RFID , that is, radio frequency identification technology, is a technology that uses radio frequency signals for wireless communication and identification technology. The principle is to conduct non-contact data communication between the reader and the tag to achieve the purpose of identifying the target. According to the frequency, it can generally be divided into low frequency, high frequency, ultra high frequency, 2.4G and so on. RFID technology is usually used in hotel linen management, washing factory linen rental washing management, medical linen rental washing management, logistics management, inventory management, animal management, production automation, safety supervision, etc.

NFC , that is, near-field communication technology, started much later than RFID, probably around 2003. It is a short-range wireless communication technology and a short-distance non-contact communication method. The working frequency is 13.56MHz, and the communication rate is 106kbit/sec to 848kbit/sec. NFC technology uses a technology called "inductive coupling", which transmits the data of the NFC tag to the NFC reader through non-contact communication. NFC is usually used in service products for various applications such as mobile payment, point exchange, identification, anti-counterfeiting, advertising, and point exchange.

NFC and RFID look very similar at the physical level, but in fact are two completely different fields, because RFID belongs to the identification technology, while NFC belongs to the communication technology, the specific differences are reflected in the following aspects:

1、Working frequency is different

RFID is divided into active RFID, semi-active RFID and passive RFID, working frequency of low frequency, high frequency, UHF band. RFID technology usually works at 13.56MHz, 915MHz or about 2.45GHz, while NFC technology works at 13.56MHz.

2, the transmission distance is different

RFID and NFC technology transmission distance is also different, NFC working distance is theoretically 0 ~ 20cm, the distance is relatively short; because RFID has a different frequency, the transmission distance of a few meters to tens of meters ranging.

3、Different working modes 

NFC will be non-contact reader, non-contact card and point-to-point function integrated into a single chip, while RFID must have a reader and tag composition. RFID can only achieve the reading of information and determination, while NFC technology emphasizes the interaction of information. nfc supports both read-write mode and card mode; and in RFID, the reader and non-contact card is an independent two entities, can not switch.

4, the market application is different

RFID is better at long-distance identification, more is used in production, logistics, tracking, asset management; and NFC is in access control, public transportation, cell phone payment, etc., more is aimed at consumer electronic devices to communicate with each other.

In general, although RFID technology and NFC technology look very similar, but they represent two different technologies. RFID technology and NFC technology work at different frequencies, transmission distance, working mode market applications.