Near field communication

Draft

Introduction

According to Wikipedia (4/2015), NFC is somewhat similar to Bluetooth, but works at much smaller distances (< 10 to 20 cm). NFC is much slower than Bluetooth but requires less energy . NFC is compatible with existing passive RFID (13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 18000-3) infrastructures.

Most 2014/15 cellphones include NFC support, but Apple only for iPhone 6. The most typical use case is for contactless payment systems.

There are two main devices which translate to possible modes of operation:

• Active chips. These can work in either target (see below), initiator (read or write) or peer to peer mode.
• Passive target chips, also called "tags" (allows to transfer data to an initiator).

Active NFC devices can read data from tags. Some tags are rewritable. Some are crypted. There are standards, but target chips also can be custom encoded.

Uses

Some general use cases ares:

• Wireless payment
• Bootstrapping other connections
• Social networking
• Intenty and keys
• Gaming, (e.g. virtual treasure hunts or the crytped Amiibos)

In education, NFC tags can be used in a similar way as QR tags.

Links

Introductions

• Near field communication
• List of NFC-enabled mobile devices

Tutorials

• NFC Near Field Communication Tutorial, by Ian Poole, radio-electronics.com. Very detailed, technical.
• Get started with NFC Android, May 2012.

In education

• How can I use NFC to engage my students? JISC Inform,
• How to use Near Field Communication to engage your foreign students by Simon Wardman, 5 September 2013, Jisc blog.