Today, we talk about NFC vs RFID Technology, what are NFC and RFID technology differences between them?
NFC vs RFID product technology background
NFC is the abbreviation of Near Field Communication, that is, Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Originally developed by Philips and Sony, NFC is a contactless identification and intercom the current situation at home and abroad, the Swedish hotel has actually applied the corresponding NFC door lock introduced by Assa Abloy, which mainly applies the different identification code of the NFC cell phone as Mac ID and the encryption mechanism of the corresponding program to open the door lock. In the NFC technology RFID electronic lock, the domestic basic is still in the technology gap.
At last year’s CEDIA EXPO, Yale Lock & Hardware exhibited an NFC-enabled home lock system and hoped to successfully enter the NFC international market.
Through this system, you will be able to open the electric door lock designed by Yale by simply putting your smartphone near the door lock, provided you have orts Zigbee and Z-Wave specifications of home automation communication technology, but also through Assa Abloy (APP software) of the action key software, so that users can easily load digital keys on mobile devices.
Based on our technical team’s experience in digital and underlying application design of RFID, we have always taken NFC as our technology guide and made in-depth research and development in hardware and software. The following is a brief introduction to our self-developed RFID access control Readhead based on NFC technology.
NFC vs RFID product function
NFC technology-based RFID access control Readhead adopts a Readheadmodular design to realize the communication between NFC cell phone and access control redhead. Readhead is equipped with a standard Wiegand26 interface, and compatible with the traditional non-contact access control Readhead function.
Compared with the traditional access control read head can only be used as a reader to read non-contact cards, RFID access control read head based on NFC technology can communicate directly with NFC-compliant devices such as cell phones, non-contact cards, card readers, etc., greatly expanding the scalability of the system.
After upgrading and optimizing the circuit board, it can have a data storage, forwarding function, as well as record the characteristic codes of different NFC devices, store and authorize them, and open the door lock when the NFC device enters the effective field.
NFC vs RFID product features
Product features Based on NFC technology, it is compatible with ISO14443A standard and can communicate with rapidly developing NFC compliant devices such as smartphones, tablets, etc.
Adopt near-field communication, avoiding far-field communication technology such as WIFI, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and other communication technology signal may be intercepted and cracked and other security problems, very suitable for the privacy requirements of strict applications
Standard Wiegand26 interface, compatible with various access control panels
Standard modular design, small size, low cost, low power consumption
NFC vs RFID technical parameters
NFC technology introduction in NFC vs RFID technology
NFC near-field communication technology is evolved from the integration of non-contact radio frequency identification (RFID) and interconnection technology, combining inductive reader, inductive card, and point-to-point functions on a single chip, which can identify and exchange data with compatible devices within a short distance.
NFC works at 13.56MHz, but users of this mobile payment solution must replace their special cell phones. Currently, this technology is widely used in Japan and Korea.
The cell phone can travel all over the country with their cell phones equipped with payment functions: their cell phones can be used for airport boarding verification, building access keys, transportation cards, credit cards, payment cards, etc.
NFC Technology in NFC vs RFID technology
This NFC technology evolved from contactless radio frequency identification (RFID) and was developed by Philips Semiconductors (now NXP Semiconductors), Nokia, and Sony, based on RFID and interconnection technology.
Near-field communication is a short-range, high-frequency radio technology that operates at a distance of 20 cm at a frequency of 13.56 MHz. Its transmission speed is 106 Kbit/sec, 212 Kbit/sec, or 424 Kbit/sec.
Near Field Communication has been adopted as ISO/IEC IS 18092 international standard, EMCA-340 standard, and ETSI TS 102 190 standards.NFC uses both active and passive reading modes.
The NFC chip is inter-communication capable and has computing power, and also contains cryptographic logic circuitry in the Felica standard eliCaTM standard, as well as ISO 14443 A, B, which uses Philips’ MIFARE standard. In the industry, it is referred to as Type A, Type B, and Type F, where A, B is the Mifare standard and F is the Felica standard.
To promote the development and popularity of NFC, the industry created the NFC Forum, a non-profit standards organization, to facilitate the implementation and standardization of NFC technology and to ensure collaboration between devices and services.
The NFC Forum has hundreds of members worldwide, including NOKIA, SONY, Philips, LG, Motorola, NXP, NEC, Samsung, and Intel, with Chinese members such as BBK, Vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi, China Mobile, Huawei, ZTE, etc.
NFC technology working mode in NFC vs RFID technology
NFC card mode (Card emulation).
This model is actually equivalent to an IC card with RFID technology. It can replace a large number of IC cards (including credit cards) occasion mall swipe cards, bus cards, access control, tickets, tickets, and so on.
In this way, there is a great advantage, that is, the card through the RF domain of the non-contact reader to power, even if the host device (such as a cell phone) has no power can also work.
NFC peer-to-peer mode (P2P mode).
This mode is similar to infrared and can be used for data exchange, except that the transmission distance is shorter, the transmission creation speed is faster, the transmission speed is also faster, and the power consumption is low (Bluetooth is similar).
Linking two NFC-enabled devices enables peer-to-peer data transfer, such as downloading music, exchanging pictures, or synchronizing device address books. Therefore, through NFC, multiple devices such as digital cameras, PDAs, computers, and cell phones can exchange data or services with each other technical features.
NFC vs RFID technology information transmission
Like RFID, NFC information is transmitted through electromagnetic induction coupling in the radio frequency portion of the spectrum, but there are significant differences between the two.
First, NFC is a wireless connectivity technology that provides easy, secure, and fast communication with a smaller transmission range than RFID.
Second, NFC is compatible with existing contactless smart card technology and has become an official standard supported by a growing number of major vendors.
Again, NFC is also a proximity connectivity protocol that provides easy, secure, fast, and automatic communication between various devices. Compared to other connectivity methods in the wireless world, NFC is a private communication method in close proximity.
NFC, infrared, and Bluetooth are the same contactless transmission method, they have their own different technical characteristics and can be used for a variety of different purposes, there is no difference between the advantages and disadvantages of the technology itself.
NFC cell phones built-in NFC chip, to the original use of RFID only as a tag has increased the function of data bi-directional transmission, this progress makes it more suitable for electronic money payment;
NFC technology supports a variety of applications, including mobile payments and transactions, peer-to-peer communications, and on-the-go information access.
With NFC-enabled cell phones, people can connect to the entertainment services and transactions they want, from anywhere, at any time, with any device, to complete payments, access poster information, and more.
NFC devices can be used as contactless smart cards, smart card reader terminals, and device-to-device data transmission links. Their applications can be divided into four basic types: payment and ticketing, electronic tickets, smart media, and for exchanging and transmitting data.
NFC vs RFID technology information transmission
NFC technology principle in NFC vs RFID technology
NFC-enabled devices can exchange data in active or passive mode
NFC active communication mode
In passive mode, the device that initiates NFC communication, also called the NFC initiating device (master device), provides the radiofrequency field (RF-field), throughout the communication process.
It can choose one of the 106kbps, 212kbps, or 424kbps transmission speeds to send data to another device. The other device called the NFC target device (the slave device), does not have to generate the RF field but uses load modulation (load modulation) technology, that is, the data can be transmitted back to the originating device at the same speed.
This communication mechanism is compatible with contactless smart cards based on ISO14443A, MIFARE, and FeliCa, so the NFC-initiating device can detect and establish contact with the contactless smart card or NFC target device in passive mode using the same connection and initialization process.
First, NFC integrates a contactless reader, contactless cards, and point-to-point functions into a single chip, while RFID must have a reader and tag composition.
RFID can only achieve the reading of information and determination, while NFC technology emphasizes information interaction. In layman’s terms, NFC is an evolutionary version of RFID, where both parties can exchange information at close range.
NFC cell phones with built-in NFC chips, part of the RFID module, can be used as RFID passive tags for payment; can also be used as an RFID reader, used for data exchange and collection, but also for data communication between NFC phones.
Second, the NFC transmission range is smaller than RFID, RFID transmission range can reach several meters or even tens of meters, but because NFC takes a unique signal attenuation technology, compared to RFID NFC has a close distance, high bandwidth, low energy consumption, and other characteristics.
Third, the application direction is different. NFC looks more for consumer electronic devices to communicate with each other, and active RFID is better at long-distance identification.
With the popularity of the Internet, cell phones as the Internet’s most direct intelligent terminal will certainly cause a technological revolution, as before, Bluetooth, USB, GPS, and other standards, NFC will become the most important standard for future cell phones, through NFC technology, cell phone payment, watch movies, take the subway can be achieved, will play a greater role in our daily lives!
Traditional NFC vs RFID technology comparison
NFC and Bluetooth are both short-range communication technologies, and both are integrated into cell phones. NFC can also simplify Bluetooth connectivity.
NFC is slightly better than Bluetooth in that the setup process is shorter, but it cannot reach the speed of Bluetooth Low Energy.
Using NFC to replace manual setup during the device identification process when two NFC devices are connected to each other makes creating a connection much faster: less than a tenth of a second.
The maximum data transfer of NFC, 424 kbit/s, is much smaller than that of Bluetooth V2.1 (2.1 Mbit/s). Although NFC is not as fast and far as Bluetooth (less than 20 cm), it reduces unwanted interference accordingly. This makes NFC particularly suitable when there is a high density of devices and transmission becomes difficult.
Compared to Bluetooth, NFC is compatible with existing passive RFID (13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 18000-3) facilities. NFC has a lower energy requirement, similar to the Bluetooth V4.0 low-power protocol.
NFC consumes less energy than low-power Bluetooth V4.0 when working on an unpowered device such as a switched-off cell phone, contactless smart credit card, or smart poster, and it is easier to use for cell phones or mobile consumers’ electronics.
NFC’s short-range communication characteristics are its strengths, and because of its low power consumption, linking to one machine at a time, and its high level of confidentiality and security, NFC is good for credit card transactions to avoid theft.
The goal of NFC is not to replace other wireless technologies such as Bluetooth but to play a complementary role in different situations and fields.
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