{"id":83227,"date":"2020-05-29T19:42:33","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T17:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/blog\/administrirovanie\/nfc-razbor-tehnologii-near-field-communication"},"modified":"2020-05-29T19:42:33","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T17:42:33","slug":"nfc-razbor-tehnologii-near-field-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/administrirovanie\/nfc-razbor-tehnologii-near-field-communication","title":{"rendered":"NFC: An Overview of Near Field Communication Technology","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

We're all used to NFC as a standard feature in smartphones. It seems clear enough.<\/p>\n

Many people avoid smartphones without NFC, thinking it's only for purchases. But there are many questions.<\/p>\n

Did you know what else this technology can do? What to do if your smartphone doesn't have NFC? How to use the chip in an iPhone not just for Apple Pay? Why doesn't it work, especially with Mir cards?<\/p>\n

You can also charge devices through it...<\/p>\n

\r\n \"Play\r\n
<\/div>\r\n <\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

Today we'll explain how it works and delve into all the details. And most importantly \u2014 why it's the most underrated technology in your smartphone!<\/p>\n

How does NFC work?<\/h4>\n

\nYou probably know that NFC stands for Near Field Communication.
\n<\/a><\/noindex>
\nBut it's not just ordinary data transmission via radio wave. Unlike Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, NFC is more sophisticated. At its core lies electromagnetic induction. It's a really cool concept from school that I'd like to remind you about.<\/p>\n

\"NFC:
\nThe idea is that you take one conductor that has no electricity. And place a second conductor, which has electricity, next to it. And guess what? In the first conductor, where there was no electricity, a current starts to flow!<\/p>\n

Cool, right?<\/p>\n

When we first heard about it, we thought it was impossible! Seriously? You're kidding! Let's go play Counter Strike, guys.<\/p>\n

So, when you bring your smartphone close to an NFC tag without power, the tiny electromagnetic field from the smartphone is enough to get the electrons inside the tag moving, activating the chips inside it.<\/p>\n

\"NFC:
\nOh, right. Each tag has a tiny chip. For example, in bank cards, the microchip even runs a simple version of Java. How about that?<\/p>\n

You might have also heard the acronym RFID. It was developed about 30 years earlier. It stands for Radio Frequency Identification and is basically suitable only for identification. Many office buildings still have passes that use RFID.<\/p>\n

\"NFC:
\nSo, NFC is an advanced branch of the RFID standard and reads some of those tags. But the main difference is that NFC can also transmit data, including encrypted data.<\/p>\n

NFC operates at a frequency of 13.56 MHz, allowing decent speeds ranging from 106 to 424 Kbps. So, an mp3 file can be downloaded in a couple of minutes, but only from a distance of up to 10 cm.<\/p>\n

Physically, NFC is a small coil. For example, in the Pixel 4, it is attached to the back cover and looks like this.<\/p>\n

\"NFC:
\nAnd here is how it looks in the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro:<\/p>\n

\"NFC:<\/p>\n

Now it's time to talk about what NFC can do.<\/p>\n

The operation of this technology and related ones, such as RFID, is described in the standard ISO 14443<\/strong>. There\u2019s a lot more bundled in there: for example, the Italian Mifare protocol and VME \u2014 these are used in bank cards.<\/p>\n

NFC is kind of like USB Type-C in the world of wireless technologies, if you know what I mean.<\/p>\n

But the key point is this. NFC can operate in three modes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Active.<\/strong> When a device reads or writes data from a tag or card. By the way, yes, data can also be written to NFC tags.<\/li>\n
  2. Peer-to-peer.<\/strong> This is when you connect wireless headphones to your smartphone or use Android Beam \u2014 remember that? The connection occurred via NFC, while the actual file transfer happened over Bluetooth.<\/li>\n
  3. Passive.<\/strong>\u00a0When our device pretends to be something passive: a payment card or a transit pass.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \nWhy use NFC if there's Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which have higher speed and range?<\/p>\n

    \"NFC:
    \nThe benefits of NFC are:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Instant connection \u2014 one-tenth of a second.<\/li>\n
    2. Low power consumption \u2014 15 mA. Bluetooth uses up to 40 mA.<\/li>\n
    3. Tags do not require their own power supply.<\/li>\n
    4. And not so obvious \u2014 the short range, which is necessary for security and payments.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \nThere is also Bluetooth Low Energy, but that's a separate story.<\/p>\n

      Why? What does this give us?<\/h4>\n

      \n\"NFC:
      \nApart from the already obvious scenarios: access passes, payments, and transit passes \u2014 there are applications that can load money onto the \u2018Troika\u2019 card and other transport cards.<\/p>\n

      There is an app \u2014 Bank Card Reader. It can show recent transactions on the card. I'm not sure how ethical that is, but the app is available in the Play Market.<\/p>\n

      By the way, many wonder why Google and Apple Pay don\u2019t work with Mir cards? It's not due to technical issues. The payment system just hasn't reached an agreement with the services. Payments can be made through its own app on Android \u2014 Mir Pay. Though it's a bit buggy, and it's not available on iPhone!<\/p>\n

      By the way, here\u2019s a hack. If your Android doesn't have NFC, but you really want to pay, what can you do? You can place the card under the case. Just a heads up. However, thick cases may block the waves from the built-in NFC, so make sure to check.<\/p>\n

      We've already talked about devices, but there's a second important part \u2014 NFC tags. They come in two types.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Those that can store information. They look like small stickers. Typically, the available memory capacity is around 700 bytes. Such tags were produced by Sony.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \n\"NFC:
        \nYou can store a lot of things on them, for example:<\/p>\n