Near
field communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar
devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them
together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few
inches.
Present and anticipated applications include contactless transactions,
data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as
Wi-Fi. Communication is also possible between an NFC device and an unpowered
NFC chip, called a "tag".
NFC
standards cover communications protocols and data exchange formats, and are
based on existing radio-frequency identification (RFID) standards including
ISO/IEC 14443 and FeliCa. The standards include ISO/IEC 18092 and those defined
by the NFC Forum, which was founded in 2004 by Nokia, Philips Semiconductors
(has become NXP Semiconductors since 2006) and Sony.
