AB Circle Smart Card I/O Bluetooth iOS Framework
The “ABCSmartCardIO” framework is a Swift framework used for iOS applications to communicate with ABC Bluetooth Smart Card Readers through a derived version of the Java Smart Card I/O API as defined by JSR 268. To do so, the framework implements a custom “TerminalFactory” interface written in Swift which can be referenced by iOS applications.
The Java Smart Card I/O API itself defines an API for communication with Smart Cards using ISO/IEC 7816-4 APDUs. It thereby allows applications to interact with applications running on the Smart Card, and to store and retrieve data on the card, etc.
Supported Readers
- CIR415
- CIR515
OS Support
- This framework supports iOS 11.0 or above.
Getting Started
- Extract and save the AB Circle SmartCard I/O package to a convenient folder
- In Xcode create an App project using the Swift language
- Drag the extracted ABCSmartCardIO-SwiftPackage-iOS folder from Finder onto the project
- Click on the project name (root node) in the project details
- In the project details window that opens, select the project Target
- From the project details, under Frameworks, select the ABCSmartCardIO.xcframework and drag it to the section ‘Frameworks, Libraries and Embedded Content’
- In the Swift file that references the framework add the following line: “Import ABCSmartCardIO”
The API is now available for use.
Note: API documentation can be found under “Documentation/index.html”.
Usage in Objective-C
The framework exposes its API through a ‘ABCSmartCardIO-Swift.h’ header which can be incorporated into Objective-C projects. This header can be found as part of the AB Circle SmartCard I/O package under the Targets/ABCSmartCardIO.xcframework/ios-arm64/ABCSmartCardIO.framework/Headers folder.
Similar to Swift projects:
- From the project details, under Frameworks, select the ABCSmartCardIO.xcframework and drag it to the section ‘Frameworks, Libraries and Embedded Content’
- Then in the main .m file using the ABCSmartCardIO API, add “#import <ABCSmartCardIO/ABCSmartCardIO-Swift.h>” in order to use the API.
Note: Bluetooth Access Rights for applications
In order for applications to use bluetooth, access needs to be enabled by adding a usage description key to the info.plist file. On apps linked on or after iOS 13, include the “NSBluetoothAlwaysUsageDescription” key. In iOS 12 and earlier, include “NSBluetoothPeripheralUsageDescription” to access Bluetooth peripheral data.
See also: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corebluetooth
Development Environment
Xcode - Xcode 11 or higher
Demo Application source
A demo application is included in the ABCBluetoothDemo folder.
The demo application allows:
- Discovery and selection of a Card Terminal
- Connection to a Card on the Terminal
- Sending APDU or Escape Commands to the connected Terminal
- Monitor the status of Card Terminals by use of a monitor class.
For more details, see also the documentation included with the demo application in the ABCBluetoothDemo/Documentation folder.
Sample Application source
A small sample application is included in the ABCBluetoothSample folder.
This application allows terminal discovery (using the sample scanBluetooth code below) and simple card detection and APDU sending.
Objective-C Sample Application source
A small sample application demonstrating the use of the ABCSmartCardIO API in Objective-C is included in the ABCObjectiveCDemo folder.
This application allows terminal discovery, shows some terminal information and tries to get a card UID if a card is placed on the reader.
Usage Example
/// Scans for CIR415/CIR515 bluetooth terminals and returns the first one in the terminal list.
/// Uses a DispatchSemaphore to wait for the scan to be completed
///
/// - Parameter duration: Duration of scan in seconds (5 seconds by default)
func scanForABCircleTerminals(duration: Int = 5) -> CardTerminal? {
/// queue used for scanning
let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "abc.scan.queue")
/// Dispatch semaphore used for leaving the scan queue
let semaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 0)
/// Stopper in case no terminals were found
var stop = false
/// (Optional) terminal to return
var firstTerminal: CardTerminal? = nil
/// Start scan in queue
queue.async {[weak self] in
guard let self = self else {
return
}
print("Scanning for terminals...")
do {
self.firstTerminal = nil
/// Scan for AB Circle readers (no need to wait)
try self.abcTerminalFactory.scanBluetooth(durationInSeconds: duration)
/// Check the list of terminals until we have one
repeat {
let terminals = self.abcTerminalFactory.terminals().list()
if !terminals.isEmpty {
/// Set the first terminal
firstTerminal = terminals.first
}
}
while (firstTerminal == nil && !stop)
/// Leave
semaphore.signal()
}
catch {
/// In case of error, display it
let status = error as! Status.StatusCode
print("Scan failed with status" + status.name + ", " + self.abcTerminalFactory.statusDescription(status: status))
semaphore.signal()
}
}
if semaphore.wait(timeout: .now() + .seconds(duration)) == DispatchTimeoutResult.timedOut {
/// waiting time out, means no terminal was found...
print("Waiting timed out...")
}
stop = true
/// Return the first terminal found (if any)
return firstTerminal
}
Known issues
- None at this time. Note: please use the latest CIR415/CIR515 firmware available.
History
v1.5.8 23 Apr 2024
- Fixed Xcode backward compatibility issue
v1.5.7 15 Apr 2024
- Added privacy manifest
v1.5.6 04 Feb 2024
- Added bluetooth reader discovery
- API changes:
New functionality in ABCircleTerminalFactory:
- startReaderDiscovery; starts discovery of bluetooth devices in range (with optional callback)
- stopReaderDiscovery; stops discovery of bluetooth devices
- getReaderDiscoveryList; gets the list of discovered devices
- discoverBluetoothDevices; starts discovery of bluetooth devices in range with optional name filter
- connectByUUID; attempts to connect to a discovered reader by its uuid string New class: DiscoveredReader; holds the name and UUID of a discovered bluetooth device
v1.5.5 29 Aug 2023
- Updated the API in order to support Objective-C
- Fixed an issue where readers could get invalid connections after re-starting bluetooth
- Fixed an issue where the ABCTerminalFactory did not keep the latest statuscode.
- Added Objective-C demo (& its source code).
v1.5.4 16 May 2023
- Removed custom descriptor for SAM slots
- Fixed issues in ATR parser
- Fixed issue with connection to CIM515 reader
- Fixed issue with parsing certain extended APDU’s
- API changes:
- CardTerminal: getSerialNumber: function to retrieve the serial number of a reader.
- Supports iOS 11.0 or above
v1.5.3 25 February 2022
- Improved support for ACK protocol (used by readers with fw 109.00 or higher)
- API changes:
- ABCircleTerminalFactory: ackProtocolEnabledForReaders; global property for enabling ACK protocol for newly connected readers (if supported)
- CardTerminal: isAckProtocolEnabled: function to check if ACK protocol is enabled for the terminal
- CardTerminal: setACKProtocol: function to enable or disable ACK protocol for the card terminal (if the terminal supports it)
v1.4.5 08 February 2022
- Solved issue with sudden removal of reader
v1.4.4 02 February 2022
- Improved stability in case of sudden removal of readers or cards
v1.4.3 30 January 2022
- Added support for CIR415 firmware version 109.00 or above
v1.4.2 02 September 2021
- Fixed issue causing readTimeout in certain cases
- Fixed issue with setting card state after power off in certain cases
- Added more detailed error return values for CIR515 readers in case of errors
v1.4.1 26 May 2021
- Fixed minor issue in getBatteryLevel
v1.4.0 03 May 2021
- Added support for the CIR515 reader
- Improved stability
- Added ABCCardTerminalMonitor class in demo application
v1.3.0 12 April 2021
- Added new functionality in CardTerminal:
- getBatteryLevel ; gets the battery level of the current terminal.
- getFirmwareVersion ; gets the firmware version of the current terminal.
- Fixed issue with card tap interrupting escape command in rare cases even if connected in direct mode.
v1.2.1 25 March 2021
- Fixed issue with CardTerminals.list while using a state filter
- Fixed an issue in Get Response APDU handling
- Improved stability on removing readers while in use
v1.2.0 18 February 2021
- Added new functionality:
- Disconnect(cardTerminal: CardTerminal) ; disconnect and unpairs a AB Circle reader completely.
- scanBluetooth(name: String) ; scans for AB Circle readers using a (case insensitive) name filter
- setBluetoothRssiFilter(rssiValue: Int) ; sets a reader filter on RSSI value, used when scanning for readers
- Improved speed
- Improved stability
- Added an additional sample application (& its source code)
v1.1.1 21 December 2020
- Added demo application source code and documentation
- Added “Note: Bluetooth Access Rights for applications” section to this readme
v1.1.0 24 November 2020
- Added support for setting custom encryption key for reader authentication and data encryption
- Added additional error handling in case bluetooth is unavailable
- Fixed an issue in Get Response APDU handling
- Fixed a reader name sorting issue when more than 1 readers are found
v1.0.0 18 November 2020
- Official release
- Added HMTL documentation (open Documentation/index.html)
- Improved comments on API functions
v0.9.0 10 November 2020
- Initial beta release
Authors
- ABC Software Team (engineering@abcircle.com)
License
Copyright (c) 2018-2024, AB Circle Ltd. All rights reserved.