How does NFC work?
How does NFC work?
Near Field Communication (NFC) is a technology to exchange small amounts of data. There are two participants that communicate with each other. A distinction is made between active participants, which read out data, and passive participants, which contain stored information.
Active participants
Active NFC transmitters can read data by generating an electronic energy field. The best-known active transmitters are smartphones, payment terminals or hotel room door locks.
Passive participants
The passive NFC transmitter (receiver) is an NFC chip that contains stored information. This chip is installed in products that are to contain important information. Typically, receivers are EC cards, business cards, smartphones and amiibo figures.
NFC communication types
Passive mode
In passive mode, data is exchanged between a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter generates an electrical near field and thus activates the NFC chip, which is located in the receiver product. The important thing here is that the receiver itself cannot establish an independent connection, because it lacks the necessary energy source for this. Instead, it uses the energy of the near field (induction) generated by the transmitter and can then communicate the stored information to the transmitter.
A classic example of this is payment with a debit card. The reader (transmitter) activates the NFC tag contained in the EC card. The account data of the EC card is now read by the reader and can be used for payment.
An NFC connection between two passive NFC transmitters (receivers) is not possible because neither has a power source and therefore cannot start a connection.
Active Mode
In active mode, data is exchanged between two senders via a peer-to-peer connection. Peer-to-peer means that two devices of the same type communicate with each other, for example two smartphones. Both transmitters have a power source and can generate a near field. This means that data can also be transmitted in both directions, i.e. they can both send and read data.
One example is Apple's airdrop function. It uses Bluetooth or WLAN for data transfer between two Apple devices, depending on the distance. If the WLAN connection is used, the devices communicate via peer-to-peer. Peer to peer means that devices of the same type (e.g. two smartphones) communicate with each other.
First published: 02.10.2023 / Updated: 02.10.2023 2023-10-02 2023-10-02