Commonly used for ID purposes, Card Payments, Loyalty Programs.Infineon Technologies also produced the Infineon MIFARE 1k that is technologically compatible with the Classic series. The Classic 1k chip from MIFARE was introduced in the year 1994 and was licensed by the firm Infineon Technologies. Later in 1998, it was obtained by Philips under the label of NXP. The term Mifare actually refers to the MIkron FARE-collection System.

MIFARE was originally developed by Mikron during the early 1990’s. MIFARE cards can contain multiple credentials and can be programmed to be used for cash card payments or pre-paid memberships. MIFARE cards can contain both authentication and identification information, as well as additional useful information within the card’s embedded microchip and memory (usually about 1 kilobyte of data can be stored). MIFARE cards were originally developed for transportation payment transactions in Europe. The CSN is sometimes used as a the card identification number due to the uniqueness of the number. In addition to the user sectors, MIFARE cards are manufactured with a randomly generated 12 digit number or Card Serial number (CSN). MIFARE provides several “user” data areas that can be utilized by other applications called data sectors and is secured by a key which is only known to the application. Data is not emitted until both the MIFARE card and reader mutually authenticate each other, handshake. These cards are designed to keep sensitive information safe by utilizing encryption keys.

Commonly used for Door Access and ParkingĪn evolution of “smart” cards, MIFARE cards operate at a frequency of 13.56 MHz (high frequency), and offer higher card ID number capacities.

Prox cards are contactless and replaced cards requiring direct contact or insertion, such as Wiegand and magstripe technologies. Prox cards do not have the capability to store additional information, and are commonly used for door access. The typical access control system only reads the identification numbers from a prox card when presented. The primary function of the microchip embedded within a proximity card is to provide the prox card reader with the card’s identification number and/or site facility code so that it can be verified and access Standard proximity cards operate at 125 KHz (low frequency), and are from 26 to over 60 bit of format. Cards are becoming increasingly more sophisticated in terms of encryption, virtualization and mobile applications. It’s important to understand the general differences in card types, as the corresponding reader will need to match the card’s capabilities to fully benefit from the available feature sets and wide array of security parameters. While their general appearances may seem similar, not all cards are created equal. What are the general differences between the following card types? Proximity, MIFARE®, MIFARE DESFire®

Desfire ev1 vs ev2