NFC

Making room for more apps

Credit/debit cards, public transport tickets, door access ("keys") and loyalty coupons are examples of applications that can reside in a mobile phone. The handset emulates a contactless card and is equipped with an antenna to enable radio communication (Near Field Communication - NFC) to, for example, a reader attached to a cash register at the Point of Sale or to subway turnstiles. As recommended, applications and values are stored on a tamper resistant chip called the Secure Element (SE), which can be the SIM card embedded in the handset or an SD Card. With an Over-the-Air (OTA) platform, NFC applications can be provisioned and personalized independent of location and time. SmartTrust has the expertise and offers server software installed at a Trusted Service Manager (TSM) or a hosted service.

Trusted Service Management to support multiple use cases

Our Trusted Service Management solution, SmartTrust Broker, provides the capability of managing the Secure Element and Near Field Communication applications in a standards-based way with high security. Visa and MasterCard certify our hosted facility. We support SIM as the Secure Element, the embedded Secure Element and the SD Card. Service providers are easily connected through well-defined API's and offered web based administration interfaces for full control of users, applications and security.

Vital connectivity with SmartTrust DP

Our SmartTrust Broker runs on SmartTrust DP - the superior Over-the-Air (OTA) platform used in large MNO production environments with capacity reaching 1000 SMS/second. SmartTrust DP can be configured to run in a High Availability and geo redundant environment.

SMS as bearer is used to download limited data to the Near Field Communication application residing on the SIM, for example travel tickets. To download the entire Java applet, a Bearer Independent Protocol (BIP) channel needs to be established to the SIM card. Our solution offers both CAT_TP and BIP TCP support through the TSM Enabler. TSM Enabler is a stand-alone product that runs on SmartTrust DP and connects TSM servers with OTA platforms.

SmartTrust Broker enablement

To set up and run an in-house TSM service, you simply need the SmartTrust Broker run on SmartTrust DP with TSM Enabler. SmartTrust Broker can be installed on a physically separated DP if there are special security requirements placed on production facilities. If installed on a separate instance of SmartTrust DP, the SmartTrust Broker connects to the OTA platform through an open interface - currently being standardized through GlobalPlatform. On the handset side, you need NFC enabled handsets supporting Single Wire Protocol (SWP) as well as Host Controller Interface (HCI) and SIM cards.

Near Field Communication on SIM cards Read more