INSIDE Secure releases NFC protocol stack for Android
07 February, 2011
category: NFC
INSIDE Secure has launched a new version of its Open NFC protocol stack geared toward Google Android 2.3 (aka GIngerbread).
The first of its kind for Gingerbread, INSIDE’s Open NFC version 4.2 offers chip vendors, smart phone manufacturers, wireless carriers and software developers a way to implement NFC independently of underlying NFC hardware, as well as a consistent NFC application programming interface (API).
“Open NFC relies on a separate, very thin and easily adaptable hardware abstraction software layer, which accounts for a very small percentage of the total stack code, meaning that the Open NFC software stack can be easily leveraged for different NFC chip hardware,” said Philippe Martineau, executive vice president of the NFC business line for INSIDE Secure. “This has tremendous cost, time-to-market and flexibility advantages for NFC chip vendors, smart phone manufacturers and software developers who would otherwise have to contend with rewriting the hardware-specific elements of the Gingerbread NFC protocol stack.”
According to Martineau, because the current Gingerbread NFC stack embeds code that is not confined to a thin hardware- specific layer, a substantial portion of the stack has to be rewritten to adapt the stack to a different NFC controller or combo connectivity chip. With its separate hardware abstraction software layer, adapting the Open NFC stack to new hardware is much simpler as the overall code base to adapt is significantly smaller.
According to INSIDE, Open NFC supports several levels of functionality, from low-level RF control to high-level NFC Forum tag handling, peer-to-peer communications, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi pairing, interactions with single-wire protocol SIMs and other secure elements. The solution is compatible with smart cards and RFID tags based on Felica, Mifare and ISO 14443 standards.