Open NFC stack increases Ice Cream Sandwich adaptability

Semiconductor solutions specialist, Inside Secure, says the open NFC version 4.3.3 is compliant with the Ice Cream Sandwich release Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) for NFC and provides the ecosystem with consistent NFC API and functionality to implement NFC independently of the underlying hardware. It supports the latest Android NFC features, including Android Beam and wi-fi direct pairing connection and is designed to provide access to features such as card emulation and access to multiple secure elements. "The Ice Cream Sandwich release brings even greater NFC functionality to the Android operating system, and Inside is making our latest version of open NFC available to give connectivity chip vendors, smartphone and tablet manufacturers and software developers a head start in achieving NFC hardware independence," said Charles Walton, coo for Inside Secure. "[We are] offering the Android community a complete, open source NFC stack solution that can be used to greatly speed development and time to market, requiring only that the small Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) portion be tailored for specific hardware." The complete open source HAL for the company's MicroRead and SecuRead is also available for download. The HAL allows the open NFC protocol stack to be used immediately with Iinside's MicroRead and SecuRead NFC chip platforms, and provides a convenient model for developing HALs for NFC chips from other manufacturers. This, says the company, brings consistency across multiple platforms and devices as well as improved interoperability. According to Walton, open NFC has already been deployed in millions of smartphones, and Inside anticipates this latest version of open NFC will be incorporated into Android based smartphones and tablets that will ship in 2012. INSIDE Secure's open NFC 4.3.3 for ICS can be downloaded free by clicking here.