Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range wireless communication technology that allows devices to exchange data over a distance of a few centimeters. When an NFC device is brought in close proximity to or in physical contact with another NFC device or other compatible contactless target, such as an RFID device, communication is initiated automatically. The short transmission range makes NFC an inherently secure communication technology. However, the data transfer itself is unencrypted, so any security measures must be implemented in the NFC application.
NFC is based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. NFC is an open-platform technology that incorporates multiple ECMA and ISO/IEC standards. The NFC Forum promotes the standardization, implementation, and use of NFC technology globally.
For an overview of NFC technology and its support on Nokia devices, see document Introduction to NFC on Nokia Developer. For general NFC resources for developers, see the Nokia Developer Wiki.
The Contactless Communication API allows MIDlets to use the NFC capabilities of the mobile device to communicate with contactless targets. Specifically, MIDlets can read and write small amounts of data to and from the tags (integrated circuits) in the contactless targets.
Using the Contactless Communication API, you can integrate your MIDlet with the existing contactless service infrastructure. For example, you can create MIDlets that allow users to use their mobile devices to:
Download and store information and media from a smart poster
Exchange electronic business cards with another NFC device
Print an image stored on the device using a smart printer
The Contactless Communication API is supported on Symbian devices with NFC capabilities. For detailed information about platform support, see the implementation notes.
To find out which Symbian device models support NFC, see Nokia Developer device specifications.
Note: To use the Contactless Communication API with the Symbian^3 SDK and to successfully compile NFC MIDlets, you need to install the NFC plugin provided with the SDK. For more information about the plugin, see the SDK release notes.
Contactless targets are grouped into different types based on the kind of data their tags support. Different tags use different communication interfaces and data formats.
The Symbian implementation of the Contactless Communication API supports accessing data on the following types of contactless targets:
NDEF
This type includes contactless targets that support the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) for storing data. An NDEF target can be either an NFC device (such as a mobile phone) or an NFC tag (a device such as a smart card or a physical tag integrated into a smart poster).
In the API specification, this type is
indicated as TargetType.NDEF_TAG.
The NFC Forum defines different types of NDEF tags that can be used in NFC devices. The Symbian platform supports the following types:
NFC Forum Type 1
NFC Forum Type 2
NFC Forum Type 3
For more information about the NFC Forum Types, see the respective operation specifications on the NFC Forum.
In addition to the NFC Forum Types, the Symbian platform supports MIFARE Standard smart cards (also known as MIFARE Classic smart cards).
RFID
This type includes contactless targets that store data on RFID tags that do not support NDEF.
In the API specification, this type is indicated as TargetType.RFID_TAG.
The following table lists the Contactless Communication API extensions supported by the Symbian platform. Each extension specifies a dedicated communication interface for a specific tag technology.
Extension |
Tag type |
Tags |
|---|---|---|
NFC Forum Type 1 (NDEF) |
||
Used for peer-to-peer (P2P) communication between two NFC devices. |
Tags not applicable |
|
MIFARE Standard (NDEF) Note: This is a proprietary tag type, which is not supported by the NFC Forum. |
||
NFC Forum Type 2 (NDEF) |
||
NFC Forum Type 3 (NDEF) |
For more information about the Contactless Communication API, see:
Using the Contactless Communication API for basic instructions on how to program your MIDlet to communicate with contactless targets
Example: UIDReader for instructions on how to create a MIDlet that reads data from contactless targets
Example: URLWriter for instructions on how to create a MIDlet that writes data to contactless targets
Contactless Communication API and Contactless Communication API Extensions specifications for detailed information about the supported classes and methods
Implementation notes for information about how the Contactless Communication API specifications are implemented on the Symbian platform