Technology

MULTOS smart card technology delivers high security, interoperable platforms for any application. MULTOS consists of two unique technologies that deliver the secure architecture - the on-card virtual machine that securely executes applications and the MULTOS security scheme, an implementation of STEP technology, that secures the smart card, application code and application data.

Secure Multi-applications

MULTOS applications are developed in high-level languages such as 'C' or Java (or in low-level assembly language) and compiled into MEL bytecodes that are executed by the virtual machine. When an application executes, the virtual machine checks each and every bytecode instruction to ensure it is valid and properly formed. All memory areas accessed by the instructions are also checked that they are within the memory area of that application. Any invalid instructions or attempted memory accesses are rejected by the virtual machine and all smart card application execution will stop. The execution-time checking ensures the complete safety of application execution and data - it is not possible for an application to access the data of another application on the smart card. As application data sharing is not permitted, application providers can be assured that their data is safe from other applications that may reside alongside theirs in the smart card. The MEL bytecode instruction set is limited to data manipulation and simple arithmetic operations, however MULTOS operating systems provide a wide range of additional built-in functions, termed Primitives, that provide more complex operations such as cryptography or operating system data access. The same memory access checking applies to memory areas manipulated by the primitives, ensuring applications cannot even unintentionally access memory outside their permitted space.

Interoperability Defined and Delivered

All MULTOS OS Implementations include the standard Virtual Machine and a standard set of Primitive functions. There are a number of optional Primitive functions, usually related to specific hardware features that may be present, such as a contactless interface. This ensures that applications are 100% compatible between different MULTOS and MULTOS step/one products from different vendors. All products undergo rigourous Type Approval to ensure compliance with specification and security of implementation.