Near Field Communication (Nfc)

[Karthik R 246]

Near Field Communication

NFC or Near Field Communication, is an emerging technology you will start hearing more about in the coming months. NFC is a standards-based, short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables simple and safe two-way interactions between electronic devices. NFC technology allows consumers to perform contactless transactions, access digital content and connect devices with the simplicity of a single touch. NFC technology provides global interoperability of contactless identification and interconnection technologies.

You can use an NFC-enabled phone to make fast, convenient purchases, or as an alternative to a travel card. You can also get information such as news or travel updates by touching your phone to an RFID tag embedded in a "smart" poster – or swap electronic business cards with a new contact simply by touching your phones together.

NFC phones are usually equipped with a smart chip to keep confidential information such as your credit card details or travel card information secure. You can also use your NFC phone to load blank RFID tags with information and mobile phone services that others can access by touching their phones to them.

Nokia, Sony, and Royal Philips Electronics founded the NFC Forum in 2004 in order to promote the short-range wireless connectivity technology. Samsung, Motorola, Microsoft and more than 140 other organizations all joined the party shortly after.

Specifications

NFC utilizes the frequency band 13.56 MHz. The data transfer rate is 424 kbps, but it can be set at 106 kbps or 212 kbps.

There are 3 primary ways NFC can be used on mobile devices:

• Card Emulation Mode
  
• Reader Mode
  
• P2P Mode (peer-to-peer mode)
  

In card emulation mode, NFC devices can function as credit cards, debit cards, badges or tickets. This is the mode that would enable the "mobile wallet."

In reader mode, NFC devices can read tags. This is most similar to how barcode scanning works today. For example, you can scan a barcode with an app on your mobile phone to access additional information. Eventually, NFC will displace barcode reading as the technology becomes more widespread.

In P2P mode, NFC devices can exchange information with each other. For example, two NFC phones could exchange contact info, similar to the way apps like Bump for iPhone and Android allows for contact exchange today, but via a different technology.

What could you use NFC for?

There are a lot of creative ways to use NFC, but a basic example of how mobile NFC-based payments--the thing most of us will use the technology for--will work is this: You go shopping for shoes. When you find the perfect pair and head up to the cash register, instead of whipping out your wallet and fishing around for a credit card, you just wave your phone over a payment terminal on the counter near the cash register.

The catch is you need a phone with NFC chips inside. That phone will need software that enables mobile payments, and the retailer will need to have a point of sale terminal that accepts NFC payments. The purchase will show up on your monthly credit card bill.

But let's say this store doesn't have your size? This is where having a smartphone equipped with NFC beats an NFC-equipped debit card: you could potentially wave your phone at a tag on that pair of shoes, and up on your phone's screen would pop places to buy those shoes in the right size online and have them shipped to you.

And what if you shop at this particular department store often? Your phone could also keep track of your points or rewards from the store and you could be sent mobile coupons that you'd use your phone to redeem.

NFC in Action

A remarkably diverse and ever-expanding universe of NFC use cases is being explored and brought to market all around the world. Today, both research organizations and commercial enterprises are putting NFC to work in widely diverse areas.

See these NFC uses cases in action by visiting NFC Forum on Youtube

A Day in the Life

NFC technology has the power to bring new simplicity and convenience to many aspects of a typical person's daily life, as this example illustrates:

How does NFC work?

Let’s start with the basics. NFC is a short range high frequency wireless connectivity technology, which allows electronic devices, in close proximity, to communicate. NFC enabled devices can connect and communicate with other devices without any physical contact. In many ways it’s similar to Bluetooth, but instead of manually configuring two devices to work together, the devices establish a connection automatically when they are close enough.

NFC operates at the 13.56MHz radio frequency band, which is unregulated and universally available, so that there are no licenses required to operate at this frequency. The data is transferred at a speed of up to 424Kbps and the distance is usually between 4cm to 10cm. When devices are brought within this range, the electromagnetic radio fields of both devices interact and magnetic inductive coupling takes place that facilitates communication between the devices.

There are two types of NFC devices—an initiator that initiates the communication and controls the data exchange, and a receiver (or the target device) that responds to the requests from the initiator. NFC has active and passive modes of operation—active, where both devices generate an RF signal to exchange data, and passive, where only one NFC device generates an RF field and the second device or target transfers the data back to the initiator via load modulation technique.

Although the NFC data transfer rate is lower than Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, the connection is secured and far more trustworthy due to the short transmission range. NFC connection is also more reliable compared to a physical connection as the connection won’t degrade due to contact wear, corrosion and dirt. NFC technology follows several standards such as ISO (18092), ECMA (340) and ETSI in addition to being compatible to Philips' MIFARE (ISO 14443 A) and Sony's FeliCa smart card protocols.

NFC in Mobile: 3 Ways It's Implemented on Phones

In mobile phones, there are three different ways that NFC can be implemented :

1. Fully Integrated into the handset - NFC, especially in newer devices, can be fully integrated into the handset. That means that the NFC controller (the piece that does the actual communication) and the secure element (the secure storage area connected to the NFC controller) are both integrated into the handset itself. One example of a fully integrated NFC handset is the Google Nexus S, Google's latest flagship phone built in partnership with Samsung.
   
2. On a SIM card - Alternately, NFC can be integrated into a SIM card - the card that identifies a mobile subscriber on an operator's cellular network.
   
3. On a memory card - NFC technology can also be integrated on a microSD card, which is a removable storage card that uses flash memory. Many mobile phone owners use microSD cards to store photos, videos, apps and other files in order to save storage space on the phone itself. For phones that don't have a microSD card slot, accessories like cases or "sleeves" can be used instead. For example, Visa introduced a case for the iPhone which contains a microSD card manufactured by Device Fidelity to bring NFC technology to iPhone users.
   

Security aspects

• 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 meters. Also, eavesdropping is extremely affected by the communication mode. A passive device that does not generate its own RF field is much harder to eavesdrop on than an active device. One Open source device that is able to eavesdrop on passive and active NFC communications is the Proxmark instrument.
  
• Data Corruption
  Instead of just listening an attacker can also try to modify the data which is transmitted via the NFC interface. In the simplest case the attacker just wants to disturb the communication such that the receiver is not able to understand the data sent by the other device.
  Data corruption can be achieved by transmitting valid frequencies of the data spectrum at a correct time. The correct time can be calculated if the attacker has a good understanding of the used modulation scheme and coding. This attack is not too complicated, but it does not allow the attacker to manipulate the actual data. It is basically a Denial of Service attack.
  
• Data Modification
  In data modification the attacker wants the receiving device to actually receive some valid, but manipulated data. This is very different from just data corruption. The feasibility of this attack highly depends on the applied strength of the amplitude modulation. This is because the decoding of the signal is different for 100% and 10% modulation.
  
• Data Insertion
  This means that the attacker inserts messages into the data exchange between two devices. But this is only possible, in case the answering device needs a very long time to answer. The attacker could then send his data earlier than the valid receiver. The insertion will be successful, only, if the inserted data can be transmitted, before the original device starts with the answer. If both data streams overlap, the data will be corrupted.
  
• 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.
  

Recommended Solutions

Secure Channel for NFC

Establishing a secure channel between two NFC devices is clearly the best approach to protect against eavesdropping and any kind of data modification attack. Due to the inherent protection of NFC against Man-in-the-Middle-Attacks it is rather easy and straightforward to setup a secure channel.

A standard key agreement protocol like Diffie-Hellmann based on RSA [4] or Elliptic Curves could be applied to establish a shared secret between two devices. Because Man-in-the-Middle is no threat, the standard, unauthenticated version of Diffie-Hellman works perfectly. The shared secret can then be used to derive a symmetric key like 3DES or AES, which is then used for the secure channel providing confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of the transmitted data. Various modes of operation for 3DES and AES could be used for such a secure channel.

Does Your Phone Have NFC?

If you're not sure if your phone has NFC (or if you're thinking of buying one that does), NFC World has a great list of current, planned and rumored handsets that support the technology. You can see that list here.

Some notable phones available now that offer NFC capabilities include, as mentioned above, the Google Nexus S, as well as the Samsung Galaxy II (select models), Nokia C7, Nokia C7-00 and the Samsung Wave 578. Also Apple is rumoured to be adding NFC chips to the next version of the iPhone.

In India, Tata Docomo has signed an agreement with US-based Xius to test NFC solution in Hyderabad. On which Kesav got a dedicated thread going here Initially on offer will be operator based services like mobile phone top-up (expectedly), as well as content like ringtones and wallpapers.

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Reference : cnet, readwriteweb, shanzai.com, nokia.uk, nfc-forum.org, Graz University of Technology

Edit : Updated post with Security aspects of NFC

Edited April 10, 2011 by Karthik R

[digitalnirvana 646]

Good informative post thanks, especially with NFC becoming a more mainstream technology.

If possible please also add the security aspect, because with wireless communication eavesdropping is a threat like bluejacking for BT etc.

Edited April 10, 2011 by digitalnirvana

[Karthik R 246]

@ digitalnirvana : Updated!

[Karthik R 246]

BlackBerry 7 OS brings NFC support

Research In Motion kicked off its annual BlackBerry World conference with the unveiling of the BlackBerry 7 operating system, which will ship on the company's new RIM BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Bold 9930.

RIM said that its revamped mobile OS is a "performance driven" platform and promises easier navigation through its Liquid Graphics interface, as well as faster, richer graphics performance and browsing. The latter is enabled by a revamped BlackBerry browser that includes a just-in-time JavaScript compiler and HTML 5 video support.

BlackBerry 7 OS brings support for new technologies, including NFC (near field communications) and augmented reality applications. Voice-enabled search and 720p HD video recording also make their debut on the new OS.

The new Bolds and the BlackBerry 7 OS will launch this summer, but unfortunately, RIM said current devices won't be upgradeable to the new OS due to hardware restrictions :'(

via : cnet

[kesav 127]

As an additional information to this thread, also know about NFC activities in India.

[Karthik R 246]

Kesav you missed the last para on the original post

In India, Tata Docomo has signed an agreement with US-based Xius to test NFC solution in Hyderabad. On which Kesav got a dedicated thread going here. Initially on offer will be operator based services like mobile phone top-up (expectedly), as well as content like ringtones and wallpapers.

[kesav 127]

oops.....I'm sorry....

[Karthik R 246]

Android Ice Cream Sandwich Update Will Have More NFC Functionality

Google disclosed some more details regarding the newly announced Android update, Ice Cream Sandwich. It also showed off some of the cool things Android app developers can do with NFC APIs.

As a technology, NFC is incredibly flexible. It is a low-friction connection that only works in short range. Any time you bring two devices with embedded NFC chips together, they will connect. There's no password to enter or set up; you simply put the devices in close proximity to each other and bam!--you're connected. NFC chips can be embedded in both devices and stickers that store information. For example, an NFC sticker can store a Web page or contact information like a QR code.

Ice Cream Sandwich Gets NFC Love

Even though NFC is already implemented in Android 2.3 ("Gingerbread"), Google has big plans to bring even more functionality to Ice Cream Sandwich. One of Google's goals with the Ice Cream Sandwich update is what it calls "0-click interaction."

In Ice Cream Sandwich, NFC will let Android phone owners set up peer-to-peer connections by simply putting their phones back to back. So, this means you can exchange contact information, share Web pages, YouTube videos--pretty much any sort of content without installing a separate app.

NFC in Android Apps

Google also showed off some neat demos for all the possible features Android app developers can do with NFC APIs. One of the demo apps, Sticky Notes, allows users to leave each other notes by touching their phones together. Another demo app, Google Talk Portal, takes you to a random video chat with another device by touching an NFC sticker.

Perhaps the coolest app scenario for NFC is in gaming. NFC will make initiating head-to-head games incredibly easy. To show how simple this is, Google demonstrated everybody's favorite food slicing game, Fruit Ninja

via : PC World

[digitalnirvana 646]

Google Wallet announced, Sprint's Nexus 4G will be the first phone to take advantage of it

Source.

Google announced its mobile payment service Google Wallet, which will go live at various retailers in New York and San Francisco over the summer, then more cities will follow.

The first NFC-equipped device to take advantage of it will be Sprint's Nexus S 4G, with more to come, or you can use a special NFC sticker on the back of your phone, similar to the Bling Tag. Google will subsidize merchants to upgrade their POS equipment for taking NFC payments.

For the mobile payment backend Google Wallet is partnering with MasterCard's PayPass system for payment processing, which works for some of its cards with embedded chip to wave it in front of a terminal and pay. Citigroup is providing the banking services behind the project, and as far as retailers go, Google Wallet will be available at such stalwarts as Macy's, American Eagle, Subway, and The Container Store, among others.

Google is not charging anything extra than the usual merchant fees MasterCard is charging for paying with a credit/debit card, but it hopes to make some cash out of it by pairing mobile payments with the so-called Google Offers, coupons and loyalty program. You can be at Macy's, for example, tap your phone at the Google Offers mark, and get today's coupon or special offers, then use them at checkout.

As far as security is concerned, Google clarifies that Google Wallet acts as a virtual credit card, you can call and deactivate it, if your phone is lost or stolen. Still, you have to enter a PIN password for the payment to take place, as if you are paying with a debit card entering your PIN code, plus if your phone goes missing there won't be anything to call MasterCard with anyway.

More details http://www.google.com/wallet/

[Karthik R 246]

Broadcom Unveils First NFC Chips, Smallest On the Market?

Broadcom, one of the biggest Wi-Fi chipmakers in the world, on Monday unveiled its first line of near-field communications (NFC) chips for smartphones.

The announcement comes on the heels of Google Wallet, a groundbreaking, if small-scale, step intended to popularize the use of phones to pay for items. NFC radios can transmit information between devices when held just a few inches apart; the technology has been used for mobile payments in Japan since 2004, but the rest of the world has been remarkably slower at aligning all the necessary players.

But more are betting on the mobile payments industry, which is expected to double to $670 billion by 2015 from $240 billion this year, according to Juniper Research.

Broadcom claims its first NFC chipset, BCM2079x, is 90 percent more energy-efficient and 40 percent smaller than any other NFC solution on the market, and was developed using 40 nm chip processing technology.

Interestingly, Broadcom has also said its chips can communicate with devices using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radios, which are competing wireless communications technologies.

"Broadcom is committed to making NFC as ubiquitous as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are today," Craig Ochikubo, vice president and general manager of wireless personal area networks at Broadcom, said in a statement. "These solutions provide the features and performance that enable disruptive innovation that will reshape the mobile consumer experience. Our leadership and proficiency in wireless connectivity influenced the architecture of these new chips to meet the performance required by OEMs, allowing them to more easily add NFC to their designs."

Source : Pcmag

Edited September 27, 2011 by Karthik R

[@Akash 23]

You can add NFC to any phone using Sidetap NFC microsd cards.

Tyfone is a pioneer in neutral secure element based mobile services infrastructure. Its mobile software platform and SideTap memory card secure element with optional integrated antenna enables services secure enough to manage Debit, Pre-paid and Credit Cards IDs as well as other identities such as Driver's License, Health Records, and Passports.

[Karthik R 246]

New NFC spec enables two-way communication, potentially makes Bump obsolete

The

NFC Forum just released the latest update to the growing close-range standard and it includes a nice little treat called SNEP, which stands for Simple NDEF Exchange Protocol. (Side note: the NDEF in SNEP, stands for NFC Data Exchange Format -- it's like a matryoshka doll of abbreviations.) What makes SNEP exciting is that it allows for sending and receiving of data between two devices. This could be used to exchange contact information between phones (similar to Bump, but without the need for an app) or collect links to trailers from movie posters which could be played back on your TV at home. It's potentially exciting stuff, so long as manufacturers actually make use of it.

Source :

Engadget

[Karthik R 246]

RIM introduces NFC-powered Blackberry Tag

BlackBerry Tag will come as part of the next BlackBerry 7 update. The idea is that you can share photos, documents, URLs, and contact information by just tapping your BlackBerry devices together — not unlike the Bump application on iOS and Android. The only difference is that the Bump app employed Bluetooth connectivity while BlackBerry Tag uses NFC technology.