Near Field Communication in the Real World – Part II

NFC opens up new product and service opportunities for many players: from network operators and handset device manufacturers, through application and service developers, to service providers and enterprises. But for the NFC mass market to take off – and for profitable businesses to be built around the technology – it is important that designers and manufacturers make the right technology choices. This is especially true for the NFC tag, where features and capabilities need to match the needs of the application – at a price level that is appropriate for mass-market deployment.

The initial mass-market applications of NFC are likely to build on existing communications infrastructure and user behaviour, where the user benefits are most compelling, the business case is strongest, and the commercial risks are lowest. This implies a need for low-cost NFC integrated circuits (ICs) that can be applied to a broad range of uses cost-effectively, in a way that is compatible with the broadest range of devices and reader infrastructure.

Innovision sees three