This new line of intelligent biometric access control products includes an FBI approved biometric optical sensor and a contactless smart card reader capable of reading and processing the entire CHUID or card holder unique identifier. The strength of the MA120 W processing is the ability to parse and verify the integrity of the CHUID data elements, to validate they have been digitally signed by an authorized source, and to determine the card's expiration date.

"Processing the CHUID is a significant task for a front-end reader; federal agencies face the daunting task of implementing the FIPS 201 (PIV) requirements on a limited budget. A phased implementation approach using 'smart' terminals allows agencies to keep their legacy physical access control system (PACS)," says James Conniff, director of access control solutions at Sagem Morpho, Inc. "This solution wraps an intelligent authentication layer around the legacy PACS, making it compliant with FIPS 201. The bridge, acting as a translator, takes the 200+ bit CHUID that has been processed and verified by the smart terminal and transforms it into the corresponding wiegand signal acceptable to the legacy PACS. As this secure, interoperable smart terminal is implemented, we're confident this approach will save agencies a tremendous amount of aggravation, time, and money."

MA120 W models can operate in a variety of modes: identification in non PIV environments; or multifactor authentication mode by reading contactless PIV cards, offering storage capacity of two biometric templates per person. The database can either be downloaded via a network or USB interface. In addition, the MA120 W can operate as a standalone security system, or integrated into a network wide security platform via the MEMS supervision software (MorphoAccess enrollment & management System).