NFC

Can you use your phone as a credit card??? A RAM PRAKASH REDDY Computer Science and Engineering K.O.R.M College of Engineering, Kadapa Contact: 91-9701724633 Mail: ramprakasharava@yahoo.com abstract:In the realm of new technologies, near field communication (NFC) is not a new or fancy concept, but it does have clear potential and practical uses. This is why its been holding the attention of a slew of big name companies for a long time. Nokia, Sony, and Royal Philips Electronics founded the NFC Forum in 2004 in order to promote the short-range wireless connectivity technology. Samsung, Motorola, Microsoft and more than 140 other organizations all joined the party shortly after. NFC allows a device, usually a mobile phone, to collect data from another device or NFC tag at close range. In many ways, its like a contactless payment card that is integrated into a phone. In other ways, its similar to Bluetooth, except that instead of programming two devices to work together, they can simply touch to establish a connection. The concept is strikingly simple: in order to make two devices communicate, bring them together or make them touch. This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of NFC. It is not limited to a certain application of NFC, but it uses a systematic approach to analyze the various aspects whenever an NFC interface is used. This also paper sets out our view of emerging NFC applications, technology and markets. All of this is given in the context of currently available NFC hardware, NFC applications and possible future developments of NFC. K YOGESH CHANDRA Computer Science and Engineering Sri Venkateswara Institute of Science and Technology, Kadapa Contact: 91-9000408267 Mail: kycedumail@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION
Near Field Communication (NFC) offers

The technology works via magnetic field induction and operates on an unlicensed radio frequency band. Tags are embedded within devices (these could be mobile devices such as mobile phones or PDAs, or NFC stations such as ticket barriers or cash registers). NFC enables devices that are held together to share

tremendous potential, not only because it can be rolled out for mass adoption, but because of the number of different ways in which it can be used to make life easier. It is a short range wireless technology that allows communications to take place between devices that either touch or are momentarily held close together.

information either in one direction or both.NFC is based on Radio Frequency Identification

(RFID) technology, which makes use of interacting electromagnetic radio fields instead of the typical direct radio transmissions used by technologies such as Bluetooth. It is meant for applications where a physical touch, or close to it, is required in order to maintain security. NFC can do much useful work with mobile phones, among other things, payment, in conjunction with an electronic wallet, and for setting up connections between Bluetooth devices etc. 1983 2004 2006 2006 2006

It is an open platform technology and was approved as an ISO/IEC global standard in December 2003.

EVOLUTION OF NFC
NFC traces its roots back to Radio-frequency identification, or RFID. RFID allows a reader to send radio waves to a passive electronic tag for identification and tracking.

The first patent to be associated with the abbreviation RFID was granted to Charles Walton. Nokia, Philips and Sony established the Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum Initial specifications for NFC Tags Specification for "SmartPoster" records Nokia 6131 was the first NFC phone In January, NFC Forum released Peer-to-Peer standards to transfer contact, URL, initiate

2009

Bluetooth, etc. Samsung Nexus S: First Android NFC phone shown Google I/O "How to NFC" demonstrates NFC to initiate a game and to share a contact, URL, app, video, etc. NFC support becomes part of the Symbian mobile operating system with the release of Symbian Anna version. RIM 2011 is the first company for its devices is certified by MasterCard Worldwide, the functionality of PayPass

2010 2011

2011

2011

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AND CO-OPERATION

NFC is supported by the leading mobile device, infrastructure and technology manufacturers, and by all major payment providers. In 2004,

leading mobile communications, semiconductor and consumer electronics companies formed the non Near Field Communication in the real world part I profit industry association, the NFC Forum, to advance the use of NFC technology through standard specifications that ensure

interoperability. The Forum now has over 80 member organizations worldwide (as at the end of June 2006). The underlying layers of NFC technology are ISO, ECMA and ETSI standards. Because NFC is compliant with the main international standard for smartcard

specific command sets. Type 3 is based on FeliCa, and has larger memory (up to 1MB) and higher transfer speed (212KB per second). This means it is suitable for more complex

applications, but also more costly. Type 4 is based on ISO 14443 and specifies memory of up to 64KB, with transfer speeds of between 106 and 424KB per second making it suitable for multiple applications.

interoperability, ISO 14443, it is compatible with the millions of contactless smartcards and readers already in use worldwide. In June 2006, the NFC Forum introduced standardized

technology architecture, initial specifications and tag formats for NFC-compliant devices. These include Data Exchange Format (NDEF), and three initial Record Type Definition (RTD) specifications for smart poster, text and Internet resource reading applications. In addition, the NFC Forum announced the initial set of four tag formats that all NFC Forum-compliant devices must support. These are based on ISO 14443 Types A and B (the international standards for contactless smartcards) and FeliCa (derived from the ISO 18092, passive communication mode, standard). Tags compatible with these mandatory formats are available initially from Innovision, Philips, Sony and other vendors, and more than one billion tags are already deployed globally. The NFC Forum chose the initial tag formats to cater for the broadest possible range of applications and device capabilities. Types 1 and 2, based on ISO 14443 A, have small memory capacity (1 and 2 kilobytes), which means they are low cost and suitable for singleuse applications. They operate at relatively low speed (106KB per second), and are driven by

RFID
Its obviously impossible to speak about NFC without briefly introducing one of its main technological feature, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification). It represents a fundamental technological background. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is

a technology that uses radio waves to transfer data from an electronic tag, called RFID tag or label, attached to an object, through a reader for the purpose of identifying and tracking the object. Some RFID tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader. The application of bulk

reading enables an almost-parallel reading of tags. The tag's information is stored electronically. The RFID tag includes a small RF transmitter and receiver. An RFID reader transmits an encoded radio signal to interrogate the tag. The tag receives the message and responds with its identification information. Many RFID tags do not use a battery. Instead, the tag uses the radio

energy transmitted by the reader as its energy source. The RFID system design includes a method of discriminating several tags that might be within the range of the RFID reader. RFID is a superior and more efficient way of identifying objects than manual system or use of bar code systems that have been in use since the 1970s. Furthermore, passive RFID tags (those without a battery) can be read if passed within close enough proximity to an RFID reader. It is not necessary to "show" the tag to the reader device, as with a bar code. In other words it does not require line of sight to "see" an RFID tag, the tag can be read inside a case, carton, box or other container, and unlike barcodes RFID tags can be read hundreds at a time. Bar codes can only be read one at a time.

NFC operates in the standard unlicensed 13.56MHz frequency band over a distance of up to around 20 centimeters. Currently it offers data transfer rates of 106kbit/s, 212kbit/s and 424kbit/s, and higher rates are expected in the future. For two devices to communicate using NFC, one device must have an NFC

reader/writer and one must have an NFC tag. The tag is essentially an integrated circuit containing data, connected to an antenna that can be read and written by the reader. The interface can operate in several modes. The modes are distinguished whether a device creates its own RF field or whether a device retrieves the power from the RF field generated by another device. If the device generates its own field it is called an active device, otherwise it is called a passive device. Active devices usually have a power supply; passive devices usually don't (e.g. contactless Smart Card). When two devices communicate three different configurations are possible. These

HOW NFC WORKS

configurations are important because the way data is transmitted depends on whether the transmitting device is in active or passive mode. In active mode the data is sent using amplitude shift keying (ASK). This means the base RF NFC is a short-range, standards-based wireless connectivity technology, based on RFID signal (13,56 MHz) is modulated with the data according to a coding scheme. If the baudrate is 106 kBaud, the coding scheme is the so-called modified Miller coding. If the baudrate is greater than 106 kBaud the Manchester coding scheme is applied. In both coding schemes a single data

technology that uses magnetic field induction to enable communication between electronic

devices in close proximity.

bit is sent in a fixed time slot. This time slot is divided into two halves, called half bits. In Miller coding a zero is encoded with a pause in the first half bit and no pause in the second half bit. A one is encoded with no pause in the first bit, but a pause in the second half bit. In the modified Miller coding some additional rules are applied on the coding of zeros. In the case of a one followed by a zero, two subsequent half bits would have a pause. Modified Miller coding avoids this by encoding a zero, which directly follows a one with two half bits with no pause. In passive mode the data is sent using a weak load modulation. The data is always encoded using Manchester coding with a modulation of 10%. For 106 kBaud a subcarrier frequency is used for the modulation, for baudrates greater

than 106 kBaud the base RF signal at 13.56 MHz is modulated. Additionally to the active and passive mode, there are two different roles a device can play in NFC communication. NFC is based on a message and reply concept. This means one device A sends a message to another device B and device B sends back a reply. It is not possible for device B to send any data to device A without first receiving some message from device A, to which it could reply. The role of the device A which starts the data exchange is called initiator, the role of the other device is called target. The following Table 2: lists all possible combinations of this role with respect to the active or passive mode. Only the combination Initiator and Passive is not possible.

Furthermore it should be mentioned that NFC communication is not limited to a pair of two

devices. In fact one initiator device can talk to multiple target devices. In this case all target

devices are enabled at the same time, but before sending a message, the initiator device must select a receiving device. The message must then be ignored by all non selected target devices. Only the selected target device is

allowed to answer to the received data. Therefore, it is not possible to send data to more than one device at the same time (i.e. broadcasting messages are not possible).

COMPARISON WITH BLUETOOTH

NFC

Bluetooth

Bluetooth Low Energy

RFID compatible

ISO 18000-3

active

active

Standardisation body

ISO/IEC

Bluetooth SIG

Bluetooth SIG

Network Standard

ISO 13157 etc.

IEEE 802.15.1

IEEE 802.15.1

Network Type

Point-to-point

WPAN

WPAN

Cryptography

not with RFID

available

available

Range

< 0.2 m

~10 m (class 2)

~100 m

Frequency

13.56 MHz

2.42.5 GHz

2.42.5 GHz

Bit rate

424 kbit/s

2.1 Mbit/s

~1.0 Mbit/s

Set-up time

< 0.1 s

<6s

< 0.006 s

Power consumption

< 15mA (read)

varies with class

< 15 mA (transmit or receive)

APPLICATIONS
Near Field Communication is a standardsbased, short-range wireless connectivity

Various ways in which NFCs could change our daily lives

1. Contactless Payment

technology that enables convenient short range communication between electronic devices. The underlying layers of NFC technology are ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards. NFC applications can be split into the following four basic categories:
1.

Touch and Go: Applications such as access control or transport/event ticketing, where the user needs only to bring the device storing the ticket or access code close to the reader. Also, for simple data capture applications, such as picking up an Internet URL from a smart label on a poster. Unlike many other wireless technologies, NFC has a short range of about 1.5 inches. This makes it a good choice for secure transactions, such as contactless credit card payments. MasterCard and Visa are both members of the NFC Forum, and both companies have been involved in pilot programs that use NFC-enabled phones as a flash payment option. Phones could tap and go using infrastructure already in place for credit card systems such as MasterCards PayPass program or Visas pay Wave. The digital wallet concept could extend to coupons and other offers. The startup MoLo Rewards recently launched NFC-based coupon programs in San Diego and Toronto. Consumers can use the site to download coupons, which they exchange by having their phone swiped at the point of purchase. Want to send a coupon to a consumer who purchased a box of cereal on

2.

Touch and Confirm: Applications such as mobile payment where the user has to confirm the interaction by entering a password or just accepting the transaction.

3.

Touch and Connect: Linking two NFCenabled devices to enable peer to peer transfer of data such as downloading music, exchanging images or

synchronizing address books.

4.

Touch and Explore: NFC devices may offer more than one possible function. The consumer will be able to explore a device's capabilities to find out which

functionalities and services are offered.

the 21st of December at 11am EST? the company asks on its website. MoLo Rewards can provide you with the capability to do just that. 2. Transportation NFC works with most contactless smart cards and readers, meaning it could easily be integrated into the public transit payment systems in cities that already use a smart card swipe. NFC mobile ticketing described as practical, easy-to-use, comfortable, fast and troublefreehat already use a smart card swipe. Vodafone Germany, RMV, Germany transport ticketing, loyalty 3. Health Care Not only can NFC tags provide medical professionals with information about what treatments a patient should receive, but they can also keep track of when nurses and doctors have checked in with that patient and when. Each time the tag is scanned, the information about who scanned it and when can be transferred to a database. In addition to improving treatment, NFC tags also have potential in the research realm. 4. Ease of Use If NFC-enabled phones become prevalent, youll likely be able to initiate a two-player game by touching your phones together. Youll be able to link a headset to your phone or print a photo just by touching your device to a printer. A second-

place

winner

in the 2009

NFC

Forum

competition developed a touch-dial system for people who have trouble making phone calls. The user is able to tap a photo of the person he wants to call. The embedded NFC tag in the photo transmits the proper number to the phone automatically. 5. Smart Objects An NFC tag often contains information like a phone number or URL. NFC may have similar applications as bar codes do now. You can put one on a poster and let pedestrians scan it on their phones for more information. But being able to add more information to any object by integrating a tag has led to some interesting applications that go far beyond billboards. A company called Objecs, for instance, sells an NFC tablet for gravestones. Touching an NFCenabled phone to the Personal Rosetta

Stoneprovides additional information about the deceased. 6. Social Media Instead of stalking a new acquaintances in facebook profile after a night out, this

application provides an option to run a matching method based on variables the user provides (such as interest, dislikes, and hobbies) while still chatting with them in the bar.

THREATS
1. Eavesdropping The RF signal for the wireless data transfer can be picked up with antennas. The distance from which an attacker is able to eavesdrop the RF

signal depends on numerous parameters, but is typically a small number of metres. Also, eavesdropping is highly affected by the communication mode. A passive device that doesn't generate its own RF field is much harder to eavesdrop on than an active device. One open source device that is able to eavesdrop on passive and active NFC communications is the Proxmark instrument. 2. Data Corruption Instead of just listening an attacker can also try to modify the data which is transmitted via the NFC interface. In the simplest case the attacker just wants to disturb the communication such that the receiver is not able to understand the data sent by the other device. Data corruption can be achieved by transmitting valid

decoder basically checks the two half bits for RF signal on (no pause) or RF signal off (pause). 4. Data Insertion This means that the attacker inserts messages into the data exchange between two de-vices. But this is only possible, in case the answering device needs a very long time to answer. The attacker could then send his data earlier than the valid receiver. The insertion will be successful, only, if the inserted data can be transmitted, before the original device starts with the answer. If both data streams overlap, the data will be corrupted. 5. Man-in-the-Middle-Attack In the classical Man-in-the-Middle Attack, two parties which want to talk to each other, called Alice and Bob, are tricked into a three party conversation by an attacker Eve. This is shown in Figure 1.

frequencies of the data spectrum at a correct time. The correct time can be calculated if the attacker has a good understanding of the used modulation scheme and coding. This attack is not too complicated, but it does not allow the attacker to manipulate the actual data. It is basically a Denial of Service attack. 3. Data Modification In data modification the attacker wants the receiving device to actually receive some valid, but manipulated data. This is very different from just data corruption. The feasibility of this attack highly depends on the applied strength of the amplitude modulation. This is because the decoding of the signal is different for 100% and 10% modulation. In 100% modulation the

Main purpose of this attack is to steal user credentials or inject malicious content.

Moreover, since the user cannot see the current URL by web browser after entering the site, the risk is high.This works because current URL is not displayed by web browser as shown below

Title: https://mshop.store.com/ URI: http://attacker.com/proxy.cgi/https/mshop.store. com/ Alice and Bob in the above figure, may not be aware of the fact that they are not talking to each other, but that they are both sending and receiving data from Eve. Such a setup is the classical threat in unauthenticated key agreement protocols like Diffie-Hellmann protocol. Alice and Bob want to agree on a secret key, which they then use for a secure channel.

the NFC Forum in 2004. Participation of 130 countries in this forum clearly signals that NFC is set to become a way of life in the years to come.

CONCLUSION
We believe that NFC has the potential to be a disruptive technology, changing the way that lives are lived, transforming everyday tasks, making things easier, more intuitive and more effective. Though contactless or proximity cards are in use, their market penetration is limited, and bringing NFC to mobiles and other similar platforms may increase usage. references:[1] "Information technology -Telecommunications and information exchange between systems Near Field Communication Interface and Protocol (NFCIP-1)", ISO/IEC 18092, First Edition, 2004-0401. [2] Klaus Finkenzeller, "RFID Handbuch", Hanser Verlag, 2002. [3] Mobile NFC Services,January 2007 (http://gsmworld.com/documents/aa9310.pdf) [4] Near Field Communication and the NFC Forum: The Keys to Truly Interoperable Communications October 2007 (http://www.nfcforum.org/resources/white_papers/nf c_forum_marketing_white_paper.pdf) [4] Nokia Corporation, Nokia 6131 NFC Technical product description, 2007 [Online]. Available: http://sw.nokia.com/id/8a11d3f9306140ddafb98ad41 7293ef3/Nokia_6131_NFC_Technical_Product_Desc ription_v1_0_en.pdf [Accessed: June 22, 2009].

A smartphone or tablet with an NFC chip could make a credit card payment or serve

as keycard or ID card. NFC devices can also read unpowered NFC tags for example on a museum or retail display. NFC can share a contact, photo, song, application, or video, or pair Bluetooth devices. Several hundred NFC trials have been conducted to date. While NFC trials continue, some firms have moved to fullscale service deployments, spanning either a single country or multiple countries. Nokia, Sony, and Royal Philips Electronics founded