Smart card controller core is compliant to ISO 7816 3 specification. The core is a technology independent, fully synchronous design. The controller functions at 2 –66 Mhz. The design provides a simple, timing friendly front end interface which enables easy integration of the core to controllers and other application specific front end logic. The controller supports smart cards with internal clocks and internal resets. It has a well defined, easy to integrate processor interface. The design has hardware support for activation, deactivation and data transfer. It also supports hardware initiated smart card deactivation on card removal.