Near-field communication (NFC) is a form of short range wireless communication in which NFC devices such as mobile phones can communicate with each other over a typical distance of 4cm or less. NFC allows for two way communication. The NFC Forum defines base standards for how smart cards are emulated by NFC devices and NFC Forum tags are formatted and the protocols for communicating between devices. There are three modes of operation:
read/write mode - the NFC device can read or write records, each of which has a type. There are currently several defined record types (Text, URI, Smart Poster, etc.). Records can be set to read-only, and protected through encryption and digital signatures. peer to peer mode - where two NFC devices exchange data, for example, data for setting up WiFi access, or data representing a business card. card emulation mode - where an NFC device emulates a smart card, e.g. allowing an NFC enabled phone to be used for contactless ticketing and payment applications. Emulated cards may have limited storage capabilities, e.g. the MiFare Classic 1K with 1024 bytes of data storage split across 16 sectors.The main benefit of NFC is the speed and simplicity of operation for end users. Touch a card to a reader to pay for ride on the metro. Touch an NFC phone to a tag on a poster to view the website for the associated event. Touch two NFC phones together to exchange business cards.
In some cases no set up is needed as the card's record type is recognized by the NFC device's operating system, which automatically launches the appropriate application, such as the web browser. In other cases, as in peer to peer mode, the device will first need to run the corresponding application, which may involve asking the user to select what information to share.
The Web Near Field Communication Working Group will define an API for Web page scripts to use the NFC data exchange format and APDUs, enabling a range of use cases for reading, writing, emulating cards and data exchange with peer NFC devices. Further background information can be found on the NFC Wiki.
The goal is to provide a Web NFC API that satisfies the most important use cases for NFC from Web pages. We believe that means that the API will not expose full, low level NFC functionality, but rather a higher level subset that is safe for Web pages, protects user privacy, and doesn't annoy users with unnecessary or complex permission requests.
The scope of the Web Near Field Communications Working Group is limited to the development of APIs for Web page scripts to perform the following operations with NFC devices:
The Community Group will be implemented on top of NFC implementations provided by the platform. Low level NFC specification is out of scope.
The group MAY produce other Community Group Reports within the scope of this charter but that are not Specifications covered by the CLA.
At present, there are no plans to create a test suite. If, however, the CG decides to develop a test suite, it will be developed in Open Source using the W3C Software License.
This group’s specifications have no direct dependencies on any other developing specification other than the Web Applications Working Group’s Web IDL specification, which many W3C specs depend upon. However, several other groups would provide valuable feedback and they will be asked to review drafts.
Terms of in this charter that conflict with those of the Community and Business Group Process are void.
The group will not publish Community Group Reports that are Specifications on topics other than those listed under "Community Group Reports that are Specifications" above. See below for how to modify the charter. The CLA applies to these Community Group Reports.
For these Reports, Community Group participants agree to send contributions to either the group “contrib” list or to the general group list, with subject line starting "“[short-name-for spec]". When meeting discussion includes contributions, contributors are expected to record those contributions explicitly on the mailing list as described.
Participants in this group choose their Chair(s) and can replace their Chair(s) at any time using whatever means they prefer. However, if 5 participants —no two from the same organization— call for an election, the group must use the following process to replace any current Chair(s) with a new Chair, consulting the Community Development Lead on election operations (e.g., voting infrastructure and using RFC 2777). Participants announce their candidacies. Participants have 14 days to announce their candidacies, but this period ends as soon as all participants have announced their intentions. If there is only one candidate, that person becomes the Chair. If there are two or more candidates, there is a vote. Otherwise, nothing changes. Participants vote. Participants have 21 days to vote for a single candidate, but this period ends as soon as all participants have voted. The individual who receives the most votes —no two from the same organization— is elected chair. In case of a tie, RFC2777 is used to break the tie. An elected Chair may appoint co-Chairs. Participants dissatisfied with the outcome of an election may ask the Community Development Lead to intervene. The Community Development Lead, after evaluating the election, may take any action including no action.
This group will seek to make decisions when there is consensus. When the group discusses an issue on the mailing list and there is a call from the group for assessing consensus, after due consideration of different opinions, the Chair should record a decision and any objections. Participants may call for an online vote if they feel the Chair has not accurately determined the consensus of the group or if the Chair refuses to assess consensus. The call for a vote must specify the duration of the vote which must be at least 7 days and should be no more than 14 days. The Chair must start the vote within 7 days of the request. The decision will be based on the majority of the ballots cast. It is the Chair’s responsibility to ensure that the decision process is fair, respects the consensus of the CG, and does not unreasonably favor or discriminate against any group participant or their employer.
The group will conduct all of its technical work on its public mailing list. Any decisions reached at any meeting are tentative. Any group participant may object to a decision reached at an online meeting within 7 days of publication of the decision on the mail list. That decision must then be confirmed on the mail list by the Decision Process above.
The group can decide to work on a proposed amended charter, editing the text using the Decision Process described above. The decision on whether to adopt the amended charter is made by conducting a 30-day vote on the proposed new charter. The new charter, if approved, takes effect on either the proposed date in the charter itself, or 7 days after the result of the election is announced, whichever is later. A new charter must receive 2/3 of the votes cast in the approval vote to pass. The group may make simple corrections to the charter such as deliverable dates by the simpler group decision process rather than this charter amendment process. The group will use the amendment process for any substantive changes to the goals, scope, deliverables, decision process or rules for amending the charter.