Cubic Corp.-Developed ''Contactless'' Smart Card Technology Takes Another Step Forward
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 1999--Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS), a subsidiary of San Diego-based Cubic Corp. (AMEX:CUB - news) today announced it has selected Fujitsu Limited to manufacture wafers for Cubic-engineered expanded memory ''contactless'' fare tickets, cards and other consumer and business products.
The agreement is related to Cubic's development of a new high-speed chip for contactless smart card applications that require the ability to read and write data securely at very high speeds. A Cubic-designed chip currently in use in contactless smart cards in Washington, DC can handle transit transactions in less than one-tenth of a second. It offers transit customers data space with 50 times the memory and significantly higher transaction speeds than currently available on magnetic fare cards.
''We are taking the additional steps needed to create the next generation of contactless technology for transportation and other industries,'' said Walter J. Zable, Cubic Corp. chairman and chief executive officer. ''We selected Fujitsu Limited as our primary supplier not only because of its world leadership position in semiconductor fabrication, but also because Fujitsu has the capability to support Cubic engineers in developing other contactless solutions.''
This latest chip development utilizes the world's fastest non-volatile memory, known as FRAM® (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory), coupled with Cubic's high-speed state machine and RF interface, to minimize the effort needed for complex system applications and transaction integration. Fujitsu licenses the FRAM® technology from Ramtron International Corp. (Nasdaq:RMTR - news).
Cubic, a pioneer in smart card technology, recently installed the United States' first contactless fare collection system for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA). WMATA's SmarTrip system eliminates the need for contact between the farecard and its reader, and provides the necessary infrastructure to integrate the technology with other business applications.
SmarTrip uses Cubic's GO CARD® system technology, which has an embedded chip and antenna that communicate via radio frequency with readers on faregates, ticket vending machines and parking exit processors. The chip used in the SmarTrip cards also has a FRAM memory core.
Cubic is the world leader in applying contactless smart card technology to integrated payment systems for mass transit and is the only company with an actual working contactless card payment system in large-scale transit use in the United States. In addition to Washington, DC, contactless cards using Cubic designed chips are also scheduled to go into transit use soon in Chicago.
Cubic systems installed for mass transit customers in Shanghai and Guangzhou, China and in London also are designed to utilize the new contactless technology.
''We admire Cubic's vision, perseverance and commitment to deliver the highest-performance solution to their customers,'' said L. David Sikes, Ramtron chairman and CEO. ''The addition of Fujitsu to the team provides the manufacturing prowess to take the technology to the next level of commercialization.''
Toshihiko Ono, executive vice president of the Fujitsu Semiconductor Group added, ''Fujitsu is pleased to be selected by Cubic as their preferred manufacturing source for this product. Fujitsu's commitment is to provide the most reliable, cost-effective products in high-volume for Cubic's commercialization efforts.''
Cubic's new technology allows new contactless smart card product applications for government benefits issuers, medical providers, drivers' license bureaus, passport offices, security companies, and e-commerce businesses.
''These days, many companies are engineering software and other solutions based on contactless technology,'' Zable said. ''Cubic is taking the lead by making it easier to integrate those applications with this new technology.'' |
