Guys, would you interested to build a security system that included with an effective access control terminal? It sounds interesting, isn’t it?

Ok, you must be wondered, “Why this project is given name as ‘Checkpoint Charlie’ and where it got the name from?” Actually, Checkpoint Charlie (Checkpoint C) was the name given by the Western Allies to a crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. Checkpoint Charlie is located at the junction of Friedrichstraße with Zimmerstraße and Mauerstraße. The main purpose of the Checkpoint Charlie was checking all the foreigners and members of the Allied forces!

The project is based on a Keil MCB2130 demonstration board. It includes all the necessary external resources, which is required to work as an access control terminal.

This Checkpoint Charlie security system is powered by a Java Card smart card, and performs a challenge-response scheme using a symmetric cryptographic algorithm for optimum reliability. Beside that, the terminal can keep track of all activity and transmit remotely upon request through the RS232 interface simultaneously.

The ID cards with magnetic stripes can be used in this well-designed system, which are easier to counterfeit than a smart card.