NFC Release 15 and Extended Range: Key Webinar Takeaways

NFC Release 15 is a breakthrough in proximity contactless technology. It extends the current operating range for compliant NFC Forum certified devices by up to 4x, enabling smoother, more reliable, and more intuitive connections across a growing number of devices including smart wearables, digital car keys, smart locks, and smart home devices with NFC functionality. NFC Release 15 also marks the latest step in NFC Forum’s ongoing commitment to sustainability, as another core focus is support for the NFC Digital Product Passport Standard.

To dig deeper into the topic, NFC Forum held a webinar which is available on-demand. In addition to what’s new in NFC Release 15 and why it matters, the session explains how extended operating range will refine the user experience, the role of NFC to support data sharing in the circular economy, and more general use case expansions.

Not got time to view the full recording? Here’s our key takeaways

1. Aligning timelines for Specification Releases and Certification Releases brings clarity to product development

Preeti Khemani, Chair of the NFC Forum Board and Senior Director for Partnership and Ecosystem Management at Infineon, began the webinar by recognising the significance of NFC Forum’s new streamlined approach to group new functionality together. Similar to the numeric naming conventions of other technology specifications – for example Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 – NFC 15 will not only provide clarity on specification version history, it also makes it easier for businesses to plan product evolutions and subsequent testing.

She explained: “Historically NFC Forum Specification Releases were not connected to updated Certification Releases. By aligning these two development cycles, NFC Release 15 will connect Technical Specification innovation to new capabilities of our Certification Program. In doing so, the wider technology industry will be able to more actively plan and benefit from the value of NFC Forums’ compliance program. It also means that members of the Forum who have access to Specifications early will get an invaluable time-to-market advantage over non-members.”

2. NFC Release 15 was a community led effort to create swift connections that enhance the user experience of every NFC interaction

To provide insight into the technical elements of NFC Release 15, Dr. Mohamed Ratni, Co-Chair of the Analog/Digital WG and Chief Engineer at Sony Europe, shared a behind-the-scenes look into how this latest step in proximity communication was developed. He explained that extending the Operating Volume in the Z-axis was an natural response by NFC Forum to meet market demands and industry needs, i.e. allowing the automotive industry to optimize vehicle entry using a digital key. This sparked widespread community interest across various sectors which all saw the opportunity to further improve the user experience.

“Creating an extended read range of 20mm to build on the existing 5mm definition – known as OV20 and OV5 respectively in reference to their respective operating volumes – will significantly improve useability as it requires less precise alignment for a transaction,” added Mohamed. “Raising this baseline therefore delivers a much better user experience in every NFC scenario which NFC Forum Standards are used, especially for use cases where the phone is used as the NFC reader.

“It was crucial that devices compliant with the new Operating Volume – OV20 – remain interoperable with those compliant with the current Operating Volume – OV5. The extension from 5mm to 20mm was achieved by allowing an increase of the magnetic field intensity from 14.5 to 18 amperes per meter (A/m) when measured with Class 6 antenna, as well as making a slight adjustment to the Load Modulation Amplitude (LMA) reception for poller devices. OV20 does not only keep backward compatibility with OV5 but also between all form factors between Class 1 and Class 6 antenna , making interoperability between all form factors and both Operating Volumes seamless.”

3. NFC Forum Certification can last the entire lifecycle of a product

The final presentation of the webinar was delivered by Arnaud Schreiner, Chair of NFC Forum’s Compliance Committee and Principal Technology Standards Architect at NXP. He explained how NFC Forum’s Certification Program tests product conformance against the latest NFC functional standards, serving as proof that that a product will perform as expected and that it has earned the right to use the NFC Forum Certification Mark.

“The key objective for the NFC Forum Compliance Committee was to promote a consistent user experience across device classes”, commented Arnaud. “We have therefore mandated that all new products that are within our generic device classes – referring to Universal, Mobile, Reader and Card Emulation devices – are compliant with OV20. As the tag device class includes small passive tags which may not be able to meet OV20 requirements, device manufacturers have the choice between OV20 and OV5. The Compliance Committee is now working closely with our liaison partners to select the right OV for the unique needs of their respective use case.”

The New Era of NFC

The Technical Specifications included in NFC Release 15 are available for download by NFC Forum Associate, Principal and Sponsor-level members, and will become publicly available from October 2025.

The Forum is updating its Certification Program to incorporate these latest changes and will open compliance certification with Certification Release 15 when NFC Release 15 becomes publicly available. Certification Release 15 will also be adopted into many of our industry partners’ certification programs.

Interested in helping shape what comes next for the NFC ecosystem? Together, we can continue to evolve the standards that support today’s NFC use cases and ensure the innovations of tomorrow work as they should, delivering the convenience, high-performance experiences users not only expect, but deserve. Learn how to become a member.