Near Field Communication - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States. Many smartphones currently on the market already contain embedded NFC chips that can send encrypted data a short distance ("near field") to a reader located, for instance, next to a retail cash register. Shoppers who have their credit card information stored in their NFC smartphones can pay for purchases by waving their smartphones near or tapping them on the reader, rather than using the actual credit card. Co-invented by NXP Semiconductors and Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

in 2002, NFC technology is being added to a growing number of mobile handsets to enable mobile payments, as well as many other applications.

Though contactless or proximity cards are in use, their market penetration is limited, and bringing NFC to mobiles and other similar platforms may increase usage. NFC cannot be labeled a ‘new’ technology, as Nokia has been active in this line since 2004. Along with Philips and Sony, it has founded the NFC Forum. Participation of 130 countries in this forum clearly signals that NFC is set to become a way of life in the years to come.

The Near Field Communication Forum (NFC Forum) formed in 2004 promotes sharing, pairing, and transactions between NFC devices and develops and certifies device compliance with NFC standards. A smartphone

Smartphone

A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...

or tablet

Tablet computer

A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen...

with an NFC chip could make a credit card

Credit card

A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...

payment or serve as keycard

Keycard lock

A keycard lock is a lock operated by a keycard, a flat, rectangular plastic card with identical dimensions to that of a credit card or American driver's license which stores a physical or digital signature which the door mechanism accepts before disengaging the lock.There are several popular type...

or ID card

Identity document

An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...

. NFC devices can also read unpowered NFC tags, for example on a museum or retail display. NFC can share a contact, photo, song, application, or video, or pair Bluetooth

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

devices.

The 140 NFC Forum members include Samsung

Samsung Electronics

Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul...

, Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

, Huawei, HTC, Motorola

Motorola Mobility

Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. , formerly the Mobile Devices division of Motorola Inc. until January 2011, is a communications corporation headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Motorola's networks division pioneered the flip phone with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s...

, NEC, RIM

Research In Motion

Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...

, LG

LG Electronics

LG Electronics is a global electronics and telecommunications company headquartered in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea. The company operates its business through five divisions: mobile communications, home entertainment, home appliance, air conditioning and business solution...

, Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....

, Toshiba, AT&T

AT&T

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...

, Sprint

Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...

, Rogers

Rogers Communications

Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...

, SK

SK Telecom

SK Telecom Co., Ltd. or Sunkyoung Telecom is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator, controlled by the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebol. As a part of SK Group, SK stands for Sun Kyung.SK Telecom is a provider of mobile service in Korea, with 50.5% of the market share as...

, Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

, Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, PayPal

PayPal

PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....

, Visa, Mastercard

MasterCard

Mastercard Incorporated or MasterCard Worldwide is an American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters, Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States...

, American Express

American Express

American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...

, Intel

Intel Corporation

Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...

, TI

Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...

, Qualcomm, and NXP.

Uses

Emerging NFC standards allow users to transfer information by touching devices.

Social networking

NFC simplifies and expands social networking options:

File Sharing
Peer-to-peer file sharing
P2P or Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to download files such as music, movies, and games using a P2P software client that searches for other connected computers. The "peers" are computer systems connected to each other through internet. Thus, the only requirements for a computer to join...

: Tap one NFC device to another to instantly share a contact, photo, song, application, video, or website link.
Electronic business card
VCard
vCard is a file format standard for electronic business cards. vCards are often attached to e-mail messages, but can be exchanged in other ways, such as on the World Wide Web or Instant Messaging...

: Tap one NFC device to another to instantly share electronic business cards or resumes.
Electronic money
Electronic money
Electronic money is money or scrip that is only exchanged electronically. Typically, this involves the use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems...

: To pay a friend, you could tap the devices and enter the amount of the payment.
Mobile gaming
Mobile game
A mobile game is a video game played on a mobile phone, smartphone, PDA, tablet computer or portable media player. This does not include games played on handheld video game systems such as Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable....

: Tap one NFC device to another to enter a multiplayer game.
Friend-to-friend
Friend-to-friend
A friend-to-friend computer network is a type of peer-to-peer network in which users only make direct connections with people they know. Passwords or digital signatures can be used for authentication....

: You could touch NFC devices together to Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

friend each other or share a resume or to "check-in" at a location.

Bluetooth and WiFi Connections

NFC can be used to initiate higher speed wireless connections for expanded content sharing.

Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

: Instant Bluetooth Pairing can save searching, waiting, and entering codes. Touch the NFC devices together for instant pairing.
WiFi
WIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...

: Instant WiFi Configuration can configure a device to a WiFi network automatically. Tap an NFC device to an NFC enabled router.

eCommerce

NFC expands eCommerce opportunities, increases transaction speed and accuracy, while reducing staffing requirements. A Personal identification number

Personal identification number

A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...

(PIN) is usually only required for payments over $100 (in Australia) and £15 (in UK).

Mobile payment
Mobile Payment
Mobile financial services, also referred to as mobile money, mobile payment, mobile banking, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet generally refer to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device....

: An NFC device may make a payment like a credit card by touching a payment terminal at checkout or a vending machine when a PIN
Personal identification number
A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...

is entered.
PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....

: PayPal may start a commercial NFC service in the second half of 2011.
Google Wallet
Google Wallet
Google Wallet is a mobile payment system developed by Google that allows its users to store credit cards, loyalty cards, and gift cards among other things, as well as redeeming sales promotions on their mobile phone...

is an Android app that stores virtual versions of your credit cards for use at checkout when a PIN
Personal identification number
A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...

is used.
Ticketing
Digital ticket
A digital ticket is a virtual instance of a ticket which represents the digitization of rights to claim goods or services.-Criteria:A digital ticket must fulfill the following criteria:* Secure...

: Tap an NFC device to purchase rail
Rail
Rail or rails may refer to:Railway transportation* A generic term for railroads, railways, rail transport, and related matters* Rail tracks, or railway lines, the running surface of a railway...

, metro
Transit pass
A transit pass is a ticket that allows a passenger of the service take either a certain number of pre-purchased trips, or unlimited trips within a fixed period of time...

, airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

, movie, concert, or event tickets. A PIN
Personal identification number
A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...

is required.
Boarding pass
Boarding pass
A boarding pass is a document provided by an airline during check-in, giving a passenger permission to board the airplane for a particular flight. As a minimum, it identifies the passenger, the flight number, and the date and scheduled time for departure...

: A NFC device may act as a boarding pass, reducing check-in delays and staffing requirements.
Point of Sale
Point of sale
Point of sale or checkout is the location where a transaction occurs...

: Tap an SmartPoster tag to see information, listen to an audio clip, watch a video, or see a movie trailer.
Coupon
Coupon
In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions...

s: Tapping an NFC tag on a retail display or SmartPoster may give the user a coupon for the product.
Tour guide
Tour guide
A tour guide provides assistance, information and cultural, historical and contemporary heritage interpretation to people on organized tours, individual clients, educational establishments, at religious and historical sites, museums, and at venues of other significant interest...

: Tap a passive NFC tag for information or an audio or video presentation at a museum, monument, or retail display (much like a QR Code
QR Code
A QR code is a type of matrix barcode first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white...

).

Identity documents

NFC's short range helps keep encrypted identity documents

Identity document

private.

ID card
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...

: An NFC enabled device can also act as an encrypted student, employee, or personal ID card or medical ID card
Medical identification tag
A medical identification tag is a small emblem or tag worn on a bracelet, neck chain, or on the clothing bearing a message that the wearer has an important medical condition that might require immediate attention...

.
Keycard
Keycard lock
A keycard lock is a lock operated by a keycard, a flat, rectangular plastic card with identical dimensions to that of a credit card or American driver's license which stores a physical or digital signature which the door mechanism accepts before disengaging the lock.There are several popular type...

: An NFC enabled device may serve as car, house, and office keys.
Rental Car
Car rental
A car rental or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time for a fee...

and hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

keys: NFC rental car or hotel room keys may allow fast VIP check-in and reduce staffing requirements.

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 and tracking.

1983 The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation RFID was granted to Charles Walton.
2004 Nokia, Philips and Sony established the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum
2006 Initial specifications for NFC Tags
2006 Specification for "SmartPoster" records
2006 Nokia 6131
Nokia 6131
The Nokia 6131/Nokia 6133 is a Nokia clamshell phone released in February 2006.The model is part of the Base Band 5 series phones, which are more difficult to unlock compared to previous Nokia phones.-Features:...

was the first NFC phone
2009 In January, NFC Forum released Peer-to-Peer standards to transfer contact, URL, initiate Bluetooth, etc.
2010 Samsung Nexus S: First Android NFC phone shown
2011 Google I/O "How to NFC" demonstrates NFC to initiate a game and to share a contact, URL, app, video, etc.
2011 NFC support becomes part of the Symbian
Symbian
Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user...

mobile operating system
Mobile operating system
A mobile operating system, also known as a mobile OS, mobile software platform or a handheld operating system, is the operating system that controls a mobile device or information appliance—similar in principle to an operating system such as Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux distributions that controls a...

with the release of Symbian Anna version.
2011 RIM 2011 is the first company for its devices is certified by MasterCard Worldwide, the functionality of PayPass

Essential specifications

NFC is a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically requiring a distance of 4 cm 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

Radio frequency

Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...

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

Dolby Laboratories

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. , often shortened to Dolby Labs, is an American company specializing in audio noise reduction and audio encoding/compression.-History:...

. A public, platform-independent NFC library is released under the free GNU Lesser General Public License

GNU Lesser General Public License

The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License or GPL and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT 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 which 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.

As with proximity card
Proximity card
Proximity card is a generic name for contactless integrated circuit devices used for security access or payment systems. The standard can refer to the older 125 kHz devices or the newer 13.56 MHz contactless RFID cards, most commonly known as contactless smartcards.Modern proximity cards...

technology, near-field communication uses magnetic
Magnetic field
A magnetic field is a mathematical description of the magnetic influence of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude ; as such it is a vector field.Technically, a magnetic field is a pseudo vector;...

induction
Electromagnetic induction
Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electric current across a conductor moving through a magnetic field. It underlies the operation of generators, transformers, induction motors, electric motors, synchronous motors, and solenoids....

between two loop antenna
Loop antenna
A loop antenna is a radio antenna consisting of a loop of wire, tubing, or other electrical conductor with its ends connected to a balanced transmission line...

s located within each other's near field
Near and far field
The near field and far field and the transition zone are regions of the electromagnetic radiation field that emanates from a transmitting antenna, or as a result of radiation scattering off an object...

, effectively forming an air-core transformer
Transformer
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled conductors—the transformer's coils. A varying current in the first or primary winding creates a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic field...

. It operates within the globally available and unlicensed radio frequency
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...

ISM band
ISM band
The industrial, scientific and medical radio bands are radio bands reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific and medical purposes other than communications....

of 13.56 MHz. Most of the RF energy is concentrated in the allowed 14 kHz bandwidth range, but the full spectral envelope may be as wide as 1.8 MHz when using ASK
Amplitude-shift keying
Amplitude-shift keying is a form of modulation that represents digital data as variations in the amplitude of a carrier wave.Any digital modulation scheme uses a finite number of distinct signals to represent digital data. ASK uses a finite number of amplitudes, each assigned a unique pattern of...

modulation.
Theoretical working distance with compact standard antennas: up to 20 cm (practical working distance of about 4 centimetres)
Supported data rates: 106, 212 or 424 kbit/s (the bit rate 848 kbit/s is not compliant with the standard ISO/IEC 18092)
There are two modes:
- Passive communication mode: The initiator device provides a carrier fields 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
  Transponder
  In telecommunication, the term transponder has the following meanings:...
  
  .
- 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.

kbit/s	Active device	passive device
424 kbit/s	Manchester, 10% ASK Amplitude-shift keying Amplitude-shift keying is a form of modulation that represents digital data as variations in the amplitude of a carrier wave.Any digital modulation scheme uses a finite number of distinct signals to represent digital data. ASK uses a finite number of amplitudes, each assigned a unique pattern of...	Manchester, 10% ASK
212 kbit/s	Manchester, 10% ASK	Manchester, 10% ASK
106 kbit/s	Modified Miller, 100% ASK	Manchester, 10% ASK

NFC employs two different coding
Coding
Coding may refer to:* Channel coding in coding theory* Line coding* Computer programming, the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging / troubleshooting, and maintaining the source code of computer programs...

s to transfer data. If an active device transfers data at 106 kbit/s, a modified Miller coding with 100% modulation
Modulation
In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a high-frequency periodic waveform, called the carrier signal, with a modulating signal which typically contains information to be transmitted...

is used. In all other cases Manchester coding is used with a modulation ratio of 10%.
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.

Comparison with Bluetooth

	NFC	Bluetooth	Bluetooth Low Energy
RFID compatible	ISO 18000-3	active	active
Standardisation body	ISO/IEC	Bluetooth SIG	Bluetooth SIG
Network Standard	ISO 13157 etc.	IEEE 802.15.1	IEEE 802.15.1
Network Type	Point-to-point	WPAN	WPAN
Cryptography	not with RFID	available	available
Range	< 0.2 m	~10 m (class 2)	~100 m
Frequency	13.56 MHz	2.4–2.5 GHz	2.4–2.5 GHz
Bit rate	424 kbit/s	2.1 Mbit/s	~1.0 Mbit/s
Set-up time	< 0.1 s	< 6 s	< 0.006 s
Power consumption	< 15mA (read)	varies with class	< 15 mA (transmit or receive)

NFC and Bluetooth are both short-range communication technologies which are integrated into mobile phones. As described in technical detail below, NFC operates at slower speeds than Bluetooth, but consumes far less power and doesn’t require pairing.

NFC sets up faster than standard Bluetooth, but is not faster than Bluetooth low energy

Bluetooth low energy

Bluetooth low energy is a feature of Bluetooth 4.0 wireless radio technology, aimed at new, principally low-power and low-latency, applications for wireless devices within a short range...

. 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. However, 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, etc.), the NFC power consumption is greater than that of Bluetooth V4.0 Low Energy, this is because illuminating the passive tag needs extra power.

Standards

NFC was approved as an ISO

International Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...

/IEC

International Electrotechnical Commission

The International Electrotechnical Commission is a non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology"...

standard on December 8, 2003 and later as an ECMA standard.

NFC is an open platform technology standardized in ECMA-340 and ISO/IEC 18092. These standards specify the modulation schemes, coding, transfer speeds and frame format of the RF interface of NFC devices, as well as initialization schemes and conditions required for data collision-control during initialization for both passive and active NFC modes. Furthermore, they also define the transport protocol, including protocol activation and data-exchange methods. The air interface for NFC is standardized in:
ISO/IEC 18092 / ECMA-340: Near Field Communication Interface and Protocol-1 (NFCIP-1)
ISO/IEC 21481 / ECMA-352: Near Field Communication Interface and Protocol-2 (NFCIP-2)

NFC incorporates a variety of existing standards including ISO/IEC 14443 both Type A and Type B, and FeliCa

FeliCa

FeliCa is a contactless RFID smart card system from Sony in Japan, primarily used in electronic money cards. The name stands for Felicity Card...

. NFC enabled phones work basically, at least, with existing readers. Especially in "card emulation mode" a NFC device should transmit, at a minimum, a unique ID number to an existing reader.

In addition, the NFC Forum has defined a common data format called NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF), which can store and transport various kinds of items, ranging from any MIME

MIME

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is an Internet standard that extends the format of email to support:* Text in character sets other than ASCII* Non-text attachments* Message bodies with multiple parts...

-typed object to ultra-short RTD-documents, such as URLs

Uniform Resource Locator

In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....

.

The NFC Forum added the Simple NDEF Exchange Protocol to the spec which allows sending and receiving messages between two NFC-enabled devices.

GSMA

The GSM Association (GSMA)

Global System for Mobile Communications

GSM , is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to describe technologies for second generation digital cellular networks...

is the global trade association representing nearly 800 mobile phone operators and more than 200 product and service companies across 219 countries. Many of its members have led NFC trials around the world and are now preparing services for commercial launch.

GSM is involved with several initiatives:

Standard setting: GSMA is developing certification and testing standards to ensure the global interoperability of NFC services.
The Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative seeks to define a common global approach to using Near Field Communications (NFC) technology to link mobile devices with payment and contactless systems.
On November 17, 2010, after two years of discussions, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile launched a joint venture intended to develop a single platform on which technology based on the Near Field Communication (NFC) specifications can be used by their customers to make mobile payments. The new venture, known as ISIS, is designed to usher in the broad deployment of NFC technology, allowing NFC-enabled cell phones to function similarly to credit cards for the 200 million customers using cell phone service provided by any of the three carriers throughout the United States.

StoLPaN

StoLPaN (‘Store Logistics and Payment with NFC’) is a pan-European consortium supported by the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

’s Information Society Technologies program. StoLPaN will examine the as yet untapped potential for the new kind of local wireless interface, NFC and mobile communication.

NFC Forum

The NFC Forum is a non-profit industry association formed on March 18, 2004, by NXP Semiconductors, Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

and Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

to advance the use of NFC short-range wireless interaction in consumer electronics, mobile devices and PCs. The NFC Forum promotes implementation and standardization of NFC technology to ensure interoperability between devices and services. As of March 2011, the NFC Forum had 135 member companies.

Alternative Form Factors

To realize the benefits of NFC in cellphones not yet equipped with built in NFC chips a new line of complementary devices were created. MicroSD and UICC SIM cards were developed to incorporate industry standard contactless smartcard chips with ISO14443 interface, with or without built-in antenna. The microSD and SIM form factors with built-in antenna have the great potential as bridge devices to shorten the time to market of contactless payment and couponing applications, while the built in NFC contollers gain enough market share.

Other standardization bodies

Other standardization bodies that are involved in NFC include:

ETSI / SCP (Smart Card Platform) to specify the interface between the SIM card and the NFC chipset.
GlobalPlatform
GlobalPlatform
GlobalPlatform is an independent, not-for-profit organization concerned with a standardized infrastructure for development, deployment and management of smart cards...

to specify a multi-application architecture of the secure element.
EMV
EMV
EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard and VISA, a global standard for inter-operation of integrated circuit cards and IC card capable point of sale terminals and automated teller machines , for authenticating credit and debit card transactions.It is a joint effort between Europay, MasterCard and...

Co for the impacts on the EMV payment applications

Security aspects

Although the communication range of NFC is limited to a few centimeters, NFC alone does not ensure secure communications. In 2006, Ernst Haselsteiner and Klemens Breitfuß described different possible types of attacks, and detail how to leverage NFC's resistance to Man-in-the-middle attack

Man-in-the-middle attack

In cryptography, the man-in-the-middle attack , bucket-brigade attack, or sometimes Janus attack, is a form of active eavesdropping in which the attacker makes independent connections with the victims and relays messages between them, making them believe that they are talking directly to each other...

s to establish a specific key. Unfortunately, as this technique is not part of the ISO standard, NFC offers no protection against eavesdropping and can be vulnerable to data modifications. Applications may use higher-layer cryptographic protocol

Cryptographic protocol

A security protocol is an abstract or concrete protocol that performs a security-related function and applies cryptographic methods.A protocol describes how the algorithms should be used...

s (e.g., SSL) to establish a secure channel. Ensuring security for NFC data will require the cooperation of multiple parties: device providers, who will need to safeguard NFC-enabled phones with strong cryptography and authentication protocols; customers, who will need to protect their personal devices and data with passwords, keypad locks, and anti-virus software; and application providers and transaction parties, who will need to use anti-virus and other security solutions to prevent spyware and malware from infecting systems.

Eavesdropping

The RF signal for the wireless data transfer can be picked up with antennas. The distance from which an attacker is able to eavesdrop the RF signal depends on numerous parameters, but is typically a small number of metres. Also, eavesdropping is highly affected by the communication mode. A passive device that doesn't generate its own RF field is much harder to eavesdrop on than an active device. One open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

device that is able to eavesdrop on passive and active NFC communications is the Proxmark instrument.

Data modification

It is relatively easy to destroy data by using an RFID jammer. There is no way currently to prevent such an attack. However, if NFC devices check the RF field while they are sending, it is possible to detect attacks.

It is much more difficult to modify data in such a way that it appears to be valid to users. To modify transmitted data, an intruder has to deal with the single bits of the RF signal. The feasibility of this attack, (i.e., if it is possible to change the value of a bit from 0 to 1 or the other way around), is amongst others subject to the strength of the amplitude modulation

Amplitude modulation

Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...

. If data is transferred with the modified Miller coding and a modulation of 100%, only certain bits can be modified. A modulation ratio of 100% makes it possible to eliminate a pause of the RF signal, but not to generate a pause where no pause has been. Thus, only a 1 which is followed by another 1 might be changed. Transmitting Manchester-encoded data with a modulation ratio of 10% permits a modification attack on all bits.

Relay attack

Because NFC devices usually include ISO/IEC 14443 protocols, the relay attacks described are also feasible on NFC. For this attack the adversary has to forward the request of the reader to the victim and relay back its answer to the reader in real time, in order to carry out a task pretending to be the owner of the victim’s smart card. One of libnfc code examples demonstrates a relay attack using only two stock commercial NFC devices.

Lost property

Losing the NFC RFID card or the mobile phone will open access to any finder and act as a single-factor authenticating entity. Mobile phones protected by a PIN code acts as a single authenticating factor. A way to defeat the lost-property threat requires an extended security concept that includes more than one physically independent authentication factor.

Walk-off

Lawfully opened access to a secure NFC function or data is protected by time-out closing after a period of inactivity. Attacks may happen despite provisions to shutdown access NFC after the bearer has become inactive. The known concepts described primarily do not address the geometric distance of a fraudulent attacker using a lost communication entity against lawful access from the actual location of the registered bearer. Additional feature to cover such attack scenario dynamically shall make use of a second wireless authentication factor that remains with the bearer in case of lost NFC communicator. Relevant approaches are described as an electronic leash

Electronic leash

Electronic leash is a concept offered from various vendors in various functional shapes and physical designs. It is usually a miniature wireless appliance that extends the concept of a key pager, adding the feature of adjustable distance sensitivity and an option of a multiplicity of identity codes...

or its equivalent, a wireless key.

Android

Nexus S
Nexus S
The Nexus S is a smartphone co-developed by Google and Samsung and manufactured by Samsung Electronics. It was the first smartphone to use the Android 2.3 "Gingerbread" operating system, and the first Android device to support Near Field Communication in both hardware and software...
Google Nexus S 4G
Samsung Galaxy S II
Samsung Galaxy S II
The Samsung Galaxy S II is a smartphone running under the Android operating system that was announced by Samsung on February 13, 2011 at the Mobile World Congress. It is the successor to the Samsung Galaxy S, with a different appearance and significantly improved hardware...

(not all versions)
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy Note
The Samsung Galaxy Note is an Android smartphone and tablet computer that was introduced in 2011. It occupies a niche in Samsung's Galaxy range, bridging the gap between other Galaxy-series smartphones such as the Galaxy S II and tablets such as the Galaxy Tab....

(not all versions)
Galaxy Nexus
Galaxy Nexus
The Galaxy Nexus is a touchscreen slate Android smartphone developed by a partnership between Samsung and Google. The phone and operating system were developed collaboratively by engineers from both companies. It is the third generation successor to Google’s previous flagship phones, the Nexus One...
HTC Amaze 4G
HTC Amaze 4G
The HTC Amaze 4G is a smartphone developed by the HTC Corporation. It was released by T-Mobile in the United States on 10 October 2011.. It was first released in Canada by Telus on 04 November 2011...
Turkcell T20.

Ovi store/S40 & J2ME

Nokia 6212 Classic
Nokia 6131
Nokia 6131
The Nokia 6131/Nokia 6133 is a Nokia clamshell phone released in February 2006.The model is part of the Base Band 5 series phones, which are more difficult to unlock compared to previous Nokia phones.-Features:...

NFC
Nokia 6216 Classic (Nokia has confirmed the cancellation of this phone in February 2010)
Nokia 3220 + NFC Shell
Nokia 5140(i) + NFC Shell

Ovi store/S60 & J2ME

Nokia 600 (Officially canceled)
Nokia 603
Nokia 700
Nokia 701
Nokia C7
okia C7] and the Nokia Astound and Nokia Oro variants, with the NFC feature enabled starting with the Symbian Anna release of the OS.

BlackBerry

BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930
BlackBerry Torch 9810/9860
Blackberry Curve 9350/9360/9370

Other

SAGEM my700X Contactless
LG 600V contactless
Motorola L7 (SLVR)
Sagem Cosyphone
Sonim XP1301 CORE NFC

Future devices

On January 25, 2011, Bloomberg

Bloomberg L.P.

Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately held financial software, media, and data company. Bloomberg makes up one third of the $16 billion global financial data market with estimated revenue of $6.9 billion. Bloomberg L.P...

published a report stating that Apple was actively pursuing development of a mobile payment system employing NFC. New generations of iPhone, iPod and iPad products would reportedly be equipped with NFC capability which would enable small-scale monetary transactions.

Near Field Communications World stated on March 21, 2011 that Sonim Technologies will add NFC to its XP3300 Force device later this year.

On May 2, 2011, RIM announced the Blackberry Bold 9900, a new device that will use NFC technology.

In May 2011, Google announced Google Wallet

Google Wallet

Google Wallet is a mobile payment system developed by Google that allows its users to store credit cards, loyalty cards, and gift cards among other things, as well as redeeming sales promotions on their mobile phone...

, an Android application that will make use of NFC to make payments at stores. The card information will be stored in the app and will be used to make the transactions.

Project trials and full-scale deployments

Several hundred NFC trials have been conducted to date. While NFC trials continue, some firms have moved to full-scale service deployments, spanning either a single country or multiple countries. As a consequence, programs listed below date from 2010 forward and are cited for ease-of-reference. Programs were updated through April 2011.
Multi-country deployments include:

Multiple European countries: Orange and operators, banks, retailers, transport, and service providers.
Africa: Airtel Africa, Oberthur Technologies (15 countries)

Belgium

Mobile payments: Belgacom, Mobistar, Base
Paper vouchers study: IBBT, Clear2Pay/Integri, Keyware, Accor Services

Czech Republic

Mobile payments: Telefónica O2 Czech Republic, Komerční banka, Citibank Europe, Globus, Visa Europe

Denmark

, 140.000 visitors.

Mobile payment vending machines: NFC & SMS payment, CocaCola and Microsoft, NFC Danmark.

Early Modern France

Home healthcare: ADMR, Extelia, Inside Contactless, Abrapa
Field service: Orange France
Event ticketing: Stade de France, Orange
Museum services: Centre Pompidou
National NFC infrastructure: Paris, Bordeaux, Caen, Lille, Marseille, Rennes, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Nice, French Government
Nice, Ville NFC: AFSCM (Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR, NRJ Mobile), Gemalto
Gemalto
Gemalto is an international digital security company, providing secure personal devices such as smart cards and tokens in addition to software applications and managed services. The company was formed in June 2006 by the combination of two companies Axalto and Gemplus International...

, Oberthur Technologies
Oberthur Technologies
Oberthur Technologies is a French secure technology company, providing security services in smart cards, printing, identity, and cash protection...

, multi-bank (BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas S.A. is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris, with its second global headquarters in London. In October 2010 BNP Paribas was ranked by Bloomberg and Forbes as the largest bank and largest company in the world by assets with over $3.1 trillion. It was formed through the merger...

, Groupe Crédit Mutuel-CIC, Crédit Agricole
Crédit Agricole
Crédit Agricole S.A. is the largest retail banking group in France, second largest in Europe and the eighth largest in the world by Tier 1 capital according to The Banker magazine. It is also part of the CAC 40 stock market index....

, Société Générale
Société Générale
Société Générale S.A. is a large European Bank and a major Financial Services company that has a substantial global presence. Its registered office is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, while its head office is in the Tours Société Générale in the business district of La...

) with MasterCard
MasterCard
Mastercard Incorporated or MasterCard Worldwide is an American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters, Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States...

, Visa Europe, Airtag, Toro
Toro (NFC startup company)
Toro Development Ltd. was founded in March 2007 to address the very promising market of Near-field communication services. The company focuses on the front-end part of NFC application development, including the distribution and management of NFC services...

, ConnectThings, Veolia Transport
Veolia Transport
Veolia Transport is the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia Environnement...

, Adelya and more (to be completed)
Loyalty programs: La Croissanterie, Rica Lewis, Game in Nice
Public transport: Veolia Transport in Nice

Germany

Public transport (selected regions): VRR, RMV and Deutsche Bahn (combines the companies’ previous HandyTicket and Touch & Travel programs)
Mobile payment: Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone Germany, Telefonica 02 Germany
Health insurance card: All public health insurance providers

Republic of Ireland

Loyalty program: AIB Merchant Services (Allied Irish Bank, First Data), Zapa Technology

Italy

Mobile payment: Telecom Italia.
Public transport: ATM
Contactless payment cards: Intesa Sanpaolo, Mastercard, Gemalto

Netherlands

Public transport: OV Chip Card
Commercial services: T-Mobile, Vodafone, KPN, Rabobank, ABN Amro, ING
Employee payments: Rabobank, Multicard

Poland

Mobile payments: Polkomtel, Bank Zachodni WBK; PTC, Inteligo; Orange, Bank Zachodni WBK

Slovenia

Mobile payments, marketing: Banka Koper, Cassis International, Inside Contactless, System Orga, Mobitel

Spain

Mobile shopping: Telefonica, Visa, La Caixa (Sitges)
Public transport: Bankinter, Empresa Madrid (Madrid); Vodafone, Entidad Publica del Transporte (Murcia)
Event product payments: Mobile World Congress, GSMA, Telefonica, Visa, Samsung, Giesecke & Devrient, Ingenico, ITN International, La Caixa
Employee payment, building access: Telefonica Espana, La Caixa, BBVA, Bankinter, Visa, Samsung, Oberthur, Autogrill, Giesecke & Devrient

Sweden

Airline Smart Pass: SAS Scandinavian Airlines introduces an NFC-based Smart Pass for frequent flyers, and the aviation industry’s adoption of NFC is now truly underway.
Hotel keys: Choice Hotels Scandinavia, Assa Abloy, TeliaSonera, VingCard Elsafe, Venyon (Stockholm)

Turkey

Yapı ve Kredi Bankası
Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi
- History of Yapi Kredi A.Ş :Yapı Kredi is the first nationwide private bank in Turkey, established in 1944, and positioned as the fourth largest privately-owned and by asset size in Turkey, with interest in credit cards, assets under management, non-cash loans, leasing, factoring, private pension...

and Turkcell
Turkcell
Turkcell is the leading mobile phone operator of Turkey, based in Istanbul. The company has 34.1 million subscribers as of June 30th, 2011.- Company background :...

, NFC is used on mobile payment all over Turkey with Yapı ve Kredi Bankası
Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi
- History of Yapi Kredi A.Ş :Yapı Kredi is the first nationwide private bank in Turkey, established in 1944, and positioned as the fourth largest privately-owned and by asset size in Turkey, with interest in credit cards, assets under management, non-cash loans, leasing, factoring, private pension...

credit cards via mobile phones using Turkcell
Turkcell
Turkcell is the leading mobile phone operator of Turkey, based in Istanbul. The company has 34.1 million subscribers as of June 30th, 2011.- Company background :...

sim cards
Mobile payments: Yapi Kredi, Turkcell, Wireless Dynamics; Avea, Garanti Bank, Gemalto
Device testing: Visa Europe, Akbank

United Kingdom

Smart poster, contactless payment: Transport for London
Transport study: Department for Transport, Consult Hyperion
Mobile payments: Waspit, Yates; Barclaycard and Everything Everywhere (Orange, T-Mobile)

Canada

Contactless Payment Cards: MasterCard Paypass, Visa PayWave
Mobile wallet: Zoompass, offered by Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility is a CDMA and HSPA+ based wireless network and the division of Bell Canada which sells wireless services in Canada...

, Rogers
Rogers
-Places:Canada*Rogers Island *Rogers PassUnited States*Rogers, Arkansas*Rogers, California*Rogers, California, alternate name of Muroc, California*Rogers, Minnesota*Rogers, Nebraska*Rogers, Ohio*Rogers, Virginia*Rogers City, Michigan...

and Telus
TELUS
Telus is a national telecommunications company in Canada that provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voice, entertainment, video, and satellite television. The company is based in Burnaby, British Columbia, part of Greater Vancouver...

(Enstream)
Public Transit: Presto Card

United States

Device trials: Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

, Device Fidelity; US Bank, Device Fidelity, FIS, Montise
Mobile payments: AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...

, Verizon, T-Mobile
T-Mobile USA
T-Mobile USA, Inc. is an American mobile-network operator, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, that provides wireless voice, messaging and data services in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. market with 33.73...

; Adirondack Trust
Adirondack Trust Company
The Adirondack Trust Company is the largest independent community Bank in Saratoga County, New York.Founded in 1901 by State Senator Edgar Brackett, it played a large role in transforming Saratoga Springs from a small "boom and bust" town into a thriving city...

; Community State Bank; Bankers Bank of the West; PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....

; Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

; US Bank; Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...

; Blackboard; Google Wallet
Community Marketing and Business Rating: Google Places: Portland, OR; Austin, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Madison, WI; Charlotte, NC.
Public transit: Visa, New York City Transit, NJ Transit, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, LA Metro (New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, CA)

Australia

Mobile payments: Visa and ANZ Banking Group
Mobile payments: PayPass and Facebook and Commonwealth Bank Australia

Mainland China

Mobile payments: China Unicom, Bank of Communications, China UnionPay
Mobile transport ticketing: China Unicom

India

Mobile banking: A Little World; Citibank India
Tata Docomo, MegaSoft XIUS (Hyderabad)
PayMate
PayMate
PayMate is a mobile commerce company that has built the largest mobile payments network in India based in Mumbai,. PayMate enables people to transact and make payments from anywhere with their mobile phone...

have partnered Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

to deploy NFC payment solution for mass market in India through Nokia NFC enabled handsets.

Japan

Consumer services: Softbank Mobile, Credit Saison, Orient Corporation
Consumer services: KDDI, Toyota, Orient Corporation, Credit Saison, Aiwa Card Services, Mastercard, Nomura Research Institute, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Toho Cinemas, Dai Nippon Printing, NTT Data, T-Engine, IBM, Japhan Remote Control Co., Hitachi, Gemalto
Consumer services: NTT Docomo and KT
Social networking: Mixi

South Korea

Consumer and commercial services: KT solo and with NTT Docomo
Cross-border services (with Japan): SK Telecom, KDDI, Softbank
Mobile payment: SK Telecom, Hana SK Card
Guided shopping: SK Telecom

Resources (White papers, technical papers, application notes)

Near Field Communication (NFC) Technology and Measurements

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