Near Field Communication (NFC)

Near Field Communication (Part 1)

Turning the NFC promise into profitable, everyday applications

Article courtesy of Innovision

Introduction

Now that international standards have been agreed and published for Near Field Communication (NFC), the market is set for widespread adoption of the technology in a whole range of applications.

Innovision sees three key areas of application for NFC: service initiation, where the technology is used to "unlock" another service (such as opening another communication link for data transfer); peer-to-peer, where NFC is used to enable communication between two devices; and payment & ticketing, where NFC will build on the emerging smart ticketing and electronic payment infrastructures.

Near Field Communication (Part 2)

Using the right NFC tag type for the right NFC application

Article courtesy of Innovision

Introduction

This article follows on from Part I of Innovision's "NFC in the real world"- which took a high-level look at NFC applications, technology and markets - and aims to help NFC product and service developers identify the suitability of the four NFC Forum-mandated tag types for various applications.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is set for widespread adoption in a whole range of applications. NFC makes people's lives easier and more convenient by building on existing systems and human behaviour. It will make accessing new media and content services more intuitive; make it easier to pay for things; easier to discover, synchronize and share information; and easier to use transport and other public services.

Near Field Communication (Part 3)

Moving to System on Chip (SoC) Integration

Article courtesy of Innovision

Introduction

This article follows Part II of Innovision's "Using the right NFC tag type for the right NFC application".

The success of Near Field Communication (NFC) across a broad range of applications depends on its large-scale adoption by enterprises and consumers. This implies the need for simple, low-cost implementation of the technology in a wide variety of devices, from mobile phones and laptops to point-of-sale terminals and ticket machines.

One way NFC technology can be integrated cost-effectively in mass-market electronic devices is through System on Chip (SoC) implementation in other common chipsets, including those for Bluetooth, WiFi and UWB. In high-volume products, SoC implementation of NFC offers significant unit-cost savings and very efficient integration, with lower overall space, processing and power requirements - while adding great value.

This paper outlines the business case for NFC integration and highlights the key considerations that need to be taken into account when implementing a custom NFC design.