Infineon introduces world’s smallest NFC security module for smart wearables

From fitness trackers to chains, watches or wristbands, all smart wearables are increasingly including the mobile payment functionality. Wearable manufacturers are now challenged to equip even the smallest devices with security and NFC technologies. The solution for this challenge lies in a unique NFC security module, it is now launched by Infineon Technologies in collaboration with Beijing- based Mobile Payment Solutions (MPS). This innovative plug and play solution significantly reduces the design efforts for manufacturers by bundling a high end Infineon security chip with NFC antenna components and software on smallest PCB footprint.

The NFC security module built by MPS has been awarded by the Mobile Finance Secure Element Certificate by the China Financial Authentication body of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). The certificate is a key to know the movement of fast growing mobile payment market in China.

The General Manager Wang Yanzhong of MPS thinks “Small PCB footprint and low power consumption are key strategies for their success in smart wearables”. He also mentions this is the reason behind the collaboration with Infineon Technologies for boosted NFC secure elements which comes with a unique system design and features in security lineup.

“”Driven by the latest IOT movement and always-on connectivity, mobile payment will be implemented on every smart device in near and future”, quoted by Thomas Rosteck, Vice President and General Manager of Infineon’s Secure Mobile & Transaction business. There will be a great demand for new system architectures that allows for easy integration, larger enhancements and trustworthy hardware security devices. Infineon is taking the lead in the mobile payment space with its innovative and unique solutions, such as the Boosted NFC secure element.

With the Boosted NFC Security module, hardware integration is made easy. At the core of the module Infineon’s Boosted NFC secure element, it eliminates the need of a separate NFC controller. Thanks to the booster technology, the NFC antenna and matching components are included into the package. This significantly reduces the size of PCB footprint by more than 75% only to 4mm X 4mm. Apart from that, we can also cut down the software development efforts. Presently it is running on a standard Java security card, the Boosted NFC furthermore allows a flexible loading of multiple Java based applications. A key element in the NFC security module is Infineon’s flagship SLE78 security chip which is a combination of highest security and a storage capacity of more than 1MB. This provides a sufficient memory to store user credentials, and run multiple applications, enabling a single device to replace a variety of cards.