The NFC Forum Transport SIG acts as a bridge between all transport industry stakeholders, from identifying NFC roadblocks to enabling a seamless integration of NFC by providing all players with the information and tools they need to succeed. Significant progress has been made with harmonization efforts over the past year. This presentation by the NFC Forum Transport SIG provides an overview of where we are to date, where we are heading, and how your organization can get involved with our efforts to advance the adoption of NFC in public transport.

1. TRANSFORMING THE NFC PUBLIC
TRANSPORT EXPERIENCE FROM VISION
TO REALITY
– The Necessities of NFC Forum Harmonization Efforts
~ by NFC Forum Transport SIG
Advancing Near Field Communication Technology

2. TRANSFORMING THE NFC PUBLIC TRANSPORT
EXPERIENCE
● What is the role of the NFC Forum Transport SIG
 The NFC Forum Transport SIG acts as a bridge between all
transport industry stakeholders, from identifying NFC roadblocks
to enabling a seamless integration of NFC by providing all players
with the information and tools they need to succeed.
● How is the Transport SIG working to increase the
adoption of NFC in the Public Transport sector?
 By working with key stakeholders in leading standards organizations
to harmonize specifications. The end goal is to facilitate a global
public transport environment in which passengers board with
unprecedented speed and ease, fare collection and access are
handled with accuracy, and the user experience is uniformly positive
from country to country, and transit system to transit system.
2

3. ACRONYMS USED IN THIS PRESENTATION
Advancing Near Field Communication Technology3
PT =
Public transport
NMD =
NFC Mobile
Device
CICO =
Check-in/Check-out*
* Check-in/Check-out means that the user has to tap his or her
phone when entering and when leaving the system.

4. INTRODUCTION, MOTIVATION AND INITIAL SITUATION
1. Over the last 10 years, the public transport market has been ready to embrace NFC-enabled mobile
services but field introduction did not take place as could have been expected.
2. The fragmentation of contactless specifications may be the major reason why NFC is not as successful as
it could be.
 ISO/IEC 14443, ISO/IEC 18092, EMVCo L1 and NFC Forum analog are built on the same technical foundation but over
time developed differences that may lead to interoperability issues.
 NFC’s value proposition claims that it is easy to use, self-explanatory, secure and compatible with existing contactless
infrastructures. This proposition is currently broken since service providers and users cannot rely on the interoperability
of NFC mobile devices with their contactless application.
 Case-by-case investigation is required to determine if a certain NFC-enabled service will be supported by a dedicated
type of NFC mobile device
3. In order to make NFC a market success, NFC mobile devices have to come with guaranteed technical
interoperability with the globally relevant contactless infrastructures and applications.

5. THE FRAMEWORK FOR INTEROPERABILITY
Interoperability requires continuous cooperation between the relevant standardization bodies as
specifications evolve. The NFC Forum has established relationships with the relevant bodies:
Global network for alignment on
PT market business requirements
Continuous harmonization of the
relevant specifications via liaisons
Base
standards
PT-specific
standards
Continuous harmonization of the
relevant specifications via liaisons
ISO/IEC14443
ISO JTC1 SC17 WG8
EMVCo L1
EMVCo, LLC
Base
standards
CEN TS16794
CEN TC278 WG3 SG5
ISO TC204 WG8PT-specific
standards IN PROGRESS

6. REQUIREMENTS AND APPROACH
1. In order to support all globally relevant implementations, the NFC mobile device has to be interoperable with
the following standards:
 ISO/IEC 14443,
 ISO/IEC 18092,
 EMVCo L1 and
 NFC Forum’s analog specification.
2. Interoperability would be guaranteed if there were one contactless standard for all types of devices and
applications.
 However, this straight-forward approach is not practical. The relevant standardization groups can provide good reasons why their
specific work has to be continued. No party will give up their specification in support of a common approach.
 Instead, the approach for interoperability of NFC mobile devices has to respect and appreciate the relevance and the roles of the
established working parties.
 A collaboration between these parties requires mutual consent of the individual roles and a defined division of work.
3. The foundation for the necessary harmonization work of analog/RF and digital layer specifications for NFC
mobile devices is a broad cooperation among all relevant organizations and was initiated by the NFC Forum.

7. EXAMPLE OF MOBILE SERVICE LIFE CYCLE IN PUBLIC
TRANSPORT (PT)
Advancing Near Field Communication Technology7
Mobile Service
Process
Authentication-Media
via NFC mobile device
Creation / maintenance
personal account
Online-Shop
via NFC mobile device
Individualized
Transport
Card
Transport
Card
NFC device or
contactless card
as fare mediaTransport
Card
Online-Shop
via NFC mobile device
Mobile identity
management

8. NMD as PT
fare media
NMD as CICO media in
passive tag infrastructure
Use of ISO/IEC 14443,
ISO/IEC 18092
PT fare media
Mobile maintenance of
NMD apps, purchasing of
entitlements, payment
Mobile
authen-
tication
Mobile management of
the personal account
(A) Setting up / managing the
personal account
Seamlessly mobile
service approach
Personal mobile POS
Maintenance of classical fare
media, purchasing, payment
Partly stationary
service approach
(B2) Configuration of NFC device
/ media, purchasing of
entitlements, payment
Use of electronic “primary
identity”, authorization,
setting up , resetting
authentication scheme
Classical identification and
authorization (ID, signature)
Purchasing at service centre,
vending machine
Maintenance and purchasing
over-the-air
Stationaryand/ormobileinspection
(C) Customer uses PT services
Maintenance of classical media ,
purchasing over-the-air
(partly) stationary scenarioLegend:
Mobile
authen-
tication
(B1) Secure
authentication
over-the-air
Mobile ID management
Personal mobile POS
Maintenance of classical fare
media, purchasing, payment
Mobile
authen-
tication
Reading tag information
Classical management
of the personal account
Classical sales & maintenance
Mobile application scenario
MOBILE SERVICE LIFE CYCLE IN PUBLIC TRANSPORT
NMD as Reader & Media*
NFC device as PoS PT services
* Media = Card/PICC

9. CONTACTLESS INTERFACE
RELEVANT CONTACTLESS STANDARDS
 Depending on the use case of an NMD for Public transport the support of different contactless
standards is necessary:
 NMD as Reader/Writer or emulating a terminal:
 Advance secure communication for mobile ID-management: ISO/IEC 14443, ISO/IEC 18092
 Communication to NFC-Tags: NFC Forum (Type 1 Tag – Type 4 Tag)
 Managing tickets, communication to electronic ID: ISO/IEC 14443, ISO/IEC 18092
 Contactless payment: EMVCo L1, ISO/IEC 18092
 NMD in Card emulation:
 Contactless payment or direct fare payment: EMVCo L1, ISO/IEC 18092
 Emulating a ticket or an electronic ID: ISO/IEC 14443, ISO/IEC 18092

10. WORK AREA “CONTACTLESS INTERFACE”
NFC MOBILE DEVICE AS PLATFORM FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT
Requirements to a generic NFC mobile platform for PT
 PT and payment infrastructures/media using ISO/IEC 14443, EMVCo, ISO/IEC 18092 and NFC tags have to be supported
 Requires conformity OR interoperability of NFC mobile devices with these standards
 Potential conflicts between requirements of the relevant contactless standards (analog and digital) have to be resolved as precondition
for an implementation in NFC mobile devices
 Interoperability has to be tested and certified. Applies for NFC mobile devices AND PT infrastructures or PT media.
ISO/IEC 14443 EMVCo L1
Synchronization
ISO/IEC 18092
Implementation
specification for generic
NFC mobile devices
NFC Forum
Analog spec

11. WORK AREA “CONTACTLESS INTERFACE”
ANTENNA SIZE IMPACT ON COMMUNICATION STABILITY
● NFC performs communication and/or power transfer using magnetic coupling
● Generally, the ratio of the Reader to Card antenna size as well as there relative distance determines
the coupling which has a huge impact on communication stability and/or power transfer
● The 2 extreme cases have to distinguished
 Low coupling case: Large difference in antenna size between Reader and Card
 High coupling case: Almost equal antenna sizes of Reader and Card
● In the past Readers and Cards have been design for single applications
 PT and Payment implementing systems mainly based on low coupling case
 Access systems and NMD to NMD communication implementing systems mainly based on high coupling case
New challenges due to multi-application usage of NMD facing both,
low and high coupling cases affecting all, NMD, Readers and Cards.

12. WORK AREA “CONTACTLESS INTERFACE”
RELEVANT ANTENNA SIZES
NFC mobile devices:
 According to technology providers, antennas of sizes from Class 1 to Class 6 are relevant.
 Antenna sizes between Class 3 and Class 6 are most common.
 Trend goes to small antennas.
● Typical Antenna size overview
Antenna size
PT or payment
readers
NFC mobile devices
PT, ID or payment
media
Larger Class 1   
Class 1   
Down to Class 3   
Down to Class 6 Optional  
Antenna size classification
according to ISO/IEC 14443:
Class 1: ~71.5 x 41.5 mm2
Class 3: ~45 x 32 mm2
Class 6: ~24.7 x 19.7 mm2
: relevant case
: not relevant

13. WORK AREA “CONTACTLESS INTERFACE”
INTERACTION OF ANTENNAS
Relevant scenarios for interoperability between NFC mobile devices and ISO/IEC14443-
conformant readers and media.
NFC mobile devices
Antenna sizes
Class 1
Class 3
Public transport
and ID media
Antenna sizes
Class 1
Down to Class 3
Down to Class 6
Reader and Card emulation mode
Class 1 or larger
Down to Class 3
Down to Class 6
(optional)
Public Transport
readers
Antenna sizes
Class 6

14. ACHIEVEMENTS
● Harmonization of all relevant analog parameters has been successfully performed
● Interoperability can be ensured independent from antenna size
● Interoperability can be ensured for a minimum defined operating distance
● Testing and certification on PT and NFC Forum side will ensure interoperability

15. OUTLOOK
● Establish cooperation to maintain the analog and digital harmonization status
● Introduce new analog parameter in cooperation with all standardization bodies

16. FURTHER WORK AREAS
● The Transport SIG of the NFC Forum has identified additional work areas that
could be relevant when it comes to defining further requirements of the PT
market. Examples of those work areas include:
 Electromagnetic disturbance
 Operating distances
 Security aspects
For further information please visit the NFC Forum Transport page or email the
Transport SIG chairs. Your contribution and participation is highly appreciated.

17. APPENDIX
Advancing Near Field Communication Technology17

18. APPENDIX: EXAMPLE -- MOBILE SERVICE LIFE
CYCLE IN PT IN GERMANY
NFC device or
contactless card
as fare media
Creation /
maintenance personal
account
Online-Shop
via NFC mobile device
Mobile identity
management
*FIDO = Fast IDentity Online

19. NFC FORUM PRESENTATION CONTRIBUTORS
● Co-Chair: Joerg Schmidt, Infineon
● Secretary: Jean-Luc Guisset, Sony
● Frank Dawidowsky, Sony, NFC Forum Secretary
● Michael Stark, NXP
Advancing Near Field Communication Technology19
For further information please visit the NFC Forum Transport page or email the
Transport SIG chairs. Your contribution and participation is highly appreciated.