27-09-2016, 10:48 AM
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INTRODUCTION:
Near Field Communication, abbreviated NFC, is a form of contactless communication between devices like smartphones or tablets. Contactless communication allows a user to wave the smartphone over a NFC compatible device to send information without needing to touch the devices together or go through multiple steps setting up a connection. Fast and convenient, NFC technology is popular in parts of Europe and Asia, and is quickly spreading throughout the world.
NFC is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimeters. Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi. Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a "tag".
NFC standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats, and are based on existing radio-frequency identification (RFID) standards including ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. The standards include ISO/IEC 18092and those defined by the NFC Forum, which was founded in 2004 by Nokia, Philips and Sony, and now has more than 160 members. The Forum also promotes NFC and certifies device compliance.
The technology behind NFC allows a device, known as a reader, interrogator, or active device, to create a radio frequency current that communicates with another NFC compatible device or a small NFC tag holding the information the reader wants. Passive devices, such as the NFC tag in smart posters, store information and communicate with the reader but do not actively read other devices. Peer-to-peer communication through two active devices is also a possibility with NFC. This allows both devices to send and receive information.
Both businesses and individuals benefit from near field communication technology. By integrating credit cards, subway tickets, and paper coupons all into one device, a customer can board a train, pay for groceries, redeem coupons or store loyalty points, and even exchange contact information all with the wave of a smartphone. Google has launched Google Wallet that supports MasterCard PayPass, PayPal offers money transfers between smartphones, and other companies are expected to follow suit. As the technology grows, more NFC compatible smartphones will be available and more stores will offer NFC card readers for customer convenience.
Near Field Communication (NFC) technology lets smartphones and other enabled devices communicate with other devices containing a NFC tag. Whether swiping your smartphone at the checkout lane in the grocery store, waving it over a display at a local museum, or bumping phones with a friend to share the latest games, near field technology lets you pay, play, and learn easily.
HISTORY:
NFC traces its roots back to radio-frequency identification, or RFID. RFID allows a reader to send radio waves to a passive electronic tag for identification, authentication and tracking.
1. 1983 The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation RFID was granted to Charles Walton.
2. 1995 wallet paying and receiving electronic, described in the report and annexes describing the invention of Gaston Schwabacher in 0017 patented protocol 24/01/1995 at INPI Brazil with the IP number 9500345
3. 2004 Nokia, Philips and Sony established the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum
4. 2006 Initial specifications for NFC Tags
5. 2006 Specification for "Smart Poster" records
6. 2006 Nokia 6131 was the first NFC phone
7. 2009 In January, NFC Forum released Peer-to-Peer standards to transfer contact, URL, initiate Bluetooth, etc.
8. 2010 Samsung Nexus S: First Android NFC phone shown
9. 2011 Google I/O "How to NFC" demonstrates NFC to initiate a game and to share a contact, URL, app, video, etc.
10. 2011 NFC support becomes part of the Symbian mobile operating system with the release of Symbian Anna version.
11. 2011 Research In Motion is the first company for its devices to be certified by MasterCard Worldwide, the functionality of Pay Pass.
12. 2012 March. EAT, a well-known UK restaurant chain and Everything Everywhere (Orange Mobile Network Operator) partner on the UK's first nationwide NFC enabled smart poster campaign. (lead by Rene' Bats ford, Head of ICT for EAT, also known for deploying the UK's first nationwide contactless payment solution in 2008) A specially created mobile phone app is triggered when the NFC enabled mobile phone comes into contact with the smart poster.
13. 2012 Sony introduces the "Smart Tags", which use NFC technology to change modes and profiles on a Sony smartphone at close range, included in the package of (and "perfectly paired" with) the Sony Xperia P Smartphone released the same year.
14. 2012 Samsung introduces TecTile; a set of MIFARE NFC stickers and a companion application for Android to read and write the TecTile stickers, and design macros that can be triggered by them.
ESSENTIAL SPECIFICATIONS:
NFC is a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically requiring a distance of 4 inches or less. NFC operates at 13.56 MHz on ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface and at rates ranging from 106 Kbit/s to 424 Kbit/s. NFC always involves an initiator and a target; the initiator actively generates an RF field that can power a passive target. This enables NFC targets to take very simple form factors such as tags, stickers, key fobs, or cards that do not require batteries. NFC peer-to-peer communication is possible, provided both devices are powered. A patent licensing program for NFC is currently under development by Via Licensing Corporation, an independent subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories. A public, platform-independent NFC library is released under the free GNU Lesser General Public License by the name libnfc.
NFC tags contain data and are typically read-only, but may be rewriteable. They can be custom-encoded by their manufacturers or use the specifications provided by the NFC Forum, an industry association charged with promoting the technology and setting key standards. The tags can securely store personal data such as debit and credit card information, loyalty program data, PINs and networking contacts, among other information. The NFC Forum defines four types of tags that provide different communication speeds and capabilities in terms of configurability, memory, security, data retention and write endurance. Tags currently offer between 96 and 4,096 bytes of memory.
1. As with proximity card technology near field communication uses magnetic induction between two loop antennas located within each other's near field, effectively forming an air-core transformer. It operates within the globally available and unlicensed radio frequency ISM band of 13.56 MHz Most of the RF energy is concentrated in the allowed ±7 kHz bandwidth range, but the full spectral envelope may be as wide as 1.8 MHz when using ASK modulation.
2. Theoretical working distance with compact standard antennas: up to 20 cm (practical working distance of about 4 centimeters)
3. Supported data rates: 106, 212 or 424 Kbit/s (the bit rate 848 Kbit/s is not compliant with the standard ISO/IEC 18092)
4. There are two modes:
1. Passive communication mode: The initiator device provides a carrier field and the target device answers by modulating the existing field. In this mode, the target device may draw its operating power from the initiator-provided electromagnetic field, thus making the target device a transponder.
2. Active communication mode: Both initiator and target device communicate by alternately generating their own fields. A device deactivates its RF field while it is waiting for data. In this mode, both devices typically have power supplies.
1. NFC employs two different codings to transfer data. If an active device transfers data at 106 Kbit/s, a modified Miller coding with 100% modulation is used. In all other cases coding is used with a modulation ratio of 10%.
2. NFC devices are able to receive and transmit data at the same time. Thus, they can check for potential collisions, if the received signal frequency does not match with the transmitted signal's frequency.
NFC and Bluetooth are both short-range communication technologies that are integrated into mobile phones. As described in technical detail above, NFC operates at slower speeds than Bluetooth, but consumes far less power and doesn't require pairing.
NFC sets up more quickly than standard Bluetooth, but has a lower transfer rate than Bluetooth low energy. With NFC, instead of performing manual configurations to identify devices, the connection between two NFC devices is automatically established quickly: in less than a tenth of a second. The maximum data transfer rate of NFC (424 Kbit/s) is slower than that of Bluetooth V2.1 (2.1 Mbit/s). With a maximum working distance of less than 20 cm, NFC has a shorter range, which reduces the likelihood of unwanted interception. That makes NFC particularly suitable for crowded areas where correlating a signal with its transmitting physical device (and by extension, its user) becomes difficult.
In contrast to Bluetooth, NFC is compatible with existing passive RFID (13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 18000-3) infrastructures. NFC requires comparatively low power, similar to the Bluetooth V4.0 low energy protocol. When NFC works with an unpowered device (e.g., on a phone that may be turned off, a contactless smart credit card, a smart poster), however, the NFC power consumption is greater than that of Bluetooth V4.0 Low Energy, since illuminating the passive tag needs extra power.
A standards-based connectivity technology, NFC harmonizes today's diverse contactless technologies, enabling current and future solutions in areas such as:
1. Access control
2. Consumer electronics
3. Healthcare
4. Information collection and exchange
5. Loyalty and coupons
6. Payments
7. Transport
Developers can learn more about NFC in the section on interoperability.
Key Benefits of NFC
NFC provides a range of benefits to consumers and businesses, such as:
1. Intuitive: NFC interactions require no more than a simple touch
2. Versatile: NFC is ideally suited to the broadest range of industries, environments, and uses
3. Open and standards-based: The underlying layers of NFC technology follow universally implemented ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards
4. Technology-enabling: NFC facilitates fast and simple setup of wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)
5. Inherently secure: NFC transmissions are short range (from a touch to a few centimeters)
6. Interoperable: NFC works with existing contactless card technologies
7. Security-ready: NFC has built-in capabilities to support secure applications
NFC as Technology Enabler:
NFC creates a new and universal interface to existing devices through simple touch interaction. NFC bridges gaps between existing technologies and devices to enable new applications/services (enabling connections from real to virtual, connections to physical/real world). NFC Means Proximity
All NFC transactions take place within a very small area, anywhere from a touch to 4 centimetres. This means that you can't unknowingly purchase something because you walk next to a smart poster.
NFC Enables One-Touch Setup of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
NFC is able to replace the pairing of Bluetooth-enabled devices, or the configuration of a Wi-Fi network through PINs and keys, by simply touching the two devices to be paired or connected to the network, or by touching the device to a tag. The gain in simplicity of use is substantial while the level of confidence is exactly similar.
NFC Enables Electronic Door Locks
For door locks that are equipped with an actuator and a short range contactless reader, a simple upgrade may allow NFC devices to substitute for contactless cards. Advantages, for example in hospitality, are the possibility to remotely send the access rights in advance to the user's handset, and the coupling with other applications such as booking, and skipping the check-in phase. In the example of access control, one can centrally manage the rights in real time without physical delivery of cards.
NFC and Healthcare
Personal health monitors recording a human’s vital data can be read by an NFC reader/writer, which for example might be a persons mobile phone, by simply touching the reader to the health device. The physical proximity that NFC requires guarantees the operator has the right understanding of which data is read at what time, thus greatly reducing the chance of a human error and, by the simplicity of instructions, allows patients of every age to monitor their health status autonomously.
And once a standardized format and secure storage for medical records and history is available, as well as generally accepted procedures to access these data, NFC will be a natural way to interact between a portable device held by the user and a medical system.
NFC Devices Enable Data Exchange
NFC enables users to quickly and easily transfer information between devices with a simple touch. Whether it be an exchange of business cards, a quick transaction, or downloading a coupon, the proximity ensures that the information shared is the information you want to share.
NFC and Contactless Technologies:
NFC complements many popular consumer level wireless technologies, by utilizing the key elements in existing standards for contactless card technology (ISO/IEC 14443 A&B and JIS-X 6319-4). NFC can be compatible with existing contactless card infrastructure and enables a consumer to utilize one device across different systems.
Extending the ability of the contactless card technology, NFC also enables devices to share information at a distance less than 4 centimeters with a maximum communication speed of 424kbps. Users can share business cards, make transactions, access information from smart posters or provide credentials for access control systems with a simple touch.
NFC’s bidirectional communication ability is ideal for establishing connections with other technologies by the simplicity of touch. For example if the user wants to connect their mobile device to their stereo to play media, they can simply touch the device to the stereo’s NFC touch point and the devices will negotiate the best wireless technology to use.
INTRODUCTION:
Near Field Communication, abbreviated NFC, is a form of contactless communication between devices like smartphones or tablets. Contactless communication allows a user to wave the smartphone over a NFC compatible device to send information without needing to touch the devices together or go through multiple steps setting up a connection. Fast and convenient, NFC technology is popular in parts of Europe and Asia, and is quickly spreading throughout the world.
NFC is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimeters. Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi. Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a "tag".
NFC standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats, and are based on existing radio-frequency identification (RFID) standards including ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. The standards include ISO/IEC 18092and those defined by the NFC Forum, which was founded in 2004 by Nokia, Philips and Sony, and now has more than 160 members. The Forum also promotes NFC and certifies device compliance.
The technology behind NFC allows a device, known as a reader, interrogator, or active device, to create a radio frequency current that communicates with another NFC compatible device or a small NFC tag holding the information the reader wants. Passive devices, such as the NFC tag in smart posters, store information and communicate with the reader but do not actively read other devices. Peer-to-peer communication through two active devices is also a possibility with NFC. This allows both devices to send and receive information.
Both businesses and individuals benefit from near field communication technology. By integrating credit cards, subway tickets, and paper coupons all into one device, a customer can board a train, pay for groceries, redeem coupons or store loyalty points, and even exchange contact information all with the wave of a smartphone. Google has launched Google Wallet that supports MasterCard PayPass, PayPal offers money transfers between smartphones, and other companies are expected to follow suit. As the technology grows, more NFC compatible smartphones will be available and more stores will offer NFC card readers for customer convenience.
Near Field Communication (NFC) technology lets smartphones and other enabled devices communicate with other devices containing a NFC tag. Whether swiping your smartphone at the checkout lane in the grocery store, waving it over a display at a local museum, or bumping phones with a friend to share the latest games, near field technology lets you pay, play, and learn easily.
HISTORY:
NFC traces its roots back to radio-frequency identification, or RFID. RFID allows a reader to send radio waves to a passive electronic tag for identification, authentication and tracking.
1. 1983 The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation RFID was granted to Charles Walton.
2. 1995 wallet paying and receiving electronic, described in the report and annexes describing the invention of Gaston Schwabacher in 0017 patented protocol 24/01/1995 at INPI Brazil with the IP number 9500345
3. 2004 Nokia, Philips and Sony established the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum
4. 2006 Initial specifications for NFC Tags
5. 2006 Specification for "Smart Poster" records
6. 2006 Nokia 6131 was the first NFC phone
7. 2009 In January, NFC Forum released Peer-to-Peer standards to transfer contact, URL, initiate Bluetooth, etc.
8. 2010 Samsung Nexus S: First Android NFC phone shown
9. 2011 Google I/O "How to NFC" demonstrates NFC to initiate a game and to share a contact, URL, app, video, etc.
10. 2011 NFC support becomes part of the Symbian mobile operating system with the release of Symbian Anna version.
11. 2011 Research In Motion is the first company for its devices to be certified by MasterCard Worldwide, the functionality of Pay Pass.
12. 2012 March. EAT, a well-known UK restaurant chain and Everything Everywhere (Orange Mobile Network Operator) partner on the UK's first nationwide NFC enabled smart poster campaign. (lead by Rene' Bats ford, Head of ICT for EAT, also known for deploying the UK's first nationwide contactless payment solution in 2008) A specially created mobile phone app is triggered when the NFC enabled mobile phone comes into contact with the smart poster.
13. 2012 Sony introduces the "Smart Tags", which use NFC technology to change modes and profiles on a Sony smartphone at close range, included in the package of (and "perfectly paired" with) the Sony Xperia P Smartphone released the same year.
14. 2012 Samsung introduces TecTile; a set of MIFARE NFC stickers and a companion application for Android to read and write the TecTile stickers, and design macros that can be triggered by them.
ESSENTIAL SPECIFICATIONS:
NFC is a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically requiring a distance of 4 inches or less. NFC operates at 13.56 MHz on ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface and at rates ranging from 106 Kbit/s to 424 Kbit/s. NFC always involves an initiator and a target; the initiator actively generates an RF field that can power a passive target. This enables NFC targets to take very simple form factors such as tags, stickers, key fobs, or cards that do not require batteries. NFC peer-to-peer communication is possible, provided both devices are powered. A patent licensing program for NFC is currently under development by Via Licensing Corporation, an independent subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories. A public, platform-independent NFC library is released under the free GNU Lesser General Public License by the name libnfc.
NFC tags contain data and are typically read-only, but may be rewriteable. They can be custom-encoded by their manufacturers or use the specifications provided by the NFC Forum, an industry association charged with promoting the technology and setting key standards. The tags can securely store personal data such as debit and credit card information, loyalty program data, PINs and networking contacts, among other information. The NFC Forum defines four types of tags that provide different communication speeds and capabilities in terms of configurability, memory, security, data retention and write endurance. Tags currently offer between 96 and 4,096 bytes of memory.
1. As with proximity card technology near field communication uses magnetic induction between two loop antennas located within each other's near field, effectively forming an air-core transformer. It operates within the globally available and unlicensed radio frequency ISM band of 13.56 MHz Most of the RF energy is concentrated in the allowed ±7 kHz bandwidth range, but the full spectral envelope may be as wide as 1.8 MHz when using ASK modulation.
2. Theoretical working distance with compact standard antennas: up to 20 cm (practical working distance of about 4 centimeters)
3. Supported data rates: 106, 212 or 424 Kbit/s (the bit rate 848 Kbit/s is not compliant with the standard ISO/IEC 18092)
4. There are two modes:
1. Passive communication mode: The initiator device provides a carrier field and the target device answers by modulating the existing field. In this mode, the target device may draw its operating power from the initiator-provided electromagnetic field, thus making the target device a transponder.
2. Active communication mode: Both initiator and target device communicate by alternately generating their own fields. A device deactivates its RF field while it is waiting for data. In this mode, both devices typically have power supplies.
1. NFC employs two different codings to transfer data. If an active device transfers data at 106 Kbit/s, a modified Miller coding with 100% modulation is used. In all other cases coding is used with a modulation ratio of 10%.
2. NFC devices are able to receive and transmit data at the same time. Thus, they can check for potential collisions, if the received signal frequency does not match with the transmitted signal's frequency.
NFC and Bluetooth are both short-range communication technologies that are integrated into mobile phones. As described in technical detail above, NFC operates at slower speeds than Bluetooth, but consumes far less power and doesn't require pairing.
NFC sets up more quickly than standard Bluetooth, but has a lower transfer rate than Bluetooth low energy. With NFC, instead of performing manual configurations to identify devices, the connection between two NFC devices is automatically established quickly: in less than a tenth of a second. The maximum data transfer rate of NFC (424 Kbit/s) is slower than that of Bluetooth V2.1 (2.1 Mbit/s). With a maximum working distance of less than 20 cm, NFC has a shorter range, which reduces the likelihood of unwanted interception. That makes NFC particularly suitable for crowded areas where correlating a signal with its transmitting physical device (and by extension, its user) becomes difficult.
In contrast to Bluetooth, NFC is compatible with existing passive RFID (13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 18000-3) infrastructures. NFC requires comparatively low power, similar to the Bluetooth V4.0 low energy protocol. When NFC works with an unpowered device (e.g., on a phone that may be turned off, a contactless smart credit card, a smart poster), however, the NFC power consumption is greater than that of Bluetooth V4.0 Low Energy, since illuminating the passive tag needs extra power.
A standards-based connectivity technology, NFC harmonizes today's diverse contactless technologies, enabling current and future solutions in areas such as:
1. Access control
2. Consumer electronics
3. Healthcare
4. Information collection and exchange
5. Loyalty and coupons
6. Payments
7. Transport
Developers can learn more about NFC in the section on interoperability.
Key Benefits of NFC
NFC provides a range of benefits to consumers and businesses, such as:
1. Intuitive: NFC interactions require no more than a simple touch
2. Versatile: NFC is ideally suited to the broadest range of industries, environments, and uses
3. Open and standards-based: The underlying layers of NFC technology follow universally implemented ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards
4. Technology-enabling: NFC facilitates fast and simple setup of wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)
5. Inherently secure: NFC transmissions are short range (from a touch to a few centimeters)
6. Interoperable: NFC works with existing contactless card technologies
7. Security-ready: NFC has built-in capabilities to support secure applications
NFC as Technology Enabler:
NFC creates a new and universal interface to existing devices through simple touch interaction. NFC bridges gaps between existing technologies and devices to enable new applications/services (enabling connections from real to virtual, connections to physical/real world). NFC Means Proximity
All NFC transactions take place within a very small area, anywhere from a touch to 4 centimetres. This means that you can't unknowingly purchase something because you walk next to a smart poster.
NFC Enables One-Touch Setup of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
NFC is able to replace the pairing of Bluetooth-enabled devices, or the configuration of a Wi-Fi network through PINs and keys, by simply touching the two devices to be paired or connected to the network, or by touching the device to a tag. The gain in simplicity of use is substantial while the level of confidence is exactly similar.
NFC Enables Electronic Door Locks
For door locks that are equipped with an actuator and a short range contactless reader, a simple upgrade may allow NFC devices to substitute for contactless cards. Advantages, for example in hospitality, are the possibility to remotely send the access rights in advance to the user's handset, and the coupling with other applications such as booking, and skipping the check-in phase. In the example of access control, one can centrally manage the rights in real time without physical delivery of cards.
NFC and Healthcare
Personal health monitors recording a human’s vital data can be read by an NFC reader/writer, which for example might be a persons mobile phone, by simply touching the reader to the health device. The physical proximity that NFC requires guarantees the operator has the right understanding of which data is read at what time, thus greatly reducing the chance of a human error and, by the simplicity of instructions, allows patients of every age to monitor their health status autonomously.
And once a standardized format and secure storage for medical records and history is available, as well as generally accepted procedures to access these data, NFC will be a natural way to interact between a portable device held by the user and a medical system.
NFC Devices Enable Data Exchange
NFC enables users to quickly and easily transfer information between devices with a simple touch. Whether it be an exchange of business cards, a quick transaction, or downloading a coupon, the proximity ensures that the information shared is the information you want to share.
NFC and Contactless Technologies:
NFC complements many popular consumer level wireless technologies, by utilizing the key elements in existing standards for contactless card technology (ISO/IEC 14443 A&B and JIS-X 6319-4). NFC can be compatible with existing contactless card infrastructure and enables a consumer to utilize one device across different systems.
Extending the ability of the contactless card technology, NFC also enables devices to share information at a distance less than 4 centimeters with a maximum communication speed of 424kbps. Users can share business cards, make transactions, access information from smart posters or provide credentials for access control systems with a simple touch.
NFC’s bidirectional communication ability is ideal for establishing connections with other technologies by the simplicity of touch. For example if the user wants to connect their mobile device to their stereo to play media, they can simply touch the device to the stereo’s NFC touch point and the devices will negotiate the best wireless technology to use.