[moved] (Mobile wallets with NFC technology) Project

[Sarah.xx]

I need to implement a "Mobile wallet using NFC technology".
- I understand that I need to buy an NFC-enabled Nokia mobile phone..but does the SIM card have to be NFC enabled as well?
- what reader should I get exactly
any help would be greatly appreciated

[mroland]

Hallo Sarah,

I understand that I need to buy an NFC-enabled Nokia mobile phone..but does the SIM card have to be NFC enabled as well?

No, with Nokia's current NFC phones (i.e. Nokia 6131 NFC and Nokia 6212 Classic) there is no need for an NFC-enabled UICC/SIM. These phone models have an integraded secure element chip and do not (yet) use the UICC for this purpose.

I'm thinking of buying ACR122 contactless card reader..is it any good?

The reader is quite okay. It complies to the NFC standard and, therefore, it is able to communicate in peer-to-peer mode. Also, you can get this reader at a low price with the touchatag starter package.
Compared to other readers in my opinion the programming interface is not as intuitive as for instance that of the Omnikey readers.

If you want to have a reader that can be used with the Nokia phone emulator software you have to stick to the Omnikey CardMan 5321 (or the Pegoda reader). That reader does not support NFC's peer-to-peer mode. Only tags/smart cards can be read/written.

So it depends on your project's requirements what reader you should use:
* If you need to communicate in peer-to-peer mode (what I really doubt as you write about a mobile wallet application) you need an NFC-enabled reader like the ACR122.
* If you only need to read/write tags/smart cards (the secure element is a smart card from the reader's point of view), you can use any "regular" RFID reader thatr supports the ISO 14443 (and possibly the FeliCa-) protocol.
* If you want to test you applications in the emulator from the SDK, you need a reader that is comatible with it.

how to actually program the reader and the NFC-device to work together?

As you entitled your project "Mobile wallet using NFC technology", I would expect that exactly this question should have been an essential point of your previous research.
Seriously, a mobile wallet application would usually consist of for parts:
* a backend server
* a reader terminal (computer with a contactless smart card reader)
* an application (cardlet) on the phone's secure element
* an optional MIDlet on the phone that displays status information, provides a means to refill the wallet and allows for branding of the wallet

can I demonstrate the purchasing process in my project..is it possible?

Sure, if you implement it.

is there any advice that you can give me regarding the implementation of a small NFC system?

NFC is much more that ony "mobile wallet".You might want to take a look at Gerald's blog to get a short intro to NFC's functionality.


br,
Michael

[Sarah.xx]

mroland, thank you for your reply..you have no idea how much it helped

[mroland]

do you mean that the ACR122 will not work with Nokia NFC emulator?

Right, see the SDK documentation: "The SDK supports the following external card readers (read and write tags, access secure element): OMNIKEY CardMan 5321 and MFRD701 Mifare Pegoda."

So you need one of these two if you want to connect it to the emulator. I suggest you choose the one from OMNIKEY.

what I am going to do is connect my NFC reader to a PC which is connected to some SW such as POS..and then I guess I'll have to write a code for my NFC-enabled Nokia to make it able to communicate with the reader.

If you want to communicate directly with the phone (which in my opinion is not of much use in a mobile wallet scenario) you would use the peer-to-peer mode to do that. This mode is not supported by that OMNIKEY reader. In this case you would need an NFC-compatible reader like the ACR122.

Still, for your mobile wallet scenario I think it would be better to put the mobile wallet into the secure element. The secure element can be accessed
1. from the external reader like a regular contactless smart card and
2. from the phone (i.e. from a Java MIDlet) though the JSR-256 Nokia extensions.

do I have to learn Java to write that code?

Most likely, yes.
* If you want to write a cardlet for the secure element (the smart card chip) you will need to write it in Java (the secure element is a Java Card environment).
* If you want to write an application for the phone, you will need to write it in Java (Java ME) as well.
* For the terminal (PC) side you are free to use whatever language you want (although Java (Java SE) has some advantages when interacting with smart cards (and especially with Java Cards).

from what I read about the ACR122 reader is that it comes with an interface that let's you experiment and create prototypes..that's why I'm quite keen on it.

Sorry, I have not (yet) seen any such package.

I will read the blog that you referred to me

Yes, you should definitely do this. Especially it will give you some insights on what I mean by the terms "secure element" vs. "phone". There will also be a book on NFC technology and applications available starting next month or so, unfortunately in German language only.

br,
Michael

[mpharsha]

Hi,
Very First check whether Nokia NFC 6212 is available in your region.. Ex: Its not available in India...
rest comes next...