More than just mobile payment: A complete analysis of NFC technology and application trends

So-called technological breakthroughs occur every year, but only a few of them are revolutionary. Near Field Communications (NFC) is still a very new technology, but it has great potential to change our personal and business lives.

　　What is NFC technology

　　NFC is a technology that allows wireless point-to-point data transmission between electronic devices. The current device requirement is that the distance between device antennas is within 3/4 inches.

　　This device requirement brings a key advantage to NFC: security. Through data encryption, even American spies have to stay away from transaction data between NFC devices and are helpless. Its strict security makes many people think that NFC is the hottest, safest and most reliable remote transaction system.

　　How NFC works

　　In order to promote the formulation of NFC technology standards, Sony, Nokia, and Philips jointly established the NFC Forum in 2004. NFC is based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFI) technology. RFID uses passive electronic tags (essentially, electronic-to-electronic barcodes) to store data. When used at close range, the RFID reader provides energy to the video identification tag through electromagnetic induction, and the electronic tag then transmits the data to the reader.

　　The working principle of NFC is very similar. Working at close range, an activated NFC device drives a passive NFC electronic tag through magnetic induction. The difference is that NFC technology can work between two activated or NFC-equipped devices, and has a wider range of applications than fancy bar scanning.

　　The NFC standard defines how NFC devices work: data is sent and received via a short wave of 13.56MHz. The standard also defines the data transmission rate. Currently supported transmission rates are 106Kbps 212Kbps and 424Kbps. (Not much faster than early Internet modems.) But this is not a bad thing, because NFC data is usually very short; you generally won't send a video to your smartphone, but it is a good way to exchange information with customers in a contact manner.

　　[Google Wallet (www.google.com/wallet) is a classic example of an NFC payment system. You can make purchases in any store that accepts Google Wallet or MasterCard payment cards. Just tap your smartphone as a payment terminal, enter your password, and the transaction is completed.]

　　NFC has three working modes: Reader-writer mode: the passive electronic tag in your NFC device works; peer-to-peer mode: two activated NFC devices exchange data, such as contact information; imitation card mode: the NFC device acts as a smart payment card, such as in a transportation ticketing system.

　　Passive NFC devices only need a magnetic induction coil to get the necessary energy from an activated NFC device, a transceiver chip to hold the data you want to share, and an antenna. Activated NFC devices add a power supply, a transceiver chip and an antenna. But the additions are so small that the components of the device seem to have not changed. Therefore, NFC functions are embedded in many devices.

NFC and smartphones

　　There are many smartphones that support NFC. Currently, most NFC phones are available outside the United States, but recently, more and more NFC smartphones have appeared in various states in China. Google's Android system supports NFC technology, and Apple has also obtained a patent to use NFC technology in its iPhones and iPads.

　　Applications of NFC

　　Although NFC is widely used in contactless payment systems, this technology has broader application space in other fields.

　　Remote payment. Smartphones will not just be a replacement for credit cards. You can use a smartphone, or a device with an embedded smart electronic system, to keep track of your credit card records, including purchase records, spending records and purchase addresses.

　　Stores can use NFC devices to replace VIP cards and provide customers with paperless coupons. This way, you no longer have to wait in line to get those dozens of coupons that need to be cut out.

　　Medical. NFC smart medical devices can monitor your health and even prescribe appropriate medicine for your body. For example, the sleep log from the iMPak Health (www.impakhealth.com) website uses an NFC device like a credit card to summarize your sleeping habits. When you go to bed, stick the device on your arm, and when you wake up in the morning, an NFC-equipped smartphone will interpret the information on the card and send it to your doctor.

　　Other NFC medical devices in use include diabetes monitoring systems, which, after a blood sugar test, instruct an insulin pump to give the patient the amount of insulin they need.

　　Quantitative control. Many businesses have temporary control over their facilities. An NFC device, such as a smartphone, can act as an employee's key card. The boss can implement specific rules, limit access during business hours, or provide users with expiration dates of one day, one week, or one month.

　　[With the Isis system, you can pre-load a virtual debit or credit card on your smartphone to pay for your travel expenses. On your smartphone, simply tap the payment terminal button in the navigation system and you can easily get on the road without having to buy a ticket.]

　　Tickets and transportation. Some NFC devices can collect ticket information for you and provide a variety of services, from theaters and movies, sports events to airline flights, from highway toll booths to parking spots. At some point, you can even wave your NFC smartphone over the parking meter instead of coins to pay, and then continue on your way.

　　A bold NFC technology venture is the creation of Isis (www.paywithisis.com), a joint venture between AT&T Telecom, T-Telecom and Verizon Wireless. The Isis system is a contactless payment system designed for people using a variety of smartphones and will be available sometime this summer. It will first be available in Austin and Salt Lake City, and will be rolled out to other areas later.

　　Advertising/Sales. Companies can embed passive NFC electronic tags in catalogs, selling products, and even on posters for upcoming movies. If you want to learn more, you can scan the tag and find the relevant website directly on your smartphone browser.

　　Inventory management. NFC and RFID combined can reduce costs in inventory management. Using NFC smartphones instead of expensive RFID readers can allow all employees to manage inventory, reducing time wasted and the dreaded inventory fatigue.

　　Future Trends

　　NFC is a technology worth looking forward to. However, NFC applications have not been well received by consumers. In order to make NFC widely used, it is necessary to study user habits. Therefore, 2012 may be the most important year for the development of NFC technology. With the start of the Isis system test, more and more smartphones contain NFC chips. It is very likely that you will use your next smartphone to buy food, pay for parking, and simplify your next medical examination procedure.

　　NFC technology provides a wide range of possibilities for the intelligentization of medical devices. The sleep records from the iMPak Health website can already monitor your sleep quality and send the results to your doctor.