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The history of NFC technology dates back to 1983. Then the electrical engineer Charles Walton received a patent for a "portable radio frequency emitter-identifier". Almost 20 years later, in March 2004, Nokia, Sony and Royal Philips Electronics organized the NFC Forum, a non-profit association for the standardization and promotion of NFC technology. In 2006, the first NFC specification appeared and the first commercial phone with an NFC chip, the Nokia 6131, was released. In 2011, Google joined the NFC Forum. Now this technology is supported by a large number of mobile devices running iOS and Android. How does it work - about this in today's issue!
So, NFC is a wireless short-distance technology that operates at a frequency of 13.56 MHz, used for industrial, medical and scientific purposes. NFC is a logical extension of RFID technology, and its main difference is the limited range. While the distance reading RFID tags can reach several hundred meters, NFC tags are available within 10 centimeters. NFC always has an initiator and a goal. The initiator actively generates an RF field that can affect the passive target. An NFC connection between two devices is also possible, provided both devices are turned on. Due to its compact size and low power consumption, NFC can be used in small gadgets.
For data transfer, the NFC uses coding with a different modulation factor depending on the data rate. In this case, NFC devices are able to simultaneously receive and transmit data. Thus, they can monitor the radio frequency field and detect inconsistencies if the received signal does not correspond to the transmitted signal.
Currently, there are three main areas of application of NFC. The first and most common is the emulation of cards for contactless payments. A smartphone supporting NFC may pretend to be a bank card or a subway ticket. In this case, the data of bank cards are stored not in the phone's memory, but on a special chip similar to that used in EMV cards. It encrypts all data, manages the authentication process and starts payment transactions.
NFC technology has been actively developed not only in the banking sector. It is also used for electronic tickets. For example, in Moscow you can pay for public transport by attaching the phone to the turnstile, or even record your travel card directly into the smartphone.
The second area of application of NFC is the reader mode. In this mode, the smartphone acts as a scanner of NFC-tags containing various additional information. Recently, NFC tags have begun to displace bar codes in Western stores. They can be found on foodstuffs in supermarkets and, having lifted the device with NFC support, find the expiration date and the composition of the goods. Also, NFC tags are used to display interactive advertising information.
The third mode of NFC operation is called peer-to-peer. In this case, the two devices communicate with each other to exchange information. Thus, you can transfer contacts from one smartphone to another or settings from the Wi-Fi-router to your mobile device.
The article is based on materials .
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