Near Field Communication (NFC), is a short-range wireless communication technology that enables the exchange of data between different devices, including, for example, handheld mobile devices. The technology is based on the high-frequency radio interface that provides functional connections within a distance of about 10 centimeters between NFC enabled devices. It should be noted that maximum practical distance depends
116 The Telecommunications Handbook 5.0 2.4 Frequency/GHz WLAN, ZigBee, BT WLAN
Figure 5.8 The high-level division of the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency band utilization.
on the specifications as well as additional requirements, for example, the distance requirements can be tighter for operators and credit card companies.
NFC is based on the extension of the ISO/IEC 14443 proximity-card standard referred as RFID (Radio Frequency ID). Nevertheless, it should be noted that NFC is not RFID. Even if NFC and RFID do include common functionalities, RFID is about small and economical tags that are readable within certain distance wirelessly. One of the examples of RFID is a warehouse inventory tagging, which provides instant information about, for example, the number of items of different types and their characteristics found within that specific spot.
Instead, NFC is about point-to-point communication between two NFC devices which can be physically, for example, computers, cellphones, laptops and PDAs. Unlike in the case of one-way information transfer of RFID, NFC allows bidirectional communication between two devices.
NFC combines the interfaces of a smartcard and a reader into a single device. An NFC device can communicate with both existing ISO/IEC 14443 smartcards and readers, as well as with other NFC devices, and is thereby compatible with existing contactless infrastructure already in use for public transportation and payment. NFC is primarily aimed to be used in mobile phones.
5.6.2 Readers and Tags
Readers, or devices, are basically always powered when they function. For the power, readers use a battery or an external power source. Readers need to be able to create electromagnetic field that is utilized for the radio transmission. The reader is active as soon as it produces an RF field.
Tag normally has no power. It gets sufficient amount of energy via the nearby RF field, and can thus respond via a carrier modulation which is one form of a passive communication. Since tags are not able to activate radio channels, two tags cannot communicate with each other like NFC devices do.
In general, NFC can be divided into the following features:
r Tag reading(telephone numbers, URLs, visit cards). As an example, there have been tag readers in the real environment that can be used for calling taxi, to order the taxi via SMS, and to read bus stop time schedules, since 2011.
r Easysetup, including, for example, BlueTooth headset or other accessory pairing by tapping the tag. r Sharingof, for example, photo or other supported contents from a handheld device to another phone, or,
for example, to a digital photo frame by touching it. As soon as the initiation has been done, the actual transfer of the contents happens via BlueTooth.
Connectivity and Payment 117 r Payment and Ticketing(P&T) can be applied, for example, in a similar manner as in the case of credit cards and digital bus tickets. The possibilities for the practical solutions are actually endless. It should be noted that P&T is relatively complicated ecosystem, which includes middleware software (including APIs) and adaptation (such as SWP), as well as hardware platform (NFC chip, antenna), Secure SIM cards, OTA (Over the Air), Trusted Service Manager (TSM), purchase readers, different wallet and payment applications and midlets (from operators and/or credit card companies). In addition, credit companies and operators require different certificates such as EMVCo, MasterCard Certification and Visa Certification. Also NFC Forum has its own certificate for these purposes.
5.6.3 Architecture
The Near Field Communication Forum (NFC Forum) has defined the architecture of NFC. The NFC Forum’s policy regarding the use of the trademarks NFC Forum include, for example, rules that define the permission to use the NFC Forum logos, which is granted to designated members only. It should be noted that technically, the NFC Forum differentiates between NFC Forum Devices, which are actually within the scope of the Forum, and NFC Forum Tags, which are not.
An NFC Forum Deviceis a device that complies with the High Level Conformance Requirements and implements at least the mandatory parts of the NFC Forum Protocol Stack and at least the mandatory NFC Forum Operating Modes. The mandatory NFC Forum Operating Modes are the NFC Forum Peer Mode and the NFC Forum Reader/Writer Mode. The optional support means that NFC Forum Devices can optionally support NFC Forum Card Emulation Mode. Furthermore, an NFC Forum Device can additionally support optional parts of the stack and also additional protocols and applications that are not defined by the forum.
An NFC Forum Tagcan be any contactless component that an NFC Forum Device is capable of accessing, as defined by one of the Type X Tag operation specifications. NFC Forum Tags are not required to support the complete specification for the NFC Forum Protocol Stack.
The NFC Forum Protocol Stack includes protocols for communication between NFC Forum Devices, between NFC Forum Devices and NFC Forum Tags, between NFC Forum Devices and technology-compatible contactless smart cards, and optionally between NFC Forum Devices and existing reader/writer terminals. It does not make any assumptions about the implementation or the overall architecture of NFC Forum Devices.
The NFC Forum Protocol Stack supports the following operating modes:
r TheNFC Forum Reader/Writer Mode. This mode is capable of reading from and writing to NFC Forum Tags. In addition, this mode allows communication with compatible smart cards.
r TheNFC Forum Peer Mode. This mode is meant to communicate with other NFC Forum Devices. r TheNFC Forum Card Emulation Mode. This mode is optional and emulates the behavior of a smart card
or tag. Communication with existing technology compatible reader/writer terminals is possible in this mode.
InNFC Forum Reader/Writer Mode, an NFC Forum Device has capability to at least communicate with NFC Forum Tags. The device can possibly exchange data with NFC Forum Tags by NFC Forum’s or third-party message formats. The device may also communicate with a variety of components like smart cards, memory cards and tags, provided they are compliant with some of the contactless technology types. An NFC Forum Device supports the RF interfaces NFC-A, NFC-B and NFC-F.
InNFC Forum Peer Mode, an NFC Forum Device has the capability to communicate with another NFC Forum Device. The service discovery protocol is the mechanism used to identify common services supported by both NFC Forum Devices.
118 The Telecommunications Handbook
Read/write mode NFC card emulation mode Peer-to-peer mode
Physical RF layer: ISO 18092, ISO 14443 Type A and B, FeliCa LLCP (Logical Link Control Protocol) RTD (Record Type Definition) NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format) Card Emulation, i.e., mobile device’s smart card capability Application layer
Figure 5.9 NFC architecture as defined by NFC Forum.
The NFC Forum Card Emulation Mode allows an NFC Forum Device to behave like a smart card or tag in front of a conventional technology-compatible reader/writer. This mode includes the emulation of memory cards and tags, and the emulation of smart cards is intended mainly for portable devices that can be conveniently presented to reader/writers. Using this mode, existing technology-compatible terminal infrastructures (e.g., for payment and ticketing) can communicate with NFC Forum Devices supporting NFC Forum Card Emulation Mode.
The NFC-defined architecture is shown in Figure 5.9 [5]. The technical architecture contains an initial set of mandatory tag formats based on ISO 14443 Type A and 14443 Type B standards, and Sony’s FeliCa. These include the following items:
r NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) which specifies common data format for NFC Forum devices and NFC Forum tags.
r NFC Record Type Definition (RTD) which specifies standard record types used in messages between NFC Forum devices and between NFC Forum devices and tags.
r Text RTD which is meant for records containing plain text.
r Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) RTD which is meant for records referring to an Internet resource. r Smart Poster RTD which is meant for posters incorporating tags containing text, audio or other data. 5.6.4 Standardization
The development is done in NFC Forum. It also indicates the implementation of the standards documented in the forum. The NFC forum was established 2004, and ever since, the number of participating members has grown significantly.
The mission of the NFC Forum is to advance the use of NFC technology by developing standards- based specifications that ensure interoperability among devices and services. The means can be to encourage the development of products using NFC Forum specifications, to educate the market globally about NFC technology, and to ensure that products claiming NFC capabilities comply with NFC Forum specifications.
Connectivity and Payment 119 Obtain information via tap gesture Electronic ticket in concerts Transfer photos from camera and
smart device to printer via tap
gesture Business card sharing Electrical payment in supermarket via tap gesture Electrical payment
in bus via tap gesture
NFC device
Figure 5.10 Typical use cases for NFC. Data published by NFC Forum. Nevertheless, the book example is show- ing very general info, publicly known.
5.6.5 Products and Use Cases 5.6.5.1 Commercial NFC Products
There are various NFC enabled devices in the markets. Some of the typical use cases of NFC are: r Connect Electronic Devices according to Peer-to-Peer Data Exchange concept.
r Access Digital Content according to Reader/Writer concept.
r Make Contactless Transactions according to Card Emulation concept. Figure 5.10 presents more use cases for NFC.
The use cases can be related, amongst a vast amount of situations, to the following: enhancements to loyalty programs (by tapping loyalty card, e.g., in the airport), electrical format of offer coupons, content gathering and transferring, access card to physically closed locations, assets management, reporting, and for making connections.
The following sections present some use cases that are expected to appear and develop in real life.
5.6.5.2 NFC in Transport
Transport environment is one of the most logical for NFC usage. The payment of train tickets, bus tickets and taxi rides can be done, for example, with a mobile device with embedded NFC functionality on the go. The air flight environment also provides interesting cases that can be handled via NFC, like flight reservation and loyalty program management, and entering VIP lounges and boarding areas by utilizing the NFC enabled device. Also the luggage tracking can be combined easily to the same NFC concept. It is logically possible to make the payment also beforehand in retail shops.
The NFC-enabled mobile device is suitable for ticketing as the tickets can be stored to the device beforehand, as well as for access to transit areas and vehicles. At the same time, the user can investigate time schedules and maps of public transportation by utilizing smart posters with the same device. As an extension to the traditional functions of the passenger, the user can also download special offers from the smart poster to the device, in order to get discounts from the related travels.
There have been functional solutions about the ordering of taxi via the tag. As an extension to this idea, the address of the user can be informed to the taxi driver’s NFC-enabled device.
120 The Telecommunications Handbook 5.6.5.3 NFC in Retail
The payment can be done with NFC mobile devices at contactless points of service. The loyalty programs and utilization of coupons are straightforward. Furthermore, the downloading of coupons and other special offers can be done directly from smart poster to NFC phone, and the transfer of coupon can be done fluently to friends with a note of recommendation of products. In another direction, the user can collect information about purchases by reading the product history. Also the touch tags can be used to collect shopping lists, with additional offers of the retailers. The NFC environment can combine various functions, like the collection of deposits from bottle recycling machines.
5.6.5.4 NFC in Public Sector
The NFC can be used to pay community services like parking lots, with a record of the parking stall in NFC phone. The NFC enabled device can be used to access parking areas, buildings and offices by using NFC mobile device and contactless reader. In general, the NFC device can serve as ID card, visa and passport.
5.6.5.5 NFC in Health Care
The NFC device can be used to make health care payments, to identify the patient, and to show health care insurance information. The device can also contain the health care history of the patient, including access to graphical contents like previous X-ray pictures, and important data as the health data that shows the normal values of patient, possible illnesses that should be taken into account if the patient is found, for example, during severe health conditions and the patient is not able to communicate. NFC can also be utilized by the patient to access restricted areas in hospitals, and to show prescriptions in pharmacies that the doctor had ordered previously in paperless format. The doctor can see the history of, for example, purchased medicines and, if the device is connected to a larger mobile health management system, also the health values of the patient.