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Four NFC Forum Technical Specifications Speed and Enable New NFC Services
[October 09, 2018]

Four NFC Forum Technical Specifications Speed and Enable New NFC Services


The NFC Forum announced today the publication of four adopted specifications, following approval by the Board of Directors. The updated specifications enhance the device pairing and healthcare functionality of NFC services as well as optimizing performance. The NFC Forum is the world's leading standards and advocacy association for Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.

The Connection Handover Technical Specification 1.4 allows users to define additional specific services when two devices are paired together using other wireless communication technologies, such as Bluetooth or WLAN by a tap of an NFC-enabled device. The Personal Health Device Communication (PHDC) Technical Specification 1.2 defines the exchange of ISO/IEEE (News - Alert) 11073 messages often used for personal healthcare devices such as heart, blood pressure and glucose monitors. Also, updates were made to the NFC Digital Protocol Technical Specification 2.1 and NFC Controller Interface (NCI) Technical Specification 2.1.

"The Connection Handover 1.4 and PHDC 1.2 specifications create an opportunity for solution providers to innovate and develop new NFC-enabled products in the consumer and healthcare markets," said Paula Hunter, executive director, NFC Forum (News - Alert). "The NFC Forum is grateful to our members who continue to enhance our global specifications for the industry to improve convenience and healthcare for all."

Connection Handover Technical Specification 1.4 For Device Pairing Adopted
Connection Handover Technical Speciication 1.4 defines the structure and sequence of interactions that enable two NFC devices to establish a connection using other wireless communication technologies, such as Bluetooth or WLAN. This specification makes it possible for solutions providers to deploy applications that combine the simple, one-touch set-up of NFC with the high-speed communication of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Connection handover also supports static handover, in which the connection handover information is stored on an NFC tag (News - Alert).



Connection Handover Version 1.4 also adds the capability for an NFC device to communicate the availability of, or seek, specific services to use on alternate carriers. This capability makes it easier for the user to launch a specific service on an alternate carrier such as when an NFC phone taps a printer, the phone knows in advance what print methods that printer supports, and can prepare based on this information the optimum service to print with. Another use case is when a user of an NFC phone has the choice of either displaying a photo from the phone on the larger screen of a tablet or storing that photo file on the tablet. After making the selection, the user taps the tablet with the phone to transfer the photo via WLAN or Bluetooth and the selected action is performed with no additional action required.

The Personal Health Device Communication Technical Specification version 1.2 Adopted
PHDC Technical Specification version 1.2 defines the exchange of ISO/IEEE 11073 messages as they are often used for personal health devices. Its implementation enables healthcare devices such as NFC-enabled blood pressure monitors, heart monitors, weighing scales and glucose meters to transmit health data easily via NFC technology for monitoring by nurses, physicians, doctors and for home care use. With PHDC 1.2, no alternate carrier is needed as all the information is transferred via NFC and no additional communication channel is needed. Health monitoring devices are advocated by healthcare providers as a way to manage chronic health conditions and reduce healthcare costs. NFC technology supports these use cases by making communication between health devices and NFC-enabled phones fast, easy and intuitive. The earlier version of this specification described communication mechanisms for personal health devices based on the NFC Forum Type 2, 3 and 4 Tag protocols. PHDC version 1.2 adds the communications mechanism for NFC Forum Type 5 Tag protocol broadening the implementation choices for service providers of future NFC-enabled Personal Health Devices."


Digital Protocol Technical Specification 2.1 and NCI Technical Specification 2.1 Adopted
Digital Protocol Technical Specification 2.1 defines the digital part of the RF protocol used by NFC devices. Support for larger RF frames for the contactless ISO-DEP protocol compliant with ISO/IEC 14443 was added to optimize the overall transaction time for ISO-DEP.

NCI Technical Specification 2.1 defines a standard interface within an NFC device between an NFC Controller and the device's main application processor. This recent update to version 2.1 includes optimizations to improve performance.

About the NFC Forum
The NFC Forum (www.nfc-forum.org) was launched as a non-profit industry association in 2004 by leading mobile communications, semiconductor, and consumer electronics companies. The Forum's mission is to advance the use of Near Field Communication technology by developing specifications, ensuring interoperability among devices and services, and educating the market about NFC technology. The Forum's global member companies are currently developing specifications for a modular NFC device architecture, and protocols for interoperable data exchange and device-independent service delivery, device discovery, and device capability. Only member companies can participate in the Forum's certification program of NFC devices, readers and tags. The NFC Forum's Sponsor members, which hold seats on the Board of Directors, include leading players in key industries around the world. The Sponsor members are: Apple (News - Alert) Inc., Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd., Google, Inc., Infineon, Intel, MasterCard Worldwide, NXP Semiconductors, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Corporation, STMicroelectronics (News - Alert), and Visa Inc.

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