[Part 5]
NFC Solution for the Mobile Phone
The NFC Forum and other alliances, organizations and standards bodies have been influential in laying the ground work for NFC technology. NFC technology is based on RFID technology standard and specifications. It communicates via magnetic field induction and uses an antenna to transmit the information. It operates within the globally available and unlicensed radio frequency ISM band of 13.56 MHz with a bandwidth (BW) of 14 kHz.
Other specification features include:
• Communications range: up to 20 cm
• Data rates: 106, 212, 424 and 848 kbits/s
• Two modes of operation:
- Passive: The Initiator device (such as a payment terminal) provides a carrier field to the Target device (such as a NFC chip in a handset or contactless card). In this mode, the Target device “may” draw its operating power from the Initiator’s electromagnetic field, thus allowing the Target device to work in a low battery condition mode.
- Active: Both Initiator and Target device communicate by alternately generating their own fields. A device deactivates its electromagnetic field while it is waiting for data. In this mode, both devices typically need to have a power supply.
• NFC devices are able to receive and transmit data at the same time. Thus, they can check for potential collisions if the received signal frequency does not match with the transmitted signal’s frequency.
Standards and compatibilities include:
Air interfaces:
• ISO/IEC 18092 / ECMA-340 - NFC Interface and Protocol-1 (NFCIP-1)
• ISO/IEC 15693 - forms part of a series of International Standards that specify a contactless smart card
Other technical/communications information:
• ISO/IEC 14443 Type A (defines proximity cards used for identification and the transmission protocols for communicating, normal)
• ISO/IEC 14443 Type B (defines proximity cards used for identification and the transmission protocols for communicating, banking/short range)
• MIFARE – contactless card standard (and trademark) of Philips (now NXP)
• FeliCa – contactless card standard (and trademark) of Sony
• NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) – NFC Forum data format
Other standards bodies, alliances and forums with an interest in NFC:
• Open Mobile Alliance - facilitates the transmission of card and application management commands
• GlobalPlatform - post-issuance card and application management capability necessary for Over-The-Air (OTA) provisioning
• European Association for Standardizing Information and Communication Systems (ECMA)
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• GSM Association (GSMA) - facilitates a standard connection between SIM cards and NFC chip
• European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) - intends to standardize the interface between the SIM and the contactless modem
• MultiService Forum (MSF)
Use Cases and Applications include:
There are currently three high-level use cases (discussed earlier in my blog):
• Card emulation: the NFC device behaves like an existing contactless card
• Reader: the NFC device is active and reads a passive device
• P2P (peer-to-peer): two NFC devices are communicating together and exchanging information
Applications include:
• Mobile payment
• Mobile ticketing in public transport
• Smart poster
• Travel cards
• Identity documents
• Biometrics
• Electronic keys replacements for physical keys
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi pairing
• Configure and initiate other wireless network connections
For NFC technology to function more completely in the mobile payments ecosphere, it requires 1) a secure element (SE), i.e. a chip providing additional security, 2) a SIM card (if the mobile device has a SIM card), and 3) an eWallet.
The SE connects to the NFC chip, and depending upon the architecture, may also connect to the applications processor. The SIM card holds information about the mobile device, such as International Mobile Equipment Identity number (IMEI), service-subscriber key (IMSI), phone number and other network specific data.
The “NFC architecture solution” for mobile devices has functionally changed over the past several years as chips and the SIM card have evolved. Although the SIM card is the more general name used, a more encompassing definition for the SIM card is: UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card), which is used in GSM and UMTS networks. It contains a microprocessor and stores contacts, enables global roaming, remotely adds new applications and contains other services.
The UICC card is a type of smart card and comes in mini-SIM [25 (L) x 15 (W) x 0.76 (T) mm] and micro-SIM [15 (L) x 12 (W) x 0.76 (T) mm], with the mobile industry moving towards the micro-SIM card size. In a GSM network, the UICC uses a SIM application, for UMTS networks it uses a USIM application, and for CDMA networks it uses a CSIM. The UICC card communicates with the NFC chip and the applications processor (but is architecture dependant).
The eWallet has also increased its functionality and is thought of as a source for advertising, and not just containing personal information for transactions. The eWallet holds the user’s digital versions of their credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards, coupons and other credentials, and resides in the SE. The eWallet is secured and accessed by a PIN number, similar to how a magnetic stripe debit card is used at a payment terminal.
The secure communications interface between the NFC chip and UICC card is relatively new (and GSMA required) and is called the Single Wire Protocol (SWP). The UICC with a SWP can run a SE application on it, thus eliminating the need for a separate SE chip (however, this is also architecture dependant). For a CDMA only mobile device, a separate SE chip is required.
Another architecture version is to replicate the SE in a removable microSD card which would allow for more flexibility if the user has multiple phones. Different architectures would also mean that the software (SW) and its related functions that assemble the communications link between the hardware (HW) layer and application layer would also require modification.
The diagram in Figure 8 is from the Smartcard Alliance white paper on proximity mobile payments and describes how a SE can be used in both GSM-based and CDMA-based phonesK. To complete the communications within the mobile device, the UICC card and NFC chip use the ISO/IEC 7816 interface to connect to the applications processor, but other interfaces have been used as well.
Source: Smart Card Alliance
Figure 8 – NFC Architectures for Mobile Phones
The eWallet is an application that operates within the SE and contains all the functionality and personal information for a user to make safe and secure mobile payments. Service providers and handset manufacturers, NFC chip suppliers, eWallet application providers and financial entities all want some level of ownership of the eWallet since this is the center for managing payment, billing and advertising activity. ViVOtech offers an eWallet application, called the ViVOwallet, that provides the following functionality and features:
• Credit and debit payment cards
• Prepaid (gift), loyalty, membership, discount cards
• Coupons and discounts
• Individualized opt-in marketing messaging
• Tickets (transit, events, movies, etc)
• Access control cards for corporate campuses, universities, hotel
Besides the eWallet for carriers and handset manufacturers, ViVOtech also offers merchant, issuing bank, ISO (independent sales organizations) and acquiring bank SW solutions, bringing the ecosystem together as a seamless functioning system. VeriFone, Hypercom, Stollman, Gemalto, Oberthur and others, all offer a range of NFC-based SW solutions for mobile payment that cover: the NFC stack SW, eWallet/SE SW, OTA service management SW and financial transaction ecosystem SW.
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