GlobalPlatform delivers new TSM communication framework for NFC ecosystem
18 April, 2011
category: NFC
GlobalPlatform, the organization that standardizes the management of applications on secure chip technology, has released two new specifications designed to facilitate interoperable communication between trusted service managers (TSMs) and the rest of the mobile NFC ecosystem.
Free to download from GlobalPlatform’s website, the new specs address the communication needs of TSMs, which are independent third parties that facilitate the secure management of mobile contactless services.
Meeting the requirements of industry associations, including the European Payments Council (EPC), GSMA, and the Association Française pour le ‘Sans Contact’ Mobile (AFSCM), the new specs are designed to help the NFC service community build a sustainable, scalable and open messaging framework that leverages available web services tools. This will ensure that all parties deploying and managing mobile NFC applications can transport messages efficiently using web services, says GP.
The first release is the Web Services Profile for GlobalPlatform Messaging Specification v1.0, which provides guidance on how OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), and W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) Web Services Standards should be implemented in a GlobalPlatform systems deployment to achieve industry interoperability.
The document details how to apply IT infrastructures and industry standard components to ease integration and build web services without the need to design a complete business solution. Publication of this work further aligns GlobalPlatform’s technology with current internet capabilities, and aims to encourage confidence in using this medium to communicate when managing the life-cycle of an NFC application deployed on the secure chip of a mobile device.
The second document, GlobalPlatform’s Specification for Management of Mobile NFC Services v1.0, defines how messages can be exchanged between all parties in a NFC deployment in an interoperable, secure and reliable web services format. Example exchanges include: a TSM request on behalf of a bank to a mobile network operator to deploy a NFC payment application, or a mobile network operator notifying all involved parties that a mobile device has been lost and services to the handset must be terminated.
Eric Le Saint, Chair of the GlobalPlatform Systems Committee, comments: “Defining a common language is vital to ensuring interoperable communication exchanges between the actors of the mobile NFC ecosystem. GlobalPlatform Specifications provide the NFC community with the building blocks to create a trusted end-to-end solution which serves multiple actors and supports several business models.”