a serious problem for IC cards, as their specifications are limited. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009] The preset invention has been developed in light of the above, and aims to provide an IC card and IC card case that can prevent their illegal use without a power supply, even if they are lost, simply by changing the data stored in the card and/or the structure of the card. [0010] According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of setting a validity period of an IC card, comprising: preparing an IC card including a change unit whose state changes with lapse of time starting from an initial state without an external power, a measuring unit configured to measure the state of the change unit so as to generate information indicating whether or not the validity period has elapsed, and an operation unit configured to be operable if the information indicates that the validity period fails to have yet elapsed, and to be inoperable if the information indicates that the validity period has elapsed; preparing an IC card case capable to house the IC card by a user, the IC card case including an identification unit configured to determine whether or not the user is legitimate; performing user identification utilizing the identification unit, when the IC card is housed in the IC card case; and transmitting a signal to the change unit in the IC card depending on a result of the user identification, the signal initializing the change unit to the initial state. [0011] According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an IC card unusing a built-in power supply and driven by an external power supplied from an external device when the IC card is connected to the external device, the IC card comprising: a change unit whose state changes with lapse of time starting from an initial state without the external power; a measuring unit configured to measure the state of the change unit so as to generate information indicating whether or not a period has elapsed; and an operation unit configured to be operable if the information indicates that the period fails to have yet elapsed, and to be inoperable if the information indicates that the period has elapsed. [0012] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an IC card case capable to house an IC card by a user, the IC card starting measurement of a period in response to an instruction and continuing the measurement without an external power, the IC card being usable if the period fails to have elapsed and being unusable if the period has elapsed, the IC card case comprising: an identification unit configured to determine whether or not the user is legitimate; a performing unit configured to perform user identification utilizing the identification unit, when the IC card is housed in the IC card case; and a transmission unit configured to transmit a signal to the IC card depending on a result of the user identification, the signal initializing the IC card to the initial state. [0013] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a charger to be connected to an IC card case to charge a battery unit provided in the IC card case capable to house an IC card by a user, the battery unit being configured to issue an instruction to the IC card, the IC card starting measurement of a period in response to the instruction, and continuing the measurement without an external power, the IC card being usable if the period fails to have elapsed and being unusable if the period has elapsed, the charger comprising: a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the IC card case is a preset IC card case, when the IC card case is connected to the charger; and a charging unit configured to charge the battery unit if the determination unit determines that the IC card case is the preset IC card case. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING [0014] FIG. 1 illustrates the whole system according to an embodiment of the invention; [0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an IC card reader 1 used in the embodiment; [0016] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an IC card 2 used in the embodiment; [0017] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the basic concept of an aging device 37; [0018] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a first example for realizing the aging device 37; [0019] FIG. 6 illustrates changes in the state of an aging device 37-1 with lapse of time; [0020] FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the time and the output signal of the aging device 37-1; Continue reading about Ic-card service period setting method, ic card, ic card case and battery charger... Full patent description for Ic-card service period setting method, ic card, ic card case and battery charger Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Ic-card service period setting method, ic card, ic card case and battery charger patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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