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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
Your no-nonsense guide to Near Field Communication Are you a newcomer to Near Field Communication and baffled by the scant documentation and online support available for this powerful new technology? You've come to the right place! Written in a friendly and easily accessible manner, NFC For Dummies takes the intimidation out of working with the features of NFC-enabled devices and tells you exactly what it is and what it does--and doesn't do. NFC is revolutionizing the way people interact on a daily basis. It enables big data and cloud-based computing through mobile devices and can be used by anyone with a smartphone or tablet every day! Soon to be as commonplace as using Wi-Fi or the camera on your smartphone, NFC is going to forever change the way we interact with people and the things around us. It simplifies the sending and receiving of information, makes monetary transactions simple and secure--Apple Pay already uses NFC--and is a low-cost product to manufacture and use. As more developers create apps with NFC, you're going to see it used regularly--everywhere from cash registers to your social media accounts to electronic identity systems. Don't get left behind; get up to speed on NFC today! * Provides a plain-English overview of NFC * Covers the history and technology behind NFC * Helps you make sense of IoT and powered chips * Explains proximity technologies and non-payment applications Whether you're a developer, investor, or a mobile phone user who is excited about the capabilities of this rapidly growing technology, NFC For Dummies is the reference you'll want to keep close at hand!
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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NFC For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
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Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016933642
ISBN: 978-1-119-18292-4
ISBN 978-1-119-18296-2 (ebk); ISBN ePDF 978-1-119-18293-1 (ebk)
NFC For Dummies®
To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “NFC For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Table of Contents
Cover
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: Getting Started with NFC
Chapter 1: Introducing Near Field Communication (NFC)
Presenting a Quick History of NFC
Defining the Need for NFC
Discovering Where NFC Wallets Are Used Most
Presenting a Simplified View of NFC
Chapter 2: Considering the NFC Difference
Understanding the NFC Forum Goals
Considering NFC Wireless Communication Specifics
Understanding How NFC Compares to Other Technologies
Following the Evolution from Smart Cards to Smartphones
Creating a Secure Environment
Part 2: Understanding NFC
Chapter 3: Defining NFC
Understanding the Need for Standards
Investigating the Two Main NFC Standards
Considering Card Emulation
Defining the Five Tag Types
Defining the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF)
Locating Additional Resources on the NFC Forum
Chapter 4: Considering NFC Hardware
Understanding NFC Hardware Basics
Considering NFC Communication Modes
Considering NFC Operating Modes
Differentiating Between Interrogators and Tags
Understanding the Transfer of Power
Communicating Between Devices
Adding NFC to an Existing Device
Chapter 5: Considering NFC Software
Discovering the Key Players in NFC Development
Turning On Smartphone NFC Support
Performing Card Emulation Tasks
Using Encryption to Secure Communications
Writing Tags
Managing NFC Tags
Making NFC Part of the Internet of Things (IoT)
Differentiating Between Web Apps and Mobile Apps
Part 3: Using NFC
Chapter 6: Using NFC for Payments
Understanding Mobile Wallet Security Requirements
Considering the Potential Mobile Wallet Solutions
Chapter 7: Employing NFC for Identification
Using NFC for Workplace Monitoring
Authenticating Users
Using an NFC Phone
Personalizing NFC Use
Replacing Your Car Keys
Automating Vehicle Interactions
Chapter 8: Using NFC in Health Care
Dealing with Privacy Issues
Performing Hospital-related Tasks
Working with Logger Tags
Monitoring Patients Remotely
Interacting with Patient Monitors
Addressing Accessibility Needs
Chapter 9: Considering Other NFC Uses
Performing Marketing Tasks
Having Fun with Applications
Managing Events
Interacting with Customers
Creating NFC Wearable Devices
Working with Appliances
Developing NFC Smart Posters
Part 4: Avoiding NFC Issues
Chapter 10: Avoiding the Not-Used-Here Mentality
Working with Businesses that Don’t Use NFC
Developing Apps that Won’t Work Without NFC
Creating a Business Plan Showing NFC Advantages
Chapter 11: Understanding the Hardware Issues
Ensuring that the Device is Ready
Using the Device Correctly
Understanding Odd Device Behaviors
Finding the Device’s Sweet Spot
Considering Other Tag Issues
Chapter 12: Understanding the Software Issues
Installing Needed Software
Knowing the Modes Your Device Supports
Providing Biometric Authentication
Getting Apps from Reliable Sources
Chapter 13: Considering Networking Problems
Understanding the Cost of Using Wi-Fi
Understanding the Cost of Using Bluetooth
Dealing with Environmental Factors
Considering Potential Security Issues
Part 5: The Part of Tens
Chapter 14: Ten Places to Find NFC-Specific Information
NFC Forum
Smart Card Alliance
Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA)
NFC World
NFC Times
NearFieldCommunication.org
Pymnts.com
EverydayNFC
Gartner
IHS Technology
Chapter 15: Ten Really Cool NFC Implementations
Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Blue Bite
Galatea: Jewelry by Artist
NFC Ring
Khushi Baby
Rémy Martin
Tracking the Things You Love
London History Museum
Oxfam
Skylanders Superchargers
Chapter 16: Ten NFC Trends
Moving from Tap-to-Pay to Tap-to-Buy
Enhancing the Gaming Experience
Improving Health care
Creating New Marketing Strategies
Managing Events
Enhancing the Effects of Mobile Commerce
Making the Most of Wearables
Interacting with Smart Appliances
Authenticating Products
Considering B2B Trends
Chapter 17: Ten NFC Companies You Need to Know About
Blue Bite
NXP
Flomio
Smartrac
HID Global
Poken
Cellotape
Advanced Card Systems (ACS) Holdings Limited
Thinfilm
Smartwhere
About the Authors
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
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Introduction
Ask most people what NFC stands for and they will probably answer “the National Football Conference.” But the NFC in this book is far more important than football. It stands for Near Field Communication, a technology that has the potential to significantly change how you interact with the people and things around you. The exciting news about NFC is that we haven’t even scratched the surface yet of how this technology is going to change our lives. That’s why you need NFC For Dummies. This book is your introduction to the larger world of NFC, and it helps you see why this technology is so amazing.
About This Book
NFC For Dummies begins by introducing you to NFC. You discover that NFC is already used all over the place, and you might not have even realized it.
Discovering how this technology has been hiding in plain sight is a good starting point. The second part of the book tells you how NFC actually works and why it needs to work in this specific way. You may initially find some of this material a little technical, but if you want to use NFC to the fullest extent possible, you need to know what makes it special.
After you know how NFC works, it’s time to see it in action. The next part of the book discusses many of the ways in which you can use NFC to perform useful tasks. Each chapter introduces another area in which NFC is in use today. Amazing as these uses are, they’re really just the tip of the iceberg, and the links in these chapters will lead you to still more resources.
Every technology comes with a few implementation issues. Some set of technical circumstances inevitably causes problems. Fortunately, this book tells you about those issues and tells you how to fix them. You end up looking really smart because while your buddies are sitting there not doing much, you’ve already fixed the problem and are doing something useful with NFC.
A single book can’t even begin to tell you about everything NFC has to offer. In fact, you could probably read several books and still not begin to exhaust this topic. That’s why the Parts of Ten is there. It gives you access to resources that will keep you reading for quite some time to come. When you finish it all, you’ll become an NFC guru, and everyone around you will be looking to you as the NFC expert.
To make absorbing the concepts even easier, this book uses the following conventions:
When you see terms in the text in
italics
, the surrounding text provides a definition for that term.
Web addresses appear in
monofont
. If you’re reading a digital version of this book on a device connected to the Internet, note that you can click the web address to visit that website, like this:
http://www.dummies.com
.
Foolish Assumptions
You might find it difficult to believe that I’ve assumed anything about you — after all, we haven’t even met yet! Although most assumptions are indeed foolish, I made these assumptions to provide a starting point for the book.
Of course, you do need to have some desire to work with NFC to solve some sort of problem or address a need. In many cases, the problem or need is business or task specific, but you might be amazed at the ways in which you can use NFC to address personal needs as well. The point is that you need to have some anticipated purpose for using NFC to get the most out of this book.
You should also understand some basics of technology. For example, if you aren’t on speaking terms with your smartphone, this book might not be a good fit for you. You do need some level of technical savvy to make good use of the material, even though the bar isn’t set very high.
This book also assumes that you can access items on the Internet. Sprinkled throughout are numerous references to online material that will enhance your learning experience. However, these added sources are useful only if you actually find and use them.
Icons Used in This Book
As you read this book, you see icons in the margins that indicate material of interest (or not, as the case may be). This section briefly describes each icon in this book.
Tips are nice because they help you save time or perform some task without a lot of extra work. The tips in this book are time-saving techniques or pointers to resources that you should try in order to get the maximum benefit from NFC or in performing NFC-related tasks.
I don’t want to sound like an angry parent or some kind of maniac, but you should avoid doing anything that’s marked with a Warning icon. Otherwise, you might find that your NFC application fails to work as expected, you get incorrect responses from seemingly bulletproof configurations, or (in the worst-case scenario) you lose data or damage equipment.
Whenever you see this icon, think advanced tip or technique. You might find these tidbits of useful information just too boring for words, or they could contain the solution you need to get an NFC solution running. Skip these bits of information whenever you like.
If you don’t get anything else out of a particular chapter or section, remember the material marked by this icon. This text usually contains an essential process or a bit of information that you must know to work with NFC successfully.
Beyond the Book
This book isn’t the end of your NFC experience — it’s really just the beginning. I provide online content to make this book more flexible and better able to meet your needs. That way, as you send me email about the book, I can address questions and tell you how updates to NFC affect book content. In fact, you gain access to all these cool additions:
Cheat sheet:
You remember using crib notes in school to make a better mark on a test, don’t you? You do? Well, a cheat sheet is sort of like that. It provides you with some special notes about tasks that you can do with NFC. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to
www.dummies.com
and search for “NFC For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box. It contains really neat information such as the NFC operating modes and tag types.
Updates:
Sometimes changes happen. For example, I might not have seen an upcoming change when I looked into our crystal ball during the writing of this book. In the past, this possibility simply meant that the book became outdated and less useful, but you can now find updates to the book at
http://www.dummies.com/extras/nfc
.
In addition to these updates, check out the updated content at https://www.nfcbootcamp.com/.
NFC Bootcamps:
After reading this book and checking out all the updates online, you may want to take your NFC knowledge to the next level. For that, I conduct NFC Bootcamps — one- and two-day, hands-on training seminars in locations around the world. If you want to attend one of these, just check out the NFC Bootcamp website at
http://www.nfcbootcamp.com
.
Where to Go from Here
It’s time to start your NFC adventure! If you’re completely new to NFC, you should start with Chapter 1 and progress through the book at a pace that allows you to absorb as much of the material as possible.
If you’re a novice who’s in an absolute rush to get going with NFC as quickly as possible, you can skip to Chapter 3 with the understanding that you may find some topics a bit confusing later. Skipping to Chapter 4 is possible if you already have some experience with NFC, but you may find that some terms are confusing if you do.
Readers who have some exposure to NFC and already have a good idea of how it works can save reading time by moving directly to Chapter 6. You can always go back to earlier chapters as necessary when you have questions. Starting at Chapter 6 will get you moving with NFC as a real-world solution to your particular need. Of course, skipping all the preliminary chapters may also mean that you skip some really amazing information about NFC that you didn’t know existed.
Part 1
Getting Started with NFC
IN THIS PART …
Discovering how NFC came into being
Understanding why NFC is such a cool technology
Obtaining a brief overview of how NFC works
Seeing NFC from the user perspective
Differentiating NFC from other wireless technologies
Chapter 1
Introducing Near Field Communication (NFC)
IN THIS CHAPTER
Introducing the history of NFC
Discovering why you need NFC
Considering how you might use NFC wallets
Getting the simple facts about how NFC works
Near Field Communication (NFC) is an amazing technology that helps you interact with both the people and things around you in ways that you can’t really imagine until you start using the technology. When using NFC to tap things (physically place your NFC-enabled device against something like an NFC tag), you gain advantages in efficiency that save both time and money. In addition, you can rely on NFC to help reduce costly errors that can cause problems for both you and your organization. Unlike older technologies, NFC is also quite flexible and can be found in almost all new smartphones today, so you can use it in more ways and places than you might initially think. Everyone can use NFC — developers, hobbyists, and the average person on the street. This chapter helps you gain an understanding of how NFC came to be and how it can give your organization a competitive advantage. Throughout this book, you gain insights into how you can use NFC to perform useful tasks. This chapter begins with the concept of using NFC to enable digital wallets — a topic that is in all the headlines. Using NFC means that you can make purchases with greater confidence and with a smaller chance of having to deal with issues such as identity theft. In fact, you’ll be amazed at all the ways in which you can use NFC wallets to make your life easier. So, although you might initially think about all the ways you can use NFC to make things easier for your organization, you also need to think of all the ways you can use it to help yourself. After all, you do have a life outside of work that NFC can and will affect!
This chapter ends by providing you with a quick overview of how NFC works. You don’t have to endure a long lecture about all the bits and bytes of NFC technology, nor do you have to become an electrical engineer. Rather, this chapter provides an introduction to the technology so that you can talk about it with other people and make a few simple decisions about how you might use NFC as an individual or within your organization. In addition, you gain insights into how NFC can make your life simpler because you now have a better idea of where you’ve already seen NFC used in real-world applications.
Presenting a Quick History of NFC
As with most technologies, NFC didn’t just appear on the horizon one day. Various companies spent a good deal of time putting the specifics for NFC together. In addition, these companies used existing technologies, in this case Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), as a starting point. (RFID was a 1983 invention of Charles Walton, but its origins can be traced back to WWII. You can find an excellent history of RFID at http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?1338.) NFC is actually a technology that overlaps RFID — it uses a shorter operating distance for the sake of security. Figure 1-1 shows the key dates for NFC milestones that have affected how the technology has changed over time. Even though the NFC effort started in 2002, the International Standards Organization (ISO) didn’t approve NFC as an acceptable standard until 2003.
FIGURE 1-1: Significant accomplishments in NFC technology.
As shown in Figure 1-1, NFC tags — small sticker-like devices used to store information or data in a manner that an NFC-enabled device can read or optionally write — didn’t come in a standardized form until 2006. When an NFC-enabled device moves over the tag, it can retrieve the information the tag contains. However, don’t worry about how the hardware works for now. All that is important to remember at this point is that NFC tags use a standardized form so that any NFC-enabled device can interact with any NFC tag — making NFC exceptionally easy to use.
One of the technologies that truly distinguishes NFC is the use of SmartPoster technology (a kind of visual display that incorporates both traditional poster content and digital content that an NFC-enabled device can read or optionally write). This standardized technology also appeared in 2006. You use it to provide digital information in a physical printed poster for people to access. Passing a smartphone or other NFC-enabled device over specifically marked areas of the poster provides viewers with details they can take with them. The first use for SmartPosters that comes to mind is for public venues such as trade shows — no more need to waste money printing take-away brochures that end up on the floor anyway (see companies such as Poken, http://www.poken.com/, and ITN, http://www.itnint.com/, for examples of this use). However, SmartPosters can appear in all sorts of places, such as bus shelters, malls, and airports (see BlueBite, at http://www.bluebite.com/, for an example of these uses).
February 2006 saw the introduction of the first NFC-enabled cellphone, the Nokia 6131 NFC. (Not all versions of the Nokia 6131 provide NFC support.) This phone started the whole idea of being able to pass the phone over a tag and obtain information from it. By the time the Samsung Nexus S appeared on the scene in 2010, NFC support became a standard feature and the capabilities of NFC had improved significantly.
One of the significant additions to NFC is its capability to provide peer-to-peer support. In addition to reading information from tags, you can exchange information with another person by bringing your NFC-enabled smartphones closely together. Instead of having to deal with bulky business cards, NFC-enabled smartphones let you keep your connections in a place where they’re easily found, used, and managed. In addition to business connections, your peer-to-peer connection can also exchange data such as pictures, movies, and music.
NFC is growing significantly. It’s predicted that within five years, half or more of all phones made will have NFC support. Within ten years, people will use NFC data exchange as a preferred method for obtaining publicly available information from physical objects; although, the use of NFC will remain completely optional.
Defining the Need for NFC
NFC solves all sorts of problems, and throughout this book you get introduced to a lot of these solutions. However, before you spend time reading about NFC, you might like to know how you can use it to meet your needs immediately. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that you already use NFC and simply don’t know it. NFC appears all over the place. The following sections provide you with a quick summary of some of the most interesting uses. As you progress through the book, you find additional uses described in more detail.
Interacting with devices using simpler methods
Imagine being able to interact with any device just by tapping it with an NFC-enabled device such as your smartphone. For example, you tap your portable speakers, and the music currently playing on your smartphone starts playing out of the speakers instead. You get the full effect of those high-quality speakers you purchased, but with the music that you like from your smartphone. Bluetooth pairing of devices is normally a painful process when done manually. NFC makes the pairing possible with a single tap. Even though the music still relies on Bluetooth to get from the device to the speakers, the pairing is done with NFC.
The same concepts hold true with your television. A single tap is enough to make a connection with your smartphone so that you can see the pictures or video currently displayed on the smartphone, but at television size and resolution. Sony and other companies are currently engaged in making NFC connectivity happen in all sorts of ways. You can read about some of the latest Sony offerings at http://venturebeat.com/2013/01/12/nfc-makes-it-easy-to-connect-sonys-devices-with-one-touch/.
Buying products with ease
You walk up to the cash register with a cartful of goods you want to buy. Whether the cash register is actually manned by someone is unimportant (some stores are now experimenting with self-serve checkouts that really do save the store money and make the shopping experience much faster for most people). The goods are swiped across the scanner to get prices. When you have a coupon for an item, you simply tap your phone to add it to the register. You can be sure that the coupon actually reduces your cost because you can see the reduction immediately after you tap the phone. When it comes time to pay for the goods, another tap of your smartphone is all you need to pay for them using your credit or debit card. No more paper exchanging hands, and the level of convenience is amazing.
Even though all these tasks can be performed with other technologies, the important issue is how NFC handles security. When using NFC, the cards, fobs, phones, stickers, watches, and other NFC-enabled devices all talk to the Point of Sale (POS) terminal used for payment in the exact same way using the exact same security.
Remember that not every NFC transaction is completely secure. MIFARE transit fares and NFC payment are secure because the application supplies the required security. However, reading a tag isn’t inherently secure, except for the natural level of security that NFC provides (such as a short reading distance). Security concerns are covered in later chapters, such as Chapter 6, where you can read about mobile wallet security requirements.
Products can also extend to services. For example, a common use for NFC is to pay for a train or a bus. London uses the Oyster card (https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/oyster) to give people the capability to tap their card to gain access to the required transportation services. NFC makes using transportation of all sorts a lot easier.
Launching a marketing campaign
Getting people to buy your product is an essential part of any business venture. After all, if no one buys your product, you’ll quickly be out of business. The problem is making your product stand out from all the other products out there. Of course, you could pay someone to ride in one of those cheesy trucks and blare out over a sound system, “Buy my product!” but that strategy is bound to fail. A better option is to provide people with information sources they can interact with, such as signs and kiosks. When people can enter a store, see the big poster with your product on it, and touch their smartphones to it to learn more, you gain a significant advantage over your competition that’s relying on signs alone.
For a merchant, the NFC advantage is that full interactive communication with your customer, including tracking and accountability, can be initiated with a simple, digital gesture that's as natural as pointing at a product or display. This means that you can determine how many people have checked out your ad and know which locations are better suited to selling your product. Also, you can determine how people interacted with your ad so that you know which sales pitches work better. And you can learn which ads converted to sales. Therefore, it’s no longer a matter of putting up a sign and hoping it sells something for you. Using NFC means that you can determine precisely how a marketing campaign is progressing and make changes as needed to ensure success.
Building your personal network quickly and easily
Networking is essential in today’s world. Look at the emergence of online sites such as LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/). Some people get most or even all their work based on contacts they make with these kinds of sites. Having a list of the right people at your fingertips makes you more efficient and better able to react to changing conditions. In short, you need connections today to be a success in business. With this in mind, NFC helps you create a personal network in two important ways, discussed next.
Exchanging business cards
One reason to use NFC is to make interacting with people easier. Of course, you have the option to exchange information simply by tapping smartphones. Information can include more than just name, address, and telephone number. You can exchange all sorts of information, including media of any sort that your smartphone can handle.
Exchanging other contact information
Thinking outside the box is important when exchanging information with someone else. For example, you might decide to create a presentation that fits on a smartphone. Tapping your phone with that of a potential client creates the connection that transfers the presentation and lets the client play it later at her leisure. No longer do you have to rely on a quick sales pitch to do all the work for you. Now you can concentrate on gaining the other person’s interest and then make the sales pitch later using a full multimedia presentation through which you can convey all the facts.
Creating ad-hoc wireless connections
In times past, you often needed to jump through hoops to connect two devices in a secure manner. You can use the security that NFC provides for tasks such as banking because it carries only a low risk of eavesdropping and offers no practical way for an outsider to influence the content of your NFC transmissions (even if he’s standing right there with you). NFC offers you the simplicity of a wireless connection, but its limited range offers added physical security not available to other forms of wireless communication. With this in mind, just about anything you can do with a wired connection, you can also do with NFC. However, unlike a wired connection, you don’t have to do anything special to accomplish the task — simply bring the NFC device close to a tag or other device.
Having fun with games
Interestingly enough, you can even use NFC to enhance the gaming experience. For example, Skylanders (https://www.skylanders.com/), a toys-to-life game series published by Activision, integrates interactive figurines that you use to play a game. To use a figurine, you place it on the Portal of Power, which has an NFC reader in it, to register it. The Portal of Power reads the figurine’s NFC tag to determine the characteristics that the corresponding character has. These are console games that use the gaming console for connectivity so that you can interact with other players. Theoretically, the gaming console you use doesn’t matter, and you can even connect the Portal of Power to your PC.
This game use of NFC is interesting because all the information about your character resides in the figurine. Using NFC means that your figurine contains the intelligence that you can rely on to hold information about your character between sessions.
Discovering Where NFC Wallets Are Used Most
One of the most exciting ways to use NFC is to pay for things — all sorts of things. It would be nice to say that NFC has completely penetrated absolutely every market out there, but the fact is that NFC is still a new technology. Consequently, you find NFC used quite a bit in some areas of the country and not nearly enough in other areas.
An NFC wallet lets you make payments using a variety of sources. In addition, with your NFC wallet, you can gain points on your loyalty card. The application used to make this functionality happen offers built-in security, so you can assign a PIN to every payment option your wallet includes. These features make NFC wallets different from other technologies, such as contactless cards, which don’t provide the flexibility and security that the NFC wallet offers. The following sections describe where you can make NFC purchases quite easily and show the sorts of things that people buy using NFC today.
Of course, these figures are current as of the time of writing. Make sure you check out the NFC Bootcamp site at https://www.nfcbootcamp.com/ for updates as they become available. You may be surprised at just how fast the use of NFC for making payments grows.
Viewing NFC wallet use by area
Where you live partially determines how much NFC you see. It definitely determines how much NFC you use (seeing it doesn’t mean you get to do anything with it, though). Figure 1-2 shows a map of the places that currently use NFC the most. If you live in one of the larger cities in California, there is a good chance that you’ll not only see but also use NFC regularly. The same holds true in Texas and New York (followed by Illinois and Florida). However, if you’re a buyer in Wyoming, you might as well get used to not using the NFC features of your credit card for a while (until local businesses catch up).
FIGURE 1-2: Places that commonly use NFC for purchases today.
Other states will see that NFC is making a huge difference to the bottom line of states like California, and businesses in other states will follow suit. The point is that NFC is catching on, and if you can start implementing it sooner than later, you’ll gain a competitive advantage. Early adopters can see a huge increase in sales by using new technologies that have already proven their worth in other areas. NFC is such a technology.
Viewing NFC wallet use by purchase type
It matters not only where but also how you use NFC. Many companies have already found that NFC is an indispensable part of their business environment, as shown in Figure 1-3. Of course, this figure doesn’t show all the companies that use NFC, but it does show some of the larger organizations. Even in places like Wisconsin (one of the lighter areas in Figure 1-2, shown previously), you can go into a Subway, tap your card, and pay for your dinner. So, it’s not impossible to find NFC usage wherever you go because these larger companies are already using it.
FIGURE 1-3: Types of items that are commonly purchased using NFC.
Figure 1-3 shows the relative strength of NFC by purchase area. Look for these numbers to change dramatically for the better as more national and global companies start to use NFC at the cash register. The article at https://www.nfcbootcamp.com/near-field-communication-more-than-mobile-marketing/ provides you with more details on just how much of an impact NFC is starting to make in other industries.
Presenting a Simplified View of NFC
It isn’t essential to know every aspect of a technology in order to use it, but having some idea of how things work can be helpful. For example, you know that your cellphone requires a cell tower in order to gain access to the network so that you can make a call. You don’t know all the details of how this happens, but you have some idea of what is involved at a high level. The following paragraphs provide you with this sort of high-level information. By the time you get done reading this material, you know enough about NFC to understand the essentials of what makes it such an amazing technology.
Considering what is needed for NFC
One of the reasons that NFC is so successful is that it’s a relatively simple technology (well, at least if you’re a propeller head). Figure 1-4 shows the basic elements of an NFC communication in most cases. As you can see, you have an NFC-enabled device that uses a wireless connection to power and then interact with some sort of NFC information source (a card). The technology relies on the same basic principle as those RFID readers and tags that you see all over the place in the stores right now. The main difference is that NFC operates at a shorter distance, provides secure communication, and allows for bidirectional communication (peer to peer), so it’s like an RFID solution on steroids.
FIGURE 1-4: Types of items that are commonly purchased using NFC.
It’s important to know that NFC-enabled devices can be either readers or cards. For example, when you use NFC to exchange information between two smartphones, the first smartphone begins by acting as a reader, and the second smartphone acts as a card. After the initial information exchange, they reverse roles. Now the first smartphone is a card and the second smartphone is a reader.
NFC tags can’t act as readers. They are “passive,” which means that they have no power source. So they always act as information sources, as shown in Figure 1-5. The NFC-enabled device sends power and commands to the tag, which then responds with data.
FIGURE 1-5: Types of items that are commonly purchased using NFC.
In addition, you can use any NFC-enabled device such as a smartphone to write data to a tag using a special command. This means that you can update the tags as needed to hold new information. As the book progresses, you see how this technology works and why NFC tags can do so many remarkable things.
Understanding the three NFC modes
NFC provides three basic modes of operation. These modes make NFC different from other wireless technologies such as RFID; they provide NFC with the flexibility needed to create an environment in which you can use NFC for a huge array of communication needs. The following list gives you an overview of the three NFC modes (which appear several times in the book in more detail):
Card emulation:
Provides the means to replace a credit or debit card with an NFC-enabled device. Rather than use a credit or debit card, you rely on the NFC-enabled device to make the transaction. This mode also includes other sorts of card-type applications, such as identification cards, motel pass cards, loyalty cards, ticketing, access control, and any other sort of card-related task you can think of.
Discovery (read and write):
Allows a user to interact with various information sources. This form of NFC application provides interaction with smart advertising, downloading coupons, getting information from kiosks, and using all sorts of other information sources that rely on both tags and smart posters. It is also possible to write information to these smart information sources using the right NFC-enabled device.
Peer-to-peer communication:
Creates connectivity between two NFC-enabled devices. When you exchange information with any other smartphone user or create an ad-hoc network to collaborate on tasks, you’re using the peer-to-peer mode of NFC. Using NFC in this mode is like having a secure network in your pocket that you can use in any location with complete peace of mind.
Discovering the NFC actors
NFC operates within a business ecosystem. An ecosystem is simply a set of rules that determines the behavior of the actors within that system. Originally, the term referred to natural environments where factors such as food availability, birth rate, and the number of predators determined the ability of a species to survive. In a business ecosystem, you must look at other factors, such as the productivity that a technology provides to those using it, and determine whether the technology can survive the onslaught of competition. In the case of NFC, you must consider the actors who interact with the technology:
Consumer:
An entity (human or technological) who relies on NFC as an information source. Whether the consumer uses that information to make a purchase, obtain facts from a kiosk, or gain access to a resource, the entity relies on NFC to provide the required information (outgoing or incoming). Think of a gazelle placidly browsing on the Serengeti.
Producer:
An entity who creates NFC technologies for sale to a customer. Because NFC is still an emerging technology, you can count on finding more producers providing interesting products in the future. Think of Mother Nature using evolution to create interesting new food sources for the gazelle.
Customer:
An entity who uses NFC to create information for a consumer or obtain information from a consumer. Someone who wants to sell something to someone will begin by offering information about the product and potentially provide coupons at a kiosk or other location. When the consumer decides to make the purchase, the customer will obtain the consumer’s credit or debit card information. Of course, this scenario takes place in all sorts of other ways, too. Think of the customer as the food source for the gazelle.
Competitor:
An entity who wants to keep NFC sales to a minimum and convince you that other technologies work far better. Competitors are the lions of the business ecosystem — it’s best just to stay out of their way.
Other stakeholders:
The NFC business ecosystem has all sorts of other actors that you’ll meet as the book progresses. For now, think of them as the tourists and guides watching the gazelle and trying to determine whether the lion will eat it.
Chapter 2
Considering the NFC Difference
IN THIS CHAPTER
Considering the NFC Forum goals
Defining how NFC wireless communication works
Comparing NFC to other communication technologies
Seeing how NFC-enabled devices have evolved
Determining how NFC creates a secure environment
Chapter 1 helped you understand how Near Field Communication (NFC) originated from existing technologies, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), but also added some interesting new functionality that you really need in order to make better use of the technologies available today. This chapter takes the next step. It begins by introducing you to the NFC Forum and the goals it had for NFC from the outset. By understanding these goals, you begin to understand why NFC is such an amazing technology.
It’s also important to know that NFC isn’t the appropriate technology for every need. NFC provides you with a new technology designed to meet specific needs that modern users have. Of course, you need to know a bit more about how NFC works before you can understand where it fits. Chapter 1
