A ticket to ride [near field communications

Abstract

The communications industry has spawned so many flavours of wireless - each accompanied by its own standard - that many in the sector, never mind consumers, are getting confused. The article examines the chances of success of yet another wireless networking protocol: near field communications (NFC). This very-short-range wireless standard is being talked of as a ubiquitous method of wirelessly accessing digital content and services. The technology operates over distances of a few centimetres, while combining the functions of a contactless reader, a contactless card and peer-to-peer functionality on a single chip. Unlike other wireless technologies, it relies on the device reader to provide power to the NFC chip through inductive RF coupling, thereby reducing the chip's standby power to zero, a major advantage for power-sensitive mobile devices. While compatible with currently deployed contactless card technologies, NFC complies with different standards and operates in the globally compatible and unregulated 13.56 MHz frequency range. Standardisation is a done deal, with bodies, such as the ISO (18092), the ECMA (340) and ETSI, having already ratified NFC. Its enthusiastic proponents foresee a huge potential for NFC.