Innovision announces Topaz NFC Platform
29 June, 2006
category: Contactless, NFC
UK-based Innovision Research & Technology has released a low-cost NFC option, Topaz, which the company says is ideally designed for applications requiring a small amount of memory, such as a smart poster or one-touch set-up applications. Topaz meets the type 1 tag format of the NFC standard and is one of only three proprietary tag formats approved by the NFC Forum, says the company.
Innovision Research & Technology, a leading developer of NFC (Near Field Communications) and short-range RFID solutions has announced its low-cost NFC platform for consumer electronics and mobile applications. Topaz is designed to make NFC applications such as mobile payments, ticketing transactions and access to digital content using NFC-enabled mobile devices possible.
Topaz was last week mandated as the type 1 tag format of the NFC standard and as one of only three proprietary tag formats approved by the NFC Forum, which are supported by all of the leading mobile device manufacturers.
Working to the ISO14443A standard, Topaz is targeted for operation with NFC devices in Reader/Writer mode – which means a `request and answer’ communication cycle is set up between the NFC device and Topaz. As a low-cost option, Topaz is ideally designed for applications requiring a small amount of memory (1 to 2KB), such as smart poster or one-touch set-up applications, as well as general ISO14443A based RFID applications.
“The NFC revolution is here. By allowing two devices to communicate wirelessly with one another when in close proximity, communication will become as simple and instinctive as touching,” according to Heikki Huomo, CTO at Innovision Research & Technology.
“It’s an exciting time for everyone involved, as it will open up a myriad of opportunities for consumer electronics, PC and mobile phone companies, as well as payment providers, chip manufacturers and systems integrators,” Huomo continued.
“We believe Topaz will play an important part in all of this and being one of only three mandated proprietary tag formats, alongside Philips and Sony, reinforces our position as a leading player in the NFC market.”
According to ABI Research by 2009, 50 per cent of all mobile handsets will be NFC-enabled.
About Innovision Research & Technology plc
Innovision Research & Technology plc, is a leading NFC/RFID IC Design and solutions provider. At the heart of the emerging Near Field Communication (NFC) market, designing and developing solutions for the mobile handset and consumer device sectors the company also focuses on RFID and ultra low-cost Integrated Circuit (IC) and electronic design.
Innovision R&T develops innovative technologies and technology applications for commercialisation and then licenses the technology on to its customers who incorporate it into their own products. The company’s work with customers includes pre-engineering studies, building of prototypes and complete product development through to production, including full custom silicon chip design.
Innovision R&T products include Topaz, mandated by the NFC Forum as the NFC number one tag format, Jewel for mass transit ticketing applications, and “io”, the world’s smallest standards compatible near field RFID reader. Headquartered in the UK, the company was established in 1994
Explore more developments dealing with the implementation of Near Field Communications, a short-range wireless technology that promises to revolutionize contactless identification, payment, access, and more. Click to visit NFCNews.