By Sarah Clark
The NFC Forum has updated its certification program to provide a simpler and more affordable way for NFC device makers to re-certify their products when they perform an operating system update that does not impact upon the device’s NFC functionality.
Previously, any update to a device’s operating system required the manufacturer to re-certify it with the NFC Forum. Now, however, the standards organisation has amended its policies so that manufacturers need only self-certify that an updated product contains no NFC-relevant modifications.
“The latest feature added to the NFC Forum Certification Programme as part of v3.1 of the NFC Forum Certification Policy – the Inheritance by Operating System (OS) update – now enables device manufacturers to maintain their NFC Forum Certification on previously certified device hardware,” the NFC Forum explains.
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“This means that they no longer need to re-certify devices when making OS updates that do not impact the functionality of the NFC technology used within the device. In this way, NFC Forum Certification can now last the entire lifecycle of the product.”
“NFC Forum Certification is divided into two types of tests: Analog to test the Hardware and Digital for the Software. When a device in the field receives an update, it is only the software that is changed. The Hardware, namely the antenna and tuning components, still remains the same. V3.1 of the Certification Policy recognises this, and allows for the first time Analog testing to be inherited.”
“If there is no change related to the NFC implementation at all, only the administrative information needs to be completed without the need to send your device to a test lab.
“This means that at each different entry point to the certification process, only the necessary tests are conducted. All other tests [on] unchanged elements of the software and all Analog tests on the Hardware can simply be inherited.”
“Ultimately, this allows devices to be continuously refined and updated, while ensuring they continue to work as expected and deliver the optimal user experience throughout their entire lifecycle.
“We strongly recommend device manufacturers take advantage of this new path to keep their NFC Forum Certification valid in the most cost and time efficient way possible.”
