1997-04-25 , ID-9706

The French Postal Service La Poste decided to use MIFARE^® as standard technology for VIGIK^® the nationwide access control system for residential buildings. La Poste estimates that approximately 500,000 buildings will be equipped and five million cards will be issued within the next five years.

French postal carriers will be the first to benefit from VIGIK^® being issued a MIFARE^® card at the end of 1997 which they can use at every building where VIGIK^® compatible read/write devices are installed. Every day postmen have to recharge their MIFARE^® 'key' at a reloading terminal in their post office with the predefined schedule for the actual day. In contrast to mechanical or other types of keys, the VIGIK^® key cannot be used before and after the specified period of time. Thus, the postman is granted easy access to a large number of buildings during his round, while at the same time security of premises is increased.

Thanks to the FLEXible system design, VIGIK^® is open for any other service provider besides La Poste to join in, such as cleaning and maintenance services, newspaper carriers and similar. MIFARE^® 'keys' - either card-sized or integrated into wristwatches, key fobs and the like - can, of course, be issued to residents, too! Using the VIGIK^® device, building managers are free to grant specific access rights to anyone who holds a MIFARE^® card. In addition to increased security and FLEXibility, distribution and delivery control becomes very effective, management is easy and efficient. Against this background La Poste recommends building or site managers to install the secure, FLEXible and user friendly access control system VIGIK^®

Basically, VIGIK^® can be employed by any operator who requires secured access to a large number of residential and office buildings as well as easy key management. Besides access control to buildings, the innovative concept of VIGIK^® can also be used for maintenance and repair of ATMs, payphones and vending machines; room management or time sharing (e.g. in tourism or leisure centers) and similar applications.

With the wide range of possible applications, La Poste sees worldwide a great market potential for VIGIK^® and intends to market VIGIK^® also on an international basis.

The decision to use MIFARE^® was made on the grounds that MIFARE^® is a reliable, mature and fieldproven technology. It has proven its technical suitability and commercial viability for this project and components are available from multiple sources.

System Background
Components
The electronic 'lock' comprises two components: A contactless MIFARE^® card which functions as 'key' for the person authorized to enter the building, and a square-shaped lock, the antenna, located near the entrance door. When the card is held a few centimeters away from the antenna, a control box checks access authorization and activates the door opening system (transaction time approx. 150 ms). To further enhance the security of the system, the cards are also electronically signed with an asymmetric public key algorithm.

Recharging the key
A programming unit computes the authorizations for each contactless card every day using the following data:

• serial number of the card
• operator identifier
• starting and ending times of authorized period of use

Company's Background
The French Postal Service La Poste is the third largest public utility corporation in France after electricity and telecommunications in terms of revenues. In 1995, it achieved a turnover of 80.4 billion French Francs. With 285,000 employees, La Poste's two major activities are mail processing generating three quarter of the global turnover and banking services with a network of 17,000 contact points. Operating in competitive markets for a large part of its business, La Poste offers a wide range of services for households and large users, focusing on quality of service to gain and/or maintain its market shares in different market segments.

Philips Semiconductors with its Austrian subsidiary Mikron GmbH is the world-wide leader in ICs for contactless smart cards and RF identification. The business focus is on silicon and components for contactless smart cards and RF transponders, used in automatic fare collection, industrial applications, access control and car immobilizers.

For further information please contact:

J.P. Huon at La Poste
VIGIK^® Program Director
phone: + 33 1 41 41 63 36
fax: + 33 1 41 41 64 22

Elisabeth Dörner at Philips Semiconductors / Mikron
Public Relations
phone: + 43 3124 299 760
fax: + 43 3124 299 270
e-mail:  elisabeth.doerner@at.ccmail.philips.com
Internet: http://cdrom.semiconductors.com/identification