Adoption of NFC/RFID/Contactless Smart Card in Mobile Phones by NXP and Sony

Several years ago, Philips, Nokia and Sony started development of  the Near Field Communication (NFC). Now, NXP (formerly Philips), and Sony are going to establish a joint venture (JV) by mid-year 2007, that will drive global adoption of contactless smart card applications in mobile phones. The anticipated JV will plan, develop, produce and market a secure chip that will include both MIFARE® and FeliCa™ operating systems and applications, as well as other contactless card operating systems and applications.

What is NFC?

NFC (Near Field Communication) is for very short range two-way wireless connectivity, and is a short-range radio frequency (RF) technology that allows a reader to read small amounts of data from other devices or tags when brought next to each other. In Nokia’s solution, the reading distance is a few centimeters. NFC technology evolved from a combination of contactless identification or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and interconnection technologies. Touch-based interactions offer mobile phone users an intuitive and easy way to connect, collect and share with mobile devices. (source: _http://europe.nokia.com/A4153291)

Marc de Jong, Executive Vice President and General Manager, NXP Semiconductors:

This joint venture signals the evolution of interoperable mobile services, regardless of technology platform or geography. Combining MIFARE and FeliCa contactless technologies in a single chip opens a vast array of opportunities for consumers using the technologies, as well as for developers creating new applications for global markets. Soon service providers will be able to roll out great new services to end users on a global scale, ensuring a broad range of offerings to keep customers happy wherever they are.

By combining this secure chip with an NFC chip a universal contactless IC platform can be created for mobile phones. As a result, mobile device manufacturers and service providers around the world will be able to design products and services which are compatible with the different contactless IC protocols and operating systems that are already deployed in different countries. Therefore consumers will be able to enjoy multiple applications such as payment and transport ticketing from various service providers on one device…

Mr. Hiromasa Otsuka, Corporate Executive and SVP, Sony Corporation:

With FeliCa, Sony has established a contactless IC business model whereby mobile phone wallet services are deployed in multi-application, multi-handset and multi-carrier modes. The new JV will introduce customers around the world to a new lifestyle where simply touching a terminal with a mobile phone gives access to a wide range of services. And it will contribute to Sony’s vision of a network consumer electronics entertainment world…

MIFARE is the most widely installed contactless smart card technology in the world with about 1.2 billion smart card chips and more than seven million reader modules sold. Current shipments of FeliCa ICs stand at 170 million units and of these 30 million are mobile FeliCa chips for use in mobile phones in Japan. Sony is creating a unique business model for the use of contactless IC for mobile phones. NXP and Sony will individually offer chips and applications based on their respective technology platforms, MIFARE and FeliCa, while both companies will continue to develop NFC technologies jointly.

How does NFC works?

NFC is based on contactless and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions, which consist of a tag and a reader. The reader, when activated, emits a short-range radio signal that powers up a microchip on the tag, and allows for reading a small amount of data that can be stored on the tag. NFC is different from other contactless or RFID technologies in that it has a very short distance and also allows two devices to interconnect. The effective distance of an NFC solution depends on the tag design and the reader, but is only a few centimeters in Nokia’s solution. (source: _http://europe.nokia.com/A4153291)

Source: NXP, Nokia