Near field communication (NFC)

 

Near field communication

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Near field communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few inches. Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi.^[1] Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered NFC chip, called a "tag".^[2]

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.^[3] The standards include ISO/IEC 18092^[4] and those defined by the NFC Forum, which was founded in 2004 by Nokia, Philips Semiconductors (has became NXP Semiconductors since 2006) and Sony, and now has more than 160 members. The Forum also promotes NFC and certifies device compliance^[5] and if it fits the criteria for being considered a personal area network.^{[citation needed]}

Contents

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• 1 Uses
  • 1.1 Commerce
  • 1.2 Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections
  • 1.3 Social networking
  • 1.4 Identity and access tokens
  • 1.5 Smartphone automation and NFC tags
• 2 History
• 3 Essential specifications
• 4 Comparison with Bluetooth
• 5 Standardization bodies and industry projects
  • 5.1 Standards
  • 5.2 GSMA
  • 5.3 StoLPaN
  • 5.4 NFC Forum
  • 5.5 Alternative form factors
  • 5.6 Other standardization bodies
• 6 Community and open source projects
• 7 Security aspects
  • 7.1 Eavesdropping
  • 7.2 Data modification
  • 7.3 Relay attack
  • 7.4 Lost property
  • 7.5 Walk-off
• 8 NFC-enabled handsets
• 9 Deployment
• 10 See also
• 11 Notes
• 12 References
• 13 Further reading
• 14 External links