Finding info (manufacturer, card type...) about a ISO-14443 card with PCSC reader

Question

I recently began to use a PCSC reader with ISO-14443 cards. I'm just looking for a way to tell what type of card has been inserted in my reader. Is there a specific command that I could use? For example, how can I tell if a MIFARE DESFire card has been inserted? I'm using java, with a ACR122U reader. Thanks !

Answer 1

ISO 14443-cards cover such a wide spectrum, that this is is extremely dependent on what you have. UID may be randomized, and so does not help. If the reader does not provide some diagnostics, see commented manual, you are on your own.

In practical applications this is no issue; the approach "Give me whatever card you like and I'll do something with it" rarely occurs, since recognition of the card type is by miles insufficient to handle a card, which requires authentication.