BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 4th paragraph
Due to the need to comply with the published standards, a conventional card reader can turn out to be a relatively expensive item of equipment. For instance, the ISO standard requires that different respective signals be applied to the five designated contacts on the card in a specific sequence at predetermined times during the power-up procedure. As a result, the reader must include a controller which supervises the application and timing of these signals, thereby adding to its cost.
United States Patent 6,199,128 Inventors: Sarat; Jean-Marc (Belmont, CA)