On 14 Jul, 23:14, Tom Anderson wrote:
They're called "smart" because they have a microprocessor running
software that decodes commands and reads, encrypts and transmits the
requested data.

Microprocessor or ASIC?

To be pedantic, the MIFARE chip is undeniably an ASIC, because that
simply means the chip it's custom designed. I think what you're asking
is whether the protocol and encryption algorithms are implemented in
hardware (using state machine principals) or MPU+software. It looks
like encryption and some of the communication protocol is indeed
implemented using state machines, but I'm not certain about the higher
level functionality, though I'm leaning towards state machine also.
Some of the later models are definitely microprocessor-based, though.

(although being really pedantic, a microprocessor is just a fancy
state machine)

U

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