Applus+ is now able to test both the analogue parts and the digital protocols of NFC devices and verify their compliance with NFC Forum specifications.
Applus+ Laboratories has satisfied
NFC Forum requirements, becoming an NFC authorised
testing lab. With this accreditation, Applus+ is able to test both the analogue parts and the digital protocols of NFC devices and verify their compliance with NFC Forum specifications.
In addition to performing the official NFC Forum tests, Applus+ provides
consultancy services related to the implementation of
NFC technology in new devices as well as debugging sessions to identify and resolve potential interoperability problems.
Applus+ Laboratories, NFC Forum member
NFC Forum is an organisation that brings together the main companies working with NFC technology, developing technical specifications to ensure interoperability between a wide range of NFC devices.
Applus+ has been an NFC Forum member since 2008 and has participated in myriad technical committees working on the development of new NFC standards. In addition, Applus+ is the Test Tool Validation House for Digital, LLCP and SNEP tests.
NFC Forum certification for mobiles
The adoption of NFC technology by mobile manufacturers has led to its propagation and opened the door to a wide diversity of possible applications. The NFC Forum’s technical specifications are intended to ensure an optimal user experience for the majority of mobile NFC applications: pairing two mobiles for the purposes of information sharing, connecting a mobile to another electronic device or using a mobile as an NFC-tag reader.
NFC mobiles can also draw on NFC technology to act as contactless cards (card emulation mode). NFC Forum specifications cover several of these types of application (identification, loyalty, marketing). But for the time being, the main payment schemes (VISA, MasterCard, etc.) still require NFC mobiles to be certified to their own standards (EMV) for payment transactions.
Applus+ Laboratories is also accredited to evaluate the security and functionality of m
obile payment systems according to
EMVCo, VISA, MasterCard, AMEX and
GlobalPlatform specifications. With its NFC Forum accreditation, Applus+ has widened its portfolio of services to manufacturers and integrators and will now be able to offer a joined-up NFC-mobile testing service incorporating both EMVCo (payments) and NFC Forum (other applications).
NFC Forum certification for other devices
Over and above mobiles, NFC technology offers new functionality to many other existing products (printers, cameras, loudspeakers, headphones, access control, etc.) and provides the technological foundations for new products such as wearable devices and NFC tags.
In the case of many of these new products, the incorporation of NFC wireless communication provides a key differentiating feature, since ensuring a positive user experience is of the utmost importance. Nowadays, certifying a product to NFC Forum specifications is by far the best way of ensuring interoperability with other NFC products, in particular with the wide range of NFC mobiles that are on the market today – as well as those that may appear in the future.