The purpose of this project is to provide corporations and campuses with a detailed, cost-effective proposal for the implementation of a smart card system that communicates over a wireless network. Currently, most sites are using an archaic magnetic stripe card system for dealing with identification and security issues. Magnetic stripe cards can easily be tampered with, and are limited in the applications that they can be used. In addition, smart cards have a processor and memory embedded that allow for computations to be done by the card. The introduction of this wireless smart card system would greatly increase the security, convenience and efficiency of the existing authentication architecture. The smart card allows much more data to be stored in a secure fashion across various sectors by using an assortment of encryption algorithms. The addition of the wireless aspect will simplify the installation and implementation of the smart card readers in existing buildings and facilities by not having to make cable runs for the networking segment.
A meticulous examination of the current identification/authentication system used will be performed, particularly on its utility and drawbacks. Then, the method by which the discussed smart card system could eliminate the aforementioned weaknesses will be determined. Finally, a simulation of this project will be provided in order to demonstrate the ease and convenience that a smart card can provide for a typical corporation or campus.