At 10:02 AM -0500 11/17/99, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
>In message <v04220814b457e31782c9@[204.167.101.35]>, Robert Hettinga writes:
>>
>> --- begin forwarded text
>>
>>
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Subject: a smartcard of a different color
>> Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 22:15:07 -0500
>> From: Dan Geer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Sender: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>
>>
>>
>> Yesterday I saw a smartcard of a different color. In particular,
>> it is the smartcard chip but in a key-ring thing that is more or
>> less identical to the Mobil SpeedPass except that it has a USB
>> connector on one end and a keyring hole on the other. Total length
>> circa 1.25"; color purple; maker Rainbow Technologies. As my pal
>> Peter Honeyman said in showing it to me, "There are already all
>> the USB ports we'll ever need." I'd point out that without the
>> 7816 requirement for flex a whole lot more memory is a trivial
>> add-on and that USB is not a bandwidth bottleneck.
>>
>> --dan
>>
>> ref: http://www.rainbow.com/ikey/graphics/iKey_DS.pdf
>
>Folks I've talked to about products like that say that USB ports aren't
>designed for that many insertion/removal cycles.
Per the USB 1.1 Specs, Table 6.7, p.95
http://usb.org/developers/data/usb11.pdf
Durability Test Performance Requirement is: "1,500 insertion
extraction cycles at a maximum rate of 200 cycles per hour." That's
four years of once-a-day use. They are a bit stiff: insertion force
is up to 35 Newtons, extraction is 10 N minimum.
>(We'll ignore, for now, all
>of the PCs that have their USB ports in the back, where you can't get at
>them easily. One could always add on a hub.)
Or a cheap USB extension cable, which would also protect the jack on
your computer from wearing out. However, many (most?) USB keyboards
have two USB jacks on them to allow the mouse to be plugged in on
either side.
USB seems to be the wave of the future in PCs. In introducing a new
product like smart cards to consumers, there is a lot to be said for
technology that works with what a large number of consumers already
have.
Arnold Reinhold
