NFC (Near Field Communication) is a communication device operating at 13.56 MHz jointly developed by NXP Semiconductors (formerly Philips Semiconductors) and Sony Corporation for use over short distances. It has been accredited as a second generation standard for RFID technology (Smart Card / RFID Tag) by International Organization for Standardization. It is expected to be used widely in various electronic devices in the near future.

NFC is compatible with the Sony developed “FeliCa™,” a Smart card that is widely used in Japan and in parts of Asia, and with the Philips developed “Mifare®” which is used in internationally accredited standard (ISO14443 Type A) and which is the most popular Smart card in the world. It is also able to communicate (read / write) with these products. Further, since NFC modules could communicate with each other, it is expected that NFC would be used more flexibly and in broader range of applications than the conventional Smart cards.

The function that best characterizes NFC (Near Field Communication), as the name, is “inter-device communication”. Mounting NFC on devices enables just anybody to send and exchange data easily by simply “touching” or bringing devices near each other, thus, making digital life better and a lot more convenient. Further, NFC is an internationally accredited standard, hence, it is expected to become a convenient solution that could be used worldwide.

NFC wireless communication is limited to within a maximum communication distance of approximately 10 cm. However, rather than treating this as a technological constraint, it is better to consider this limitation in communication distance as one way to prevent unauthorized readouts. Further, shortening the communication distance enables “touching (holding near)”, an intuitive easy to understand activity, to trigger the communication process and elicits a sense of operating information devices or home appliances that have been lacking ever since. Persons who have used transportation cards once must surely have experienced the pleasurable feeling of seeing the gate open instantaneously at the mere act of “touching.” Should NFC enabling of various devices continue, many activities could be executed by this simple act of “touching.”

The NFC standard was registered as ECMA-340 with ECMA International (the standardization organization in Information and Communication Fields) on December 2002. On December 2003, it earned the internationally accredited standard ISO/IEC 18092 (NFC IP-1). Later, on January 2005, NFC IP-2, the expanded standard, was established as an internationally accredited standard ISO/IEC 21481.

NFC IP-1 (NFC Interface Protocol-1) and NFC IP-2 forms the system shown in the figure below. The data link layers such as control system when radio waves collide and the physical layers such as the modulation scheme and coding are shared layers. NFC IP-1 prescribes the terminal-to-terminal communication protocol and the communication specifications to support Mifare® (ISO/IEC 14443 Type A compliant) and FeliCa™. In addition to NFC IP-1, NFC IP-2 supports ISO/IEC 14443 Type B and ISO/IEC 15693 communication specifications.

NFC supports all Smart card standards using a bandwidth of 13.56 MHz through NFC IP-2. The standards supported by NFC are used in the applications shown below.