In this blog post, we will explore how NFC technology has transformed our daily lives and established itself as a safe and convenient means of communication.
Let’s say you go to the library to borrow a book. First, you choose the book you want to read. When selecting a book, you typically choose based on the title or cover, but sometimes you might refer to recommended books or come across a book you like by chance on the shelves. After spending some time browsing, you finally find the book you want. You then approach the self-service checkout machine. At this point, you would normally need to scan the book’s barcode or manually enter the barcode number. However, instead of this cumbersome method, you can simply place the book on the lending machine, and it will automatically recognize the book. You can even place several books at once, and it will recognize them accurately. Looking at the back cover of the book, you’ll notice an NFC tag in the form of a sticker. This NFC tag transmits the book’s information to the lending machine without direct contact. As technology advances, even simple tasks like this are becoming much more convenient.
NFC technology is not limited to libraries. In fact, NFC is already deeply embedded in modern life. It is actively used in various fields such as smartphones, payment systems, and transportation cards. Let’s take a closer look at NFC technology. NFC (Near Field Communication) is a short-range wireless communication method that allows two or more devices to exchange data directly without using a communication network by bringing them within 10 cm of each other.
Although NFC technology was developed in 2002, it did not gain significant attention at the time due to challenges such as the limited availability of compatible devices and tags, as well as the lack of social infrastructure required to utilize NFC. However, as the market for smartphones capable of functioning as NFC devices began to grow, companies started developing NFC-enabled smartphones. This trend gained momentum after Nokia announced in 2010 that it would release a smartphone with NFC technology.
As a result, NFC technology is now included in almost all smartphones. This allows users to easily utilize NFC functions in various aspects of their daily lives. Although the term “NFC” itself may be unfamiliar, it is already commonly seen in our daily lives.
For example, using a smartphone to tap a transportation card, making payments without a credit card using a smartphone, attaching NFC tags to items in public institutions or companies to manage inventory, storing personal account information on a USIM card to use an ATM without a card or bankbook, and even using a smartphone as a car key. These everyday examples alone demonstrate how widely NFC is used.
So, what are the advantages of NFC that make it so widely used in such diverse areas? The first advantage of NFC is convenience and security. NFC has a communication range limitation of 10 cm. However, this limitation actually solves two issues: convenience and security. In terms of convenience, the communication range limitation requires users to bring devices close to each other, so the device they want to connect to is naturally recognized.
Additionally, communication becomes impossible even if the devices are slightly out of range, physically preventing other devices from connecting wirelessly. This significantly enhances security. The second advantage is two-way communication. Take a transportation card as an example. A transportation card can transmit information to a device when it comes into contact with it, but it cannot receive information from the device. However, by using the NFC function on a smartphone, the smartphone can not only act as a transportation card but also function as a reader to check the balance of other transportation cards. The ability to perform both reader and tag functions means there is a wide range of potential applications. This allows users to process information in more diverse and efficient ways. However, where there are advantages, there are also corresponding disadvantages. Due to the short communication range mentioned above as an advantage, NFC requires the device to be held close to the terminal at all times. Therefore, this technology is difficult to apply in situations where users need to input many commands in between. This is why NFC is currently mostly used in applications that require only a brief moment, such as authentication and payment.
The principle behind this technology, which allows information to be exchanged with a simple touch, is electromagnetic induction. Electromagnetic induction refers to the phenomenon where a magnetic field around a conductor changes, causing current to flow through the conductor, and when current flows through the conductor, a magnetic field is generated around it. When an NFC terminal changes the surrounding magnetic field using a specific frequency band, current flows through the NFC tag (or device acting as a tag) nearby, and the information is processed internally. When the magnetic field is changed again according to the processed information from the NFC tag, the NFC terminal detects the change in the magnetic field and receives the processed information. In this way, the NFC terminal supplies current to the NFC tag through changes in the magnetic field, enabling transportation cards to operate without an external power source. This is particularly useful in inventory management and library loan systems. This is because the information of numerous books can be quickly processed using only the tags attached to the books.
As such, NFC technology has recently begun to gain attention and is being applied in various fields, leveraging its convenience and the widespread use of smartphones, which have become essential items for modern people. NFC is expected to develop even more rapidly, and in the future, it may play a greater role by combining with more complex technologies beyond simple payment and authentication. However, NFC has not yet been fully established throughout society. The lack of terminals that can process NFC and low user awareness mean that the future of NFC is not entirely bright. For NFC to become more familiar to us in the future, efforts must not only come from mobile communication companies that apply NFC technology to smartphones, but also from those who develop and distribute applications and devices that support the technology. Additionally, if more people become aware of NFC’s potential through user education, NFC could transcend its status as a mere technology and bring about significant changes across society.
