STS Development Tools: How to develop your STS system

In the world of prepayment metering, the STS stands out as the only globally accepted open standard, ensuring interoperability at all levels, and the ability to scale your prepayment infrastructure easily.

Developing an STS compliant product can be a daunting task if you don’t know what you’re doing, so to aid its members the STS Association created a suite of virtual tools to assist during the development process of STS compliant products.

These tools are available to all STS Members free of charge and are accompanied by an in-depth video training series to guide them through the process. Let’s take a quick look at these tools, how they are used, and the benefits they provide.

• STS Simulator: This aids in the development of your software. It allows you to encrypt and decrypt any type of STS token using a known key, and then compare those tokens created to what your software produces, to ensure that the tokens you created align with the STS standard. It gives you an in-depth look at how tokens are made up, e.g. How many BITS each data field contains in the token itself. Shows you examples of the communication commands required by the Security Module to create a token. It supports all base dates and algorithms specified by the STS Standards.
• Virtual Meter: It simulates all meter types and functionality to give you an idea of how an STS meter should behave. It can be used to verify that tokens created by your software will be accepted by an STS meter, following all the rules specified in the STS Standards. It supports all base dates and algorithms specified by the STS Standards.
• Virtual Security Module (VSM): It simulates all security module types and functionality using known vending keys, to allow you to test your software prior to purchasing a hardware security module (HSM). It can be used to verify that the communications protocol implemented by your software will function with a HSM, following all the rules specified in the STS Standards. It supports all base dates, algorithms, and communication protocols specified by the STS Standards for HSM’s. The VSM is used during the certification testing of vending systems. It is important to note that the VSM cannot be used in the field since it cannot accept LIVE vending keys from the Key Management Centre (KMC).

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All STS members are given access to this library of development tools with accompanying training videos to facilitate their product development process. This has numerous benefits that streamline their processes, enhance productivity, reduce production time and costs, and essentially ensure that the products reach the required standard before they are submitted for compliance testing.

Having your products certified to be STS compliant is the final hurdle before going to market, ensuring your product will be fully interoperable with any other STS compliant product, and allowing you to brand your product with the STS logo.

Once compliance certification is achieved, you will also receive an accompanying compliance certificate that will be made available for all to see on the STS website. All these tools and training videos are available on the STS website at www.sts.org.za under the heading ‘Documents, Forms & Tools’, and are downloadable for additional convenience.

In conclusion, we encourage all our members who are embarking on their own product development process to use these tools and training videos, as this ultimately means that they can go to market with their product much faster, without having to navigate the number of hurdles they would normally face by doing this on their own.

STS – The only globally accepted open standard for prepayment systems, SIMPLE, TRUSTED, SECURE.

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Written by STSA

The Standard Transfer Specification (STS) has become recognized as the only globally accepted open standard for prepayment systems, ensuring interoperability between system components from different manufacturers of prepayment systems.