Smart Card Overview

The basic components of the smart card subsystem are defined in the Interoperability Specification for ICCs and Personal Computer Systems (see Documents at http://www.smartcardsys.com/). These basic components include:

• A resource manager that uses a Win32® application programming interface (API).
• A user interface (UI) that works with the resource manager.
• Several base service providers that provide access to specific services. In contrast to the resource manager's Win32® API, service providers use a COM interface model to provide smart card services.

The following illustration shows the relationships of these components in the overall smart card architecture.

For topics on several of the basic smart card concepts, see Smart Card Concepts.

For information on how the smart card subsystem works with other services available in the Microsoft Internet Security Framework, see Relation to Other Services.

For topics on the SDK components, see:

• Smart Card Resource Manager.
• Smart Card User Interface
• Smart Card Service Providers.