CE Technical Discussion 3rd Week : NFC (Near Field Communication)

So, time's up CEans.
As Voted by majority of CEans, our technical topic of discussion for today (21/10/12) is NFC (Near Field Communication).

Hence, post anything technical related to NFC out here.

Note : Please avoid copying content from other Website/Blogs.

Replies

  • Abhishek Rawal
    Abhishek Rawal
    What is NFC ?
    NFC also known as Near Field Communication, is very short range communication technology mainly used to transfer data/information with other NFC supporting device (ofcourse!). Two NFC supporting devices are kept close to one another such that both device's back are facing eachother[I will call it "kissing" ๐Ÿ˜‰ ]. Device automatically verifies & information is transferred.

    If you have watched Samsung SIII advertisement minutely, you might've noticed that a guy's proposing her girl showing ring which he sends by "kissing" their S3 device. Well, this is called NFC technology in layman's term.

    Love redefined by Ad-gurus ๐Ÿ˜
  • Ankita Katdare
    Ankita Katdare
    I got my first real rendezvous with NFC because of Google Wallets. That was back in 2011, I covered an article for VoiCE -https://#-Link-Snipped-# and so the curiosity about knowing more got me to the origins of this tech. It has been around since 1945 when Leon Theremin invented that listening device 'The Thing', which was used by the Soviet Union to spy on the American ambassador in Moscow. Now, this device used certain passive techniques to transmit an audio signal (Google to read more on this.) Therefore it is called a predecessor to the RFID tech - which led to NFC.

    As #-Link-Snipped-# mentioned about advertisements, I think NFC is taking that segment to a completely different never-thought-before level. With NFC, a really ingenious way of interacting with magazine readers has been discovered. If you follow the tech blog WIRED, you will know that they have recently announced their first-ever magazine ad in the April Issue that uses NFC.
    Another really interesting applications is done by the Finnish engineers at Rovio (Yep, the company behind Angry Birds). Using the location-based integration feature of NFC - they introduced 'Magic Places' that lets some users unlock additional level when they tap 2 NFC-enabled smartphones together.

    I would also like to read the views about Bluetooth vs NFC in this thread. ๐Ÿ‘
  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    So whatever I've understood from reading Wiki articles about NFC is that the technology is basically RFID (Radio Frequency ID). Now the next question is - what are the differences between NFC and RFID that make us label the two differently? I've thought that the RFID tags can be identified from a distance; and it's not necessary to get the tags and sensor closer enough to a kissing distance. Can anyone talk about it briefly?
  • Abhishek Rawal
    Abhishek Rawal
    NFC is a subset of RFID.
    From what I know, the main difference between both is that range of RFID is much more than NFC.
    Another, NFC is two way communication(both send & receive) while RFID is one way.
    In short, NFC is derived from RFID.

    Comparing NFC with BT technology is just not appropriate. Why?
    NFC has very low data transfer rate of 0.424 Mbps compared to BT4.0 of 24Mbps.
    Though NFC has very low power consumption of 15mA, data transfer is extremely low.Though NFC has advantage over BT.Unlike BT we need not required pairing of device always.
    Also BT is not used for home lock security & bank transactions due to security issues.
  • vinod1993
    vinod1993
    What's the difference between RFID(One way) and NFC(two way)?
    Not much difference at all(NFC is a better form of RFID). I suppose all of you are aware of the applications of the RFID's. One application of RFID is that it will replace conventional bar codes with RFID tags which will facilitate On the air(OTA) scanning of the RFID tags which makes billing easier. But for using RFID's You must have a device(RFID receiver) to do the job. But an NFC enabled Mobile phone will do the job.! Another is that you can book Bus tickets OTA using RFID devices. But using an NFC mobile phone you can perform the same.! Experts anticipate that NFC will take mobile marketing to a new level. You can even scan an RFID tagged Jean or any garment with your NFC equipped phone to check it's authenticity. Not just mobile phones it has more sophisticated applications.
    Bluetooth vs. NFC's:
    We all know that Bluetooth connects two mobiles over a maximum range of 32 feet(even more than that..!) and NFC's less than a few centimetres. So what's the big deal about NFC's? Bluetooth connections take time to connect whereas the NFC's can connect and do the job at a very fast pace(but transfer rate is very low). Bluetooth consumes a lot of power whereas an NFC's hardly consumes any power(<20mA).If you want a constant connection you can also first connect two Phones using NFC's and then switch over to Bluetooth which is efficient and You can even do transactions by using NFC's while it can never be achieved using Bluetooth...! ๐Ÿ˜€
  • Anoop Kumar
    Anoop Kumar
    NFC is advancement of RFID by facilitating two way communication based upon RFID standards.
    Since it is implemented in smartphones it enable all short time communication between devices.
  • Harshad Italiya
    Harshad Italiya
    The_Big_K
    So whatever I've understood from reading Wiki articles about NFC is that the technology is basically RFID (Radio Frequency ID). Now the next question is - what are the differences between NFC and RFID that make us label the two differently? I've thought that the RFID tags can be identified from a distance; and it's not necessary to get the tags and sensor closer enough to a kissing distance. Can anyone talk about it briefly?
    In some cases if your RFID tag has higher range then it might possible that someone can try to hack your protocol remotely but if range is very small then you must have to close enough if you want to receive signal and want to sniff the protocol.
    So in some case like payment and everything it is better to have small range.
  • Harshad Italiya
    Harshad Italiya
    ianoop
    NFC is advancement of RFID by facilitating two way communication based upon RFID standards.
    Since it is implemented in smartphones it enable all short time communication between devices.
    Even RFID can be bidirectional. I think NFC is going viral in market as now mobile companies are going to integrate it and now a days anything available in mobile is going to be viral.
  • Harshad Italiya
    Harshad Italiya
    Guys pour your idea on How you can use NFC in your regular life as its very easy to interface it with your mobile phone !
  • Harshad Italiya
    Harshad Italiya
    We are talking about how NFC is useful in real-life and about its advantage.
    There may be some threaten of NFC enabled mobile phone. Like you must have to set some kind of PIN protection otherwise anyone can use your stolen mobile and NFC Card.
  • Abhishek Rawal
    Abhishek Rawal
    godfather
    Even RFID can be bidirectional. I think NFC is going viral in market as now mobile companies are going to integrate it and now a days anything available in mobile is going to be viral.
    I think RFID is unidirectional, as RFID tag is not capable of sending the signals generated by its own. Yeah, detector (Antenna here) sends back the signal from tag to RFID but again like I mentioned it's unable to work independently)
    Comparing it to NFC, an NFC enabled devices (consider 2 devices here) are capable of sending information generated by their own to each-other independently.
  • Harshad Italiya
    Harshad Italiya
    Troll_So_Hard
    I think RFID is unidirectional, as RFID tag is not capable of sending the signals generated by its own. Yeah, detector (Antenna here) sends back the signal from tag to RFID but again like I mentioned it's unable to work independently)
    Comparing it to NFC, an NFC enabled devices (consider 2 devices here) are capable of sending information generated by their own to each-other independently.
    Agree in this case !
  • Anoop Kumar
    Anoop Kumar
    Security issues are there .. just like Credit cards.
    For online international payment we don't have enter extra pin for transaction.(On Google Play).
    On simplicity purpose.... NFC is quit handy for small file transfer and Shopping payments.
  • Abhishek Rawal
    Abhishek Rawal
    We already mentioned about what NFC does, its advantages over other technologies.
    So how it works ?
    Three main components required in RFID; Antenna, Transceiver & Transponder. Here's the simple Block diagram.
    RFID B.D.

    The Antenna picks up the Radio waves from the circuit that transmitting the signal. RFID placed on other side is transponder which links with Antenna & decodes the signal information. This is simple way how the RFID works.

    A modification in it leads to construction of NFC, so what modification is done in circuit. Note that NFC is bidirectional. Can anyone provide block diagram or circuit diagram of NFC.
    NFC transmits Radio waves too, so does the circuit inside de-amplifies the radio signal for short distance usage ?
  • Abhishek Rawal
    Abhishek Rawal
    ianoop
    Security issues are there .. just like Credit cards.
    On simplicity purpose.... NFC is quit handy for small file transfer and Shopping payments.
    In february the question was raised of security on Google wallet, it was no longer consider secure.
    Zvelo, the security firm found that PIN can be cracked using exhuastive numerical search. Later Google agreed on it & confirmed to work on it.
    Since then no update on this bug-fix been heard.

    But some precautions Zvelo asked to mitigate the security breaching,
    Enable "Lock Screen", Disable "Usb debugging", Enable "Full disk Encryption" & lastly donot "Root" the phone.

    Some more security concerns are available in official website of NFC.
    Here : #-Link-Snipped-#
  • just2rock
    just2rock
    NFC is yes subset of RFID.But in RFID their is Unidirectional & Bi Directional communication also.NFC follows more of Bidirectional one.Today most of Access Controllers like BOSCH (for Physical Security) have adopted bidirectional communication.
    RFID works from 125Khz to 2.4 Ghz spectrum operating from 2-3 inch Read range to 10 mts respectively. NFC based mobiles can read all 13.56 Mhz standard tags but today being the platform mostly proprietary same cant understand the tag details. Most likely in the way forward Mobiles will adopt open platform Mifare 13.56 Mhz standard NFC protocol to read and speak to any NFC tags in near field and take decision on the same.
    Regards,
    Soumik G
    Bosch
  • Abhishek Rawal
    Abhishek Rawal
    I think NFC will never be safer for Payments or carrying any banking stuffs. A huge amount of risk is involved in NFC banking transaction & Payments.
    So does it mean NFC is whack? certainly not. It will be used more often of other things like Railway/Flight ticketing(London Underground is using NFC to keep travelers moving),Car security (I think BMW has announced to apply it),Buying Movie tickets, but considerably not banking.

    Another than this, this whole NFC process seems so time-consuming, Take out your NFC enabled device, unlock the phone then start the app, enabling communication & waiting until the seller receives his payment.Physical payment is better, ain't it ?
    Some factors like low battery, failure in transaction & lost-mobile are possibly risk issue.
  • Jeffrey Arulraj
    Jeffrey Arulraj
    NFC is an awesome devlopment in the field of communication that took RFID to a next level in many areas there is a slight advvantage in low power RFID is that the system offers higher protection than NFC as the level of data theft is higher in the NFC as the Field area is little lower and no effective prototype is available in this I guess ( I am not aware of it )
  • Jeffrey Arulraj
    Jeffrey Arulraj
    In regular use of NFC tech the only solution possible is data transfer

    nothing else strikking my numb head now
  • just2rock
    just2rock
    NFC via RFID smart card is already implemented in metro railways across country to debit/credit account in seconds.Transactions are SSL 128 Bit encrypted / Diversified key algorithm works to ensure that communication cant be hacked and bit/data cant be read on the air media.
    Today we are even securing the data flow where SSL AES encryption different form of algorithms we are using to safe communications at reader-controller & controller-server level.

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