Smart Card Reader Driver Program Reference Manual
rev 1.1 Sept, 2003
Advanced Card Systems Ltd.
Page 4 of 34
1. INTRODUCTION
This manual describes the use of ACSR20 interface software to program the ACR20 &
ACR30 smart card readers. It is a set of library functions implemented for the application
programmers to operate the ACR20 & ACR30 smart card readers and the inserted smart
cards. It can be programmed using the popular development tools like Visual C/C++, Borland
C/C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, FoxPro, etc…
Depending on the reader model, ACR20 & ACR30 series of smart card readers can be
connected to the PC via the RS/232 interface or USB interface. The connecting interfaces of
different model of readers are summarized as follow:
Model Numbers
Connecting interface
ACR20S, ACR20S-S, ACR30S, ACR30S-S
Serial RS/232
ACR20U,ACR20U-S, ACR30U, ACR20S-S
USB interface
Even though the hardware communication interface can be different, application programs
can still be using the same API (Application Programming Interface) for operating the smart
card readers. Actually, the purpose of using the ACSR20 library is to provide the programmer
with a simple and consistent interface over all possible hardware. It is the responsibility of the
ACSR20 library to handle the communication details, parameter conversions and error
handling. The architecture of the ACSR20 library can be visualized as the following diagram:
ACR10 / ACR20
Series of
Smart Card Reader
CardEasy
ACSR20
Windows
Application Program
Driver Program
Operating System
PC
Reader
RS-232 / USB
Figure 1.1
Layer
