NFC operates in the 13.56 MHz frequency range, over a typical distance of a few centimeters. The underlying layers of NFC technology are ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards.
Christophe Duverne, Chairman, NFC Forum said the new specifications are designed to make it possible for developers to create NFC-Forum-compliant devices that will be interoperable with other manufacturers' devices and compatible with the NFC-Forum-compliant offerings of service providers, ensuring successful communication between devices and tags.
The four specifications now available include:
1) NFC Data Exchange Format
(NDEF) Technical Specification (specifies a
common data format for NFC Forum-compliant devices and NFC
Forum-compliant
tags)
2) NFC Record Type Definition
(RTD) Technical Specification (specifies
standard record types used in messages between two NFC Forum-compliant
devices or between NFC Forum-compliant devices and tags)
3) NFC Text RTD Technical
Specification (for records containing plain text
that can be read by NFC-enabled devices)
4) NFC URI RTD Technical
Specification (for elements that refer to an
Internet resource that can be read by NFC-enabled devices)
In June of this year, the NFC Forum unveiled its modular NFC device architecture and protocols for interoperable data exchange, device-independent service delivery, device discovery, and device capability.
<>Additional specifications are still in development. A schematic diagram showing the basic elements of the NFC Forum technology architecture, along with other materials, is available on the NFC Forum's Web site.The NFC Forum also announced the initial set of tag formats that all NFC Forum-compliant devices must support. Tags are integrated circuits that store data that can be read by NFC-enabled devices. The Forum's selected tags are based on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14443 Type A and B standards and Sony's FeliCa.
The NDEF specification describes a common data exchange format for NFC Forum-compliant devices and NFC Forum-compliant tags. It also contains the rules for constructing a valid NDEF message as an ordered and unbroken collection of NDEF records. Further, it defines the mechanism for specifying the types of application data encapsulated in NDEF records. Record Type Definition (RTD)
To help ensure interoperability of NFC technology in a broad variety of devices, the RTD provides guidelines for specifying well-known record types for inclusion in NDEF messages exchanged between NFC Forum-compliant devices, and between NFC Forum-compliant devices and tags.
The Text RTD defines a record format for plain text data, which can be used for free-form text descriptions of other objects on a tag. The Text RTD is a general-purpose text field to add metadata to things such as URIs, and it can be used where there is not much space. The Text RTD will also work well for non-Western languages, as it includes language information for localization purposes.
Universal Resource Identifier Service Record Type Description (URI RTD) The URI Service RTD describes a record to be used with the NDEF to retrieve a URI stored in an NFC Forum-compliant tag or to transport a URI from one NFC device to another. The URI RTD also provides a way to store URIs inside other NFC elements, such as on Smart Posters.
The specifications are available to the public for download at no charge from the NFC Forum Web site.
