Mobile Access Control System
The access credential market has begun to transform: today there is an increasingly marked trend to integrate this function to smartphones. This article, written by a Suprema expert, explains the main advantages of this technology.
The rise of smartphones with iOS or Android systems is rapidly changing the landscape of the IT industry around the world.
Several Industries, such as digital cameras and vehicle navigation systems, MP3 and PNP, have been replaced by their equivalents in smartphones and even improved their performance.
Smartphones offer increasing portability by integrating the functions of various devices into a single unit, allowing them to connect with network-based service platforms and offer new services and conveniences, previously unknown.
These changes have spread to the access control market. Although not very common yet, “mobile access cards” is one of the terms that everyone is talking about today in the industry.
RF cards used for access security are being integrated into phones, just as digital cameras and MP3 players have in the past.
While it is very likely that people forget their access cards at home, this will almost never happen with their phones. The use of smartphones for access control increases reliability and convenience.
Mobile access control over the phone
A key aspect of the mobile credential is that it allows you to issue or retrieve cards without the need for face-to-face interaction.
As is the case in other markets, the combination of smartphones and access cards is creating a new value that goes beyond the simple convenience of integration, since in this case the ability to avoid authentication or unauthorized access is improved.
People lend their access cards to others, but they are much less likely to do the same with their phone – with all their financial and personal information – this overcomes a major weakness of RF cards.
Another valuable aspect of the mobile credential is that it enables the issuance or retrieval of cards without the need for face-to-face interaction.
In existing security systems, cards must be issued in person. Since the issuance of cards implies access rights, the identification of the recipient must be confirmed first, before enabling the card; and once issued, it cannot be retrieved without face-to-face interaction.
Mobile access cards
In contrast, mobile access cards are designed to securely transfer authorization to the phone user using TLS.
In this way, credentials can be securely managed with authenticated users without face-to-face interaction. Mobile cards can be used not only in sites with large numbers of visitors or to handle access by undetermined numbers of visitors, but also in places such as shared offices, kitchens, and gyms, currently used as smart access control systems in inexpensive markets. shared.
The current market share for mobile access cards is low, despite the ability to deliver real benefits to users and markets. While the access control market is slow moving, there are also practical issues that limit the adoption of new technologies, such as mobile access cards.
Use of Bluetooth Low Energy technology
Although NFC could be an important technology for mobile credentials, which is available today in all smartphones, the differences in the processes of implementation and data handling between various brands hold back the universal implementation of a single solution in all the devices present in the market.
Consequently, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology is an alternative to NFC. Bluetooth is a technology that has been applied in smartphones for a long time, and its use and interface are unified, so there are no compatibility problems.
However, speed is the first problem. The authentication speed of BLE mobile access card products from major brands is slower than existing cards.
Improved credential authentication speed
Authentication speed is continually being improved using BLE’s GAP and GATT layers.
The second problem is that mobile access cards must be accompanied by compatible card readers.
To use mobile access cards, readers have to be updated, but this is not an easy task in the access control market.
The 13.56 MHz cards (designed to replace the 125 kHz cards) took 20 years from the implementation of the standard, but only half of those cards have been replaced so far.
Legacy compatibility and the need for equivalent performance, even with added benefits, will mark the time for adoption in the access control market.
While BLE technology helps solve the compatibility problem of mobile access cards, it can identify some advancements that can solve the speed problem.
Authentication speed is continually being improved using BLE’s GAP and GATT layers, and new products with these enhancements are already on the market.
The use of these enhancements in the Suprema mobile credential allows an authentication speed of less than 0.5 s to be exhibited for a performance equivalent to that of physical card-based authentication.
Mobile Access Card Market Growth Forecast in 2020
Forecasts for the remainder of 2020 show that the mobile access card market will grow faster.
A review of new market entries identifies the latest products that offer improved solutions to speed and compatibility issues.
The MOCA Air Fob patch responds to current development plans that exceed the installed base of legacy card readers, allowing for the rapid creation of an environment that can immediately use BLE for mobile access cards.
Integrated mobile digital identity
In appropriate environments and with proven usability, mobile access cards will begin to penetrate other markets, not just access control. In the shared economic market, which seeks access management without face-to-face interaction, the integrated mobile digital identity, led by “Alianza DID” will serve as a technical tool that can be used in access authentication, which will strengthen ties between markets. of Access Control System and Digital Identity.