NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a short-range wireless communication technology, which is widely used in many fields such as mobile phones, smart watches, payment cards, and license plates. Below I will explain the basic principles of NFC and how to use it.
- Basic principles of NFC
The basic principle of NFC is similar to RFID(radio frequency identification) technology, which uses radio waves to communicate. However, the NFC communication distance is closer than RFID, generally about 4 centimeters, and the communication rate is higher.
NFC operates in three modes: read mode, write mode, and point-to-point mode. Read mode is the most common mode, such as the phone sensing the NFC label on the table. In write mode, information is written to an NFC tag on a PC, smartphone, or portable electronic device, and peer-to-peer mode, two NFC devices communicate with each other.
- Use of NFC
NFC is the most used in smart phones, and the main applications include: payment, file transfer, label reading, and sharing content. Examples of specific applications:
(1) NFC payment: NFC payment refers to the mobile payment method completed by NFC technology, which is generally used for small payments, such as mobile phone NFC payment, bus card swipe, shopping mall swipe card, etc.
(2) NFC file transfer: There are two modes of NFC file transfer, namely Android Beam and S Beam. Android Beam is used to transfer files between Android phones, and S Beam is used to transfer files between Samsung phones. The specific operation steps are: Turn on the NFC chip of the two mobile phones, touch the back of the two mobile phones together, wait for the successful induction of the NFC chip, and confirm the transfer file.
(3) NFC label reading: NFC labels can store a small amount of data, the data is stored inside the label, and the information in the label can be read using NFC card readers or sensors. For example, the intelligent service machine in the municipal service project implemented in Beijing is set up with the NFC label reading function, and residents can directly read the information in the mobile phone, such as ID card, driver’s license, work card and other information to the machine for business.
(4) NFC sharing content: Many types of content can be shared through NFC, such as phone books, music, photos, videos, web addresses, etc. For example, through NFC, information can be sent to the TV for playback, and the mobile phone screen can be quickly projected to the TV screen.
In addition, NFC has the following advantages: