NFC Forum Specs Four Tag Types

The Near Field Communication (NFC) Forum has published operating specifications for four tag types, or integrated circuits that store data and are readable by NFC-enabled devices. An example of such devices would be a mobile phone capable of conducting remote financial transactions or interfacing with any object containing an embedded NFC tag—like touching the phone to a movie poster containing a tag and viewing a preview on the phone's display. According to NFC, standardizing tag types promotes interoperability across the NFC market, abetting low-cost volume production. The four tags address ISO 14443 Type A and B standards and Sony’s FeliCa Referencing ISO14443A. Type 1 tags will be read/re-write capable and user-configurable as read-only. Memory density is 96 bytes, expandable to 2 KB, and transfer speed is 106 kb/s. Otherwise similar to Type 1, the Type 2 tags have an initial memory density of 48 bytes, also expandable to 2 KB. Complying with the X 6319-4 Japanese Industrial Standard, also known as FeliCa, Type 3 tags are pre-configured to be either read and rewriteable, or read-only. Memory varies up to a theoretical limit of 1 MB per service. Operating speed is either 212 kb/s or 424 kb/s. Complying with ISO14443A and B standards, Type 4 tags are preset as either read and rewriteable, or read-only. Memory varies up to 32 KB per service and speed is up to 424 kb/s. To see the specifications are available free of charge, visit www.nfc-forum.org/specs.