Near Field Communication QuickStart

Overview

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range wireless technology that allows communications to take place between devices that either touch or are momentarily held close together. NFC technology offers tremendous potential, not only because it can be rolled out for mass adoption, but because of the number of different ways it can be used to make life easier.

The technology works via magnetic field induction and operates on an unlicensed radio frequency band. “Tags” are embedded within devices — for example, mobile devices such as mobile phones or PDAs, or NFC stations such as ticket barriers or cash registers. Devices that are held together can then share information either in one direction or both directions.

NFC is based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which is compatible with most of the contactless transportation and ticketing solutions that are commonly used around the world to enable quick and smooth flow of people within public transportation systems or ticketed environments. NFC is an open-platform technology, and it was approved as an ISO/IEC global standard in December 2003.

The Nokia 6131 NFC mobile device, the first Nokia mobile phone with integrated NFC functionality, is used as a reference throughout this guide.

This guide divides NFC application development into three different methods that can be used in different combinations for creating applications for the Nokia 6131 NFC:

• Using the Nokia 6131 NFC's native NFC functionality (NFC tag reading/writing)
• Developing Java™ Platform, Micro Edition (Java™ ME) applications, MIDlets, using NFC features
• Developing secure element applications

What you should already know

Using native NFC functionality does not require any programming experience. If you are interested in developing MIDlets using NFC features, you should have a certain level of Java ME programming experience. When developing Java Card applications for a secure element, a certain level of Java Card programming experience is also required. Without prior Java experience or, at worst, any other programming language experience, you should consider basic Java training first.

Start here

Unless you have already created NFC applications, you should get an overview of the technology by reading the introduction to the NFC technology and the Nokia 6131 NFC Technical Product Description.

There are loads of resources available to start with, and it is possible to follow a variety of alternative paths, based on personal preference. If you don’t feel ready to proceed with the tools yet, but prefer to continue scanning through the NFC material before jumping into actual development, you may wish to take a look at the NFC Wiki and NFC Discussion Board, or consider participating in Nokia NFC-related events. However, the idea is to produce something simple and concrete, quickly — in other words, you should make a quick start and then study NFC application development in more detail.

First, play with the tools

Try the Nokia 6131 NFC native NFC functionality

Prerequisite: Nokia 6131 NFC mobile device and compatible NFC tag

1. Creating contact information to the phone:

• Choose Names in the Contacts menu > Press Options > Choose Add new contact.
• Enter contact details.
• Select Save.

2. Writing it to the NFC tag:

• In the Contacts menu, under Names, find the contact that was just created.
• Press Options > Transmit bus. Card.
• Touch the NFC tag to write the business card.

This contact information can now be shared with friends. They can touch the NFC tag with their Nokia 6131 NFC to receive this contact information into their mobile phones.

Create a MIDlet using NFC features

To create MIDlets using NFC features, download and install the software development kit (SDK) for Nokia 6131 NFC. The SDK contains development tools for creating MIDlets for the Nokia 6131 NFC: Java libraries, example MIDlets, documentation, and a Nokia 6131 NFC MIDP emulator to test the MIDlets on a PC.

At this point, you do not need to program anything yet, just run an example MIDlet located in the examples folder in the SDK installation directory:

• An example MIDlet called SimpleNDEFExample is a good choice for getting started. Simply follow the instructions in the release notes: Running the MIDlet from the Start Menu.
• You can also install the SimpleNDEFExample to your Nokia 6131 NFC using Nokia PC Suite and try the MIDlet with a real NFC-enabled mobile device.

Next steps

Native NFC functionality

You can now start to experiment with what you can do with the Nokia 6131 NFC native NFC functionality. For example, what about writing an NFC tag containing a friend’s phone number, enabling an automatic call to that number when the tag is touched? Or building easy access for SMS or Web-based services by configuring NFC tags to include service shortcuts with service access details?

NFC MIDlet development

• Complete the development environment

If you have already installed and downloaded the Nokia 6131 NFC SDK, the next step to start the MIDlet programming is to complete the development environment. Follow the instructions in the Nokia 6131 NFC User’s Guide to install the complete development environment.

Examine the code examples

• Nokia 6131 NFC SDK example MIDlets
• Example NFC MIDlets in source code format in Forum Nokia Wiki

Secure element application development

Before rushing into the secure element application development, you should read the Nokia 6131 NFC Technical Product Description and the references to make sure that you understand the purpose of the secure element, what all the elements are, NFC players, and the requirements for developing and deploying secure element applications.

If you still believe that secure element application development is what you need, here are few tips for getting started:

• Read the chapter Developing applications using the secure element of Nokia 6131 NFC in the Nokia 6131 NFC SDK User’s Guide.
• Read more about how to create the connection from a MIDlet to the Nokia 6131 NFC internal tag/card in the Nokia 6131 NFC SDK Programmer’s Guide.
• Examine the code examples (TicketingExample, InternalSecureCardExample, MFStandardExample, and DynamicBrandingExample) in the Nokia 6131 NFC SDK.
• For more information about Java Card technology, read related literature, for example Java Card Technology for Smart Cards: Architecture and Programmer’s Guide by Zhique Chen (ISBN 0-201-70329-7).

Scan through the documentation

Several resources offer a wealth of useful documentation:
Forum Nokia Wiki – NFC
Forum Nokia Wiki – Nokia 6131 NFC FAQs
Forum Nokia – Near Field Communication
NFC Forum

Nokia 6131 NFC SDK documentation

Discuss with your peers

NFC discussions

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