NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION
Near Field Communication is a data transfer standard for a contactless
exchange that takes place over extremely short distances. NFC allows users
to perform contactless transactions access digital content and connect to
other electronic devices simply by bringing their mobile devices into close
proximity.
NFC is a subset of RFID, which has been standardized on the ISO/IEC
14443 standard and uses the same 13.56MHz radiofrequency spectrum.
Organizations such as the Near Field Communication Forum define standard
data formats and common operations to facilitate certain applications, such
as transferring credit card information, extracting URLs or other information
from smart posters. To date, the Forum has released 16 different specifications
covering NFC.8
NFC communication requires two devices: one with an NFC reader/
writer and the other with an NFC tag. An NFC tag is an integrated circuit containing
data, connected to an antenna, which can be read and written by the
reader. Passive NFC tags use the energy from the reader to transfer data, while
active or peer-to-peer tags have their own power source and respond to the
reader and transfer data using their own electromagnetic fields.9 The NFC
reader emits a small electric current that creates a magnetic field that is received
by another NFC compatible device, where it is turned back into an electrical
current to allow the data transfer. Once the requested data is transmitted, the
tag or reader might request additional data or commands. As long as the
reader and tag are in close proximity, these data exchanges can occur. The
connection is terminated according to either the reader or tag’s design once
data has been exchanged. Moving the two devices away from each other will
also break the connection.10 NFC can be distinguished from Bluetooth in that
the former uses electromagnetic radio fields where the later uses radio transmission.
The data exchange used by NFC is similar to Bluetooth except that,
instead of pairing devices, NFC wirelessly the connectivity is established by
touching the reader/writer and the tag together.