System and method employing portable cards to send data between systems

Abstract

A system and method employing portable cards, carried by consumers, to send data between system.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for a system including a card transported by a first person, the method comprising: 
 writing a first signal to the card;    reading the first signal from the card;    reading a second signal from the card; and    sending the first signal to a location specified by the second signal.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein sending includes sending the first signal over a wide area communication link.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the second signal includes an IP destination address.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the second signal includes a TCP destination port number.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the second signal includes an IP destination address and a TCP destination port number.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the second signal includes a Universal Resource Locator.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the system includes a first system and a second system, the first signal corresponds to a condition of the first system, and the reading steps are performed by the second system.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  further including the step, performed by the first system, of writing the second signal to the card.