CARD-ROM against four other standards
MIFARE Classic, DESFire EV3, FeliCa and Calypso are the cards the gates of the Bloc meet most often in a traveller's wallet. The figures below are the published ones for each standard, and the CARD-ROM column is measured on a revision 3 card at a Fluid intercity gate. A card of any of these standards is refused at the gate, and the panel says which one it is and where it is accepted.
Side by side
| CARD-ROM | MIFARE Classic | DESFire EV3 | FeliCa | Calypso | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrier | 13.56 MHz | 13.56 MHz | 13.56 MHz | 13.56 MHz | 13.56 MHz |
| Frame layer | ISO 14443-2 and -3 Type A, Dubrazec frames above | ISO 14443 Type A, proprietary above | ISO 14443-4 Type A | JIS X 6319-4 | ISO 14443-4 Type B or Type A |
| Bit rate | 212 kbit/s | 106 kbit/s | 848 kbit/s | 424 kbit/s | 424 kbit/s |
| Typical transaction | 148 ms | 180 ms | 130 ms | 100 ms | 150 ms |
| Contact interface | 6 pads, used by machines | none | none | none | on some cards |
| CARD-ROM | MIFARE Classic | DESFire EV3 | FeliCa | Calypso | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User memory | 2 MB and 8 KB | 1 or 4 KB | 2, 4 or 8 KB | 4 to 36 KB | 2 to 32 KB |
| Structure | Record ring, options, and an area the holder writes | Sectors and blocks | Applications and files | Blocks and services | Files under a directory |
| Record history on card | 90 days, about 60,000 records | last few transactions | up to the file size | 20 to 100 entries | 3 to 10 entries |
| Value on card | none, module compiled out | value blocks | value files | purse, and retail payment | contract and counter files |
| Holder's own data | 7.6 KB, plain, readable by any terminal | none defined | at the issuer's choice | at the issuer's choice | none defined |
| CARD-ROM | MIFARE Classic | DESFire EV3 | FeliCa | Calypso | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authentication | AES-128, diversified per card | Crypto-1, 48-bit | AES-128 or 3DES | 3DES or AES-128 | 3DES or AES-128 |
| Known breaks | none published | Crypto-1 broken in 2008; cards cloneable with a laptop | none published | none published | none published on current cards |
| Card authenticity | Ed25519 signature over the identity block, checkable without any key | UID only | originality signature | issuer certificate | issuer certificate |
| Record integrity | CMAC on every record, under the key of the network that wrote it | none | at the issuer's choice | at the issuer's choice | signed contracts |
| Specification | open, published in full with test vectors | partly published, silicon proprietary | published to licensees | published to licensees | open, association members |
| Licence to build | none, and no patent is held | silicon from one vendor | silicon from one vendor | royalty and certification | association membership |
| Cost to the holder | none, issued and replaced free | set by the operator | set by the operator | deposit and top-up | set by the operator |
Reading the tables
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Speed at the gate
DESFire and FeliCa are quicker on the air in systems with closed gates. A Fluid gate is semi-open, so the digital ticket is accounted for while a person walks through it, and 148 ms against 100 ms changes nothing a traveller can feel.
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The purse module
Most of these standards were built to store value and to deduct it at a gate. CARD-ROM has that module but it is not compiled in Fluid. The comparison of purse features is therefore irrelevant here.
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Unit cost of an open mask
A CARD-ROM chip is made by three factories in the Bloc to a published mask. The volumes are small, so the unit cost stands above a MIFARE Classic and near a DESFire. The card is free to the holder either way.
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MIFARE Classic and Crypto-1
Crypto-1 has been broken since 2008 and cloning takes a laptop. It is listed here because it is still in wallets across the region, including the STB cards that reach the Lindoma gates most often.
At the gate
The gate reads it and refuses passage. A Suica, a Card Activ, an Oyster or a Navigo is intact and readable, and contains no Bloc record and no Bloc identifier. The panel names the card, its issuer and its product, states where it is accepted, and states why passage is refused here.
No balance is touched. The gate reads the standard and the identifier, and stops. It takes nothing, writes nothing, and keeps nothing about the card presented.
The panel answers in the language of the card. A FeliCa card issued in Japan brings a panel in Japanese. A MIFARE card from Bucharest brings one in Romanian. The gate supports twelve languages and falls back to Fluidian and English if the language of the card is not supported.
Then it says what is needed. A Universal Bloc Transport Card, or a Universal Ticket, which is the paper form of the same record and covers one journey, are the only compatible devices that can be issued at the counter behind the gate or at every machine on the concourse.