Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used for the bootstrapping of capable wireless connections. Like other proximity card technologies, NFC is based on inductive coupling between two electromagnetic coils present on an NFC-enabled device such as a smartphone. NFC communicating in one or both directions uses a frequency of 13.56 MHz in the globally available unlicensed radio-frequency ISM band, compliant with the ISO/IEC 18000-3 air-interface standard at data rates ranging from 106 to 848 kbit/s.
The NFC Forum has helped define and promote the technology, setting standards for certifying device compliance. Secure communications are available by applying encryption algorithms, as is done for credit cards, and if they fit the criteria for being considered a personal area network.
NFC standards 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 18092 and those defined by the NFC Forum. In addition to the NFC Forum, the GSMA group defined a platform for the deployment of GSMA NFC Standards within mobile handsets. GSMA's efforts include Trusted Services Manager, Single Wire Protocol, testing/certification and secure element. NFC-enabled portable devices can be provided with application software, for example to read electronic tags or make payments when connected to an NFC-compliant system. These are standardized to NFC protocols, replacing proprietary technologies used by earlier systems.
A patent licensing program for NFC is under deployment by France Brevets, a patent fund created in 2011. This program was under development by Via Licensing Corporation, an independent subsidiary of Dolby Laboratories, and was terminated in May 2012. A platform-independent free and open source NFC library, , is available under the GNU Lesser General Public License.
Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi. In addition, when one of the connected devices has Internet connectivity, the other can exchange data with online services.
NFC wireless charging (WLC)
Near-field communication (NFC) technology not only supports data transmission but also enables wireless charging, providing a dual functionality that is particularly beneficial for small portable devices. The NFC Forum has developed a specific wireless charging specification, known as NFC Wireless Charging (WLC), which allows devices to charge with up to 1 W of power over distances of up to . This capability is especially suitable for smaller devices like earbuds, wearables, and other compact Internet of Things (IoT) appliances.
Compared to the more widely known Qi wireless charging standard by the Wireless Power Consortium, which offers up to 15 W of power over distances up to , NFC WLC provides a lower power output but benefits from a significantly smaller antenna size (as small as mm). This makes NFC WLC an ideal solution for devices where space is at a premium and high-power charging is less critical.
The NFC Forum also facilitates a certification program, labeled as Test Release 13.1 (TR13.1), ensuring that products adhere to the WLC 2.0 specification. This certification aims to establish trust and consistency across NFC implementations, minimizing risks for manufacturers and providing assurance to consumers about the reliability and functionality of their NFC-enabled wireless charging devices.
History NFC technology is rooted in radio-frequency identification technology (known as RFID) which allows compatible hardware to both supply power to and communicate with an otherwise unpowered and passive electronic tag using radio waves. This is used for identification, authentication and tracking. Similar ideas in advertising and industrial applications were not generally successful commercially, outpaced by technologies such as QR codes, barcodes and UHF RFID tags.
The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation "RFID" was granted to Charles Walton on 17 May 1983. In 1997, an early form was patented and first used in Star Wars character toys for Hasbro. The patent was originally held by Andrew White and Marc Borrett at Innovision Research and Technology. The device allowed data communication between two units close together.
On 25 March 2002, Philips and Sony agreed to establish a technology specification and created a technical outline. Philips Semiconductors applied for the six fundamental patents of NFC, invented by the Austrian and French engineers Franz Amtmann and Philippe Maugars who received the European Inventor Award in 2015. NFC was approved as an ISO/IEC standard on 8 December 2003, and later as an ECMA standard.
In 2004, Nokia, Philips and Sony established the NFC Forum. That same year, Nokia launched NFC shell add-on for Nokia 5140 and later Nokia 3220 models, to be shipped in 2005. The year 2005 saw mobile phone experimentations in transports, with payment in May in Hanau (Nokia) and validation aboard in October in Nice with Orange and payment in shops in October in Caen (Samsung) with first reception of "Fly Tag" informations.
Initial specifications for NFC tags were released in 2006, along with specifications for "SmartPoster" records. In 2007, Innovision's NFC tags were used in the first consumer trial in the UK, in the Nokia 6131 handset. AirTag launched what it called the first NFC SDK in 2008.
In January 2009, the NFC Forum released Peer-to-Peer standards to transfer contacts, URLs, initiate Bluetooth, etc. NFC was first used in transports by China Unicom and Yucheng Transportation Card in the tramways and bus of Chongqing on 19 January 2009, then implemented for the first time in a metro network, by China Unicom in Beijing on 31 December 2010.
In 2010, Innovision released a suite of designs and patents for low cost, mass-market mobile phones and other devices. The Nokia C7, the first NFC-capable smartphone, was released in 2010, with the NFC feature enabled by software update in early 2011. The Samsung Nexus S, the first Android NFC phone, was shown in 2010. On 21 May 2010, Nice, France, launched, with "Cityzi", the "Nice City of contactless mobile" project, the first in Europe to provide inhabitants with NFC bank cards and mobile phones (like Samsung Player One S5230), and a "bouquet of services" covering transportation (tramways and bus), tourism and student's services.
In 2011, independent development of lightweight NFC stacks addressed the resource constraints of early mobile secure elements (Java Card). Engineers such as Dan Hughes (who later applied these concepts to the Radix distributed ledger) worked on custom implementations to enable peer-to-peer payments on limited-memory devices prior to the standardization of host card emulation. Google I/O "How to NFC" demonstrated NFC to initiate a game and to share a contact, URL, app or video in 2011. NFC support became part of the Symbian mobile operating system with the release of Symbian Anna version in 2011. In 2012, UK restaurant chain EAT. and Everything Everywhere (Orange Mobile Network Operator), partnered on the UK's first nationwide NFC-enabled smartposter campaign. A dedicated mobile phone app is triggered when the NFC-enabled mobile phone comes into contact with the smartposter. Note: images from the site did not archive properly. Sony introduced NFC "Smart Tags" to change modes and profiles on a Sony smartphone at close range in 2012, included with the Sony Xperia P Smartphone released the same year. Samsung and VISA announced their partnership to develop mobile payments in 2013. In 2013, IBM scientists, in an effort to curb fraud and security breaches, developed an NFC-based mobile authentication security technology. This technology works on similar principles to dual-factor authentication security.
In October 2014, Dinube became the first non-card payment network to introduce NFC contactless payments natively on a mobile device, i.e. no need for an external case attached or NFC 'sticker' nor for a card. Based on Host card emulation with its own application identifier (AID), contactless payment was available on Android KitKat upwards and commercial release commenced in June 2015. In 2014, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile released Softcard (formerly ISIS mobile wallet). It runs on NFC-enabled Android phones and iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 when an external NFC case is attached. The technology was purchased by Google and the service ended on 31 March 2015. On 20 October 2014, Apple Pay was launched in the United States. At launch, the contactless payment service was supported exclusively on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus which featured the Apple's first embedded NFC hardware configuration.
In September 2015, Google's Android Pay function was launched, a direct rival to Apple Pay, and its roll-out across the US commenced. In November 2015, Swatch and Visa Inc. announced a partnership to enable NFC financial transactions using the "Swatch Bellamy" wristwatch. The system is currently online in Asia, through a partnership with China UnionPay and Bank of Communications. The partnership will bring the technology to the US, Brazil, and Switzerland.
Ultra-wideband (UWB) another radio technology has been hailed as a future possible alternatives to NFC technology due to further distances of data transmission, as well as Bluetooth and wireless technology.
Design NFC is a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically requiring a separation of 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 simple form factors such as unpowered tags, stickers, key fobs, or cards. NFC peer-to-peer communication is possible, provided both devices are powered.
NFC tags contain data and are typically read-only, but may be writable. They can be custom-encoded by their manufacturers or use NFC Forum specifications. 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 five types of tags that provide different communication speeds and capabilities in terms of configurability, memory, security, data retention and write endurance.
As with proximity card technology, NFC uses inductive coupling between two nearby loop antennas effectively forming an air-core transformer. Because the distances involved are tiny compared to the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) of that frequency (about 22 meters), the interaction is described as near field. An alternating magnetic field is the main coupling factor and almost no power is radiated in the form of radio waves (which are electromagnetic waves, also involving an oscillating electric field); that minimizes interference between such devices and any radio communications at the same frequency or with other NFC devices much beyond its intended range. NFC operates within the globally available and unlicensed radio frequency ISM band of 13.56 MHz. Most of the RF energy is concentrated in the ±7 kHz bandwidth allocated for that band, but the emission's spectral width can be as wide as 1.8 MHz in order to support high data rates.