EMV Card Emulator Automates Terminal Certification Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing certification process for card readers and terminal devices is labor-intensive, requiring human operators to repeatedly run transactions with different physical cards, especially when updating software or deploying new devices, which hampers efficiency and scalability.
Innovation Solution
An EMV testing system that includes an EMV card emulator and an EMV terminal device emulator, along with a testing coordinator, simulates EMV card present transactions to automate the certification process, allowing for virtualized testing of multiple transactions and scenarios, thereby reducing the need for physical cards and streamlining the certification process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If human operators repeatedly run transactions with different physical cards for certification testing, then the certification process can be completed, but the process becomes labor-intensive and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses virtual copies of physical EMV cards (virtual test cards) to replace actual physical cards in certification testing. These virtual cards are generated and managed by a testing system that can simulate multiple card types, accounts, and transaction scenarios without requiring physical card handling, thereby maintaining certification accuracy while dramatically improving testing efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The testing system automatically performs certification tests using the virtual test cards without requiring human operators to manually run each transaction. The system self-manages the entire certification process including generating test cards, executing transactions, and validating results, thereby eliminating labor-intensive manual operations while maintaining reliable certification
2Reliability
If new software updates or new device deployments require recertification, then compliance is maintained, but the certification process must be repeated extensively
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary testing and validation using virtual test cards before actual deployment or software updates. By pre-validating changes in a virtual environment, the system reduces the need for extensive recertification testing, thereby maintaining compliance assurance while minimizing the time lost to repeated certification processes
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual test card system serves multiple functions including testing new software updates, validating new device deployments, and verifying compliance across different scenarios. This universal testing platform eliminates the need to recreate physical test card sets for each certification event, significantly reducing recertification time while maintaining compliance assurance
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for EMV terminal device testing using a simulation of a plurality of EMV cards when interacting with an EMV terminal device emulator are described. The method may include establishing, by an EMV card emulator, an interface with the EMV terminal device emulator for the exchange of EMV card present transaction communications between the EMV card emulator and the EMV terminal device emulator. Furthermore, for each of a plurality of simulated EMV cards, the method may include exchanging one or more communications with the EMV terminal device emulator via the interface, wherein each communication simulates a communication generated by a simulated integrated circuit of an EMV card in response to a communication generated by the EMV terminal device emulator, and then causing at least one transaction to be run by the EMV terminal device emulator using the exchange of the one or more communications between the EMV card emulator and the EMV terminal device emulator.