Card: A portable information medium in the form of a card. It stores information for identification.

Card ID: A serial number given to a card according to the format defined by a company, organization, or department. A card ID can be either given by the card manufacturer or created in a format defined by a particular company or organization.

Card layout: The data arrangement and structure inside a card.

Card mode: A method for authenticating cardholders. There are two card modes, Card ID mode and Template-on-Card mode. The Card ID mode compares the user ID that is stored on the device with fingerprint information, in reference to the card ID stored on the card. Whereas the Template-on-Card mode identifies a user by checking whether the fingerprint entered by the user matches the fingerprint information on the card.

Card reader: A device that reads the information stored on cards and transmits it to the controller.

CDE(Conformance Decision Engine): One of the procedures for Suprema's fingerprint matching algorithm. This is a step that determines whether the obtained fingerprint image is valid prior to processing the fingerprint image and extracting the minutiae of the fingerprint.

Clean room: A space where suspended particulate matter in air such as dust, viruses, metal powders, and cells can be controlled as required.

Client: Entity that requests service from the server through a network.

Controller: A device that examines access rights based on credential information obtained from a reader and controls the input and output of the reader.

Contact card: A card with a gold or silver chip attached to the surface. For data transmission, a contact card must be inserted into a card terminal in order to place the chip in direct contact with the card terminal.

Contactless card: A card that communicates with a card terminal using its built-in coil antenna. This type of card enables transmission of data using a magnetic field without contacting a card terminal.

Credential: Data used to identify users. Digital signatures, smart cards, biometric data, user names, passwords, etc. are common examples of credentials.

CSN (Card Serial Number): A serial number given to a card by the manufacturer.