Infineon offers open interface to NFC security controllers

Infineon Technologies is now offering an open high-performance interface used in itsNear Field Communication (NFC) security microcontrollers. The DCLB (Digital Contact Less Bridge) interface will be freely available and usable as a globally open solution for all NFC modem, Secure Element and handset manufacturers. 

The DCLB interface is an open solution offering an optimized connection between the eSE and the NFC modem. By dispensing with the temporary storage of data packets in the NFC modem, the data can be transferred directly from the terminal to the Secure Element without creating additional protocol overheads. Peak data transfer rates – essential for numerous NFC applications such as payment transactions – are achieved in this process.

Infineon says its DCLB interface is currently one of the fastest NFC interfaces on the market, supporting the maximum defined data transfer rate of up to 848 kbit/s. Mainstream interfaces support only 106 kbit/s. With Infineon’s DCLB interface, an almost eight-fold volume of data can be transferred in the same time.

Infineon’s security microcontrollers with DCLB interface support JavaCard and GlobalPlatform, and are compliant with CIPURSE and ISO14443 -3 Type A with CRYPTO1 (NRG).

“Infineon’s offerings make NFC secure, convenient and fast. We establish the technological basis for consumers’ confidence in secure mobile payment,” said Dr. Helmut Gassel, President of the Chip Card & Security Division at Infineon Technologies AG. “With innovative solutions such as the globally open and freely available DCLB interface, Infineon strongly contributes to bringing NFC to the mass market.”

The company claims that DCLB-based implementations are in high-volume deployment, and that leading modem suppliers are already working on further implementations of the DCLB interface. The first NFC mobile phone benefiting from an Infineon embedded Secure Element (eSE) with DCLB interface has been on the market since August 2011.

They also support the most widely used encryption methods such as RSA, ECC, 3DES and AES, while offering more flexibility by supporting the ISO 14443-A, ISO 14443-B, ISO 14443-C and ISO 15693 (Passive Mode) protocols.

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