CCID (protocol)
CCID (Chip Card Interface Device) is a USB protocol that allows a smartcard to be connected to a computer using a standard USB interface. This allows the smartcard to be used as a security token for authentication and data encryption such as bitlocker[1]. CCID devices come in a variety of forms. The smallest CCID form is a standard USB dongle and may contain a SIM card or SD Card inside the USB dongle. Another popular CCID device is a USB smart card reader keyboard, which in addition to being a standard PC USB keyboard, also has an additional slot for accepting a smartcard id badge.
Hardware Implementation
According to CCID Specification published by usb standards work group (usb.org) the CCID device exchanges information between a host computer over USB using A CCID message consists of 10-bytes header followed by message-specific data. The standard defines 14 commands that the host computer can use to send data and status and control information in messages. Every command requires at least one reponse message from the CCID.[2]
Software Driver
CCID driver support was natively supported in the Windows operating system from windows 2000 and greater.[3]
List of CCID smart card providers
References
- ^ Picture of CCID USB stick
- ^ USB Complete: Everything you need to develop custom USB peripherals, Jan Axelson, 2005, page 189
- ^ Microsoft Class Drivers for USB CCID Smart Cards