Personal computer-based mail processing system with security arrangement contained in the personal computer

摘要

A mail processing system has a printing machine base station controlled via a personal computer. A printhead for a purely electronic printing is driven by a printing control electronics and, together with a conveyor unit, forms which is adaptable to items of differing thicknesses printing station for mixed mail processing. The components of the personal computer are in communication via a PC system bus and include a security arrangement that is connected to the PC system bus via a parallel input/output interface and is connected to the printing machine base station via at least one fast interface. The fast interface is a specific data transmission unit for fast serial data transmission to the specific interface unit and/or to the printing control electronics of the machine base. The security arrangement contains a user-specific hardware circuit with units for the implementation of accounting and security functions. The hardware circuit is connected to non-volatile memory modules and to a security processor that is programmed with a non-readable program in order to implement at least one security function.