NXP Semiconductors

The NXP MIFARE® product portfolio includes the following products:

  • MIFARE® Standard 1k
  • MIFARE® Standard 4k
  • MIFARE® DESFire
  • MIFARE® Ultralight

All these products have been developed to enable public transport authorities and system operators

  • to expand and deploy their existing contactless systems
  • to integrate and add applications and services to the public
  • to implement convenient and easy to experience solutions for end customers

Hence, the current NXP MIFARE® product portfolio meets the specifications and security standards of real and growing consumer demands. It definitely includes products, which have the capacity and flexibility to welcome other applications and services.

The MIFARE® pedigree

The NXP MIFARE interface platform is the industry standard for contactless ticketing solutions. With more than 5 million reader core components and 500 million card ICs sold, MIFARE is a proven and reliable technology, which represents the largest installed base worldwide.

Compliant with the ISO 14443A international standard, MIFARE ensures that today's infrastructure can easily be upgraded. It enables service providers to expand their transportation networks and to integrate additional services such as payment systems for taxi fares, cinema and theatre tickets, loyalty programmes, access control and parking. And all while reducing the total costs of operations.

NXP MIFARE® DESFire - the solution for contactless multi-application, high speed, high security smart cards

MIFARE DESFire is ideal for service providers wanting to use multi-application smart cards in transport schemes. It fully complies with the requirements for fast and highly secure data transmission, flexible memory organization and interoperability with existing infrastructure.

MIFARE DESFire is based on open global standards for both air interface and cryptographic methods. It is compliant to all 4 levels of ISO / IEC 14443A and uses optional ISO / IEC 7816-4 commands.

Featuring an on-chip backup management system and the mutual three pass authentication, a MIFARE DESFire card can hold up to 28 different applications and 16 files per application. The size of each file is defined in the moment of its creation, making MIFARE DESFire a truly flexible and convenient product.

Additionally, an automatic anti-tear mechanism is available for all file types, which guarantees transaction oriented data integrity. With MIFARE DESFire, data transfer rates up to 424 Kbit/s can be achieved, making fast data processing possible.

The chip's main characteristics are denoted by its name DESFire - DES indicates the high level of security MIFARE DESFire achieves using a 3DES hardware cryptographic engine for enciphering transmission data. Fire reflects its outstanding position as a Fast, Innovative, Reliable and sEcure IC in the contactless proximity transaction market.

Hence, MIFARE DESFire brings many benefits to end-users. Cardholders can experience convenient contactless ticketing while also having the possibility to use the same device for related applications such as payment at vending machines, access control or event ticketing. In other words, the MIFARE DESFire silicon solution offers enhanced consumer-friendly system design, in combination with security and reliability.

MIFARE DESFire delivers the perfect balance of speed, performance and cost efficiency. Its open concept allows future seamless integration of other ticketing media such as paper tickets, key fobs, and mobile ticketing based on Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. It is also fully compatible with the existing MIFARE reader hardware platform.

NXP MIFARE® Ultralight - the solution for contactless limited-use tickets

As the usage of contactless proximity smart cards becomes more and more common, transport operators are beginning to switch to completely contactless solutions. Tickets based on NXP MIFARE Ultralight ICs , which can act as limited-use tickets in public transportation networks, loyalty cards or even day passes at big events, are the ideal replacement for conventional ticketing solutions such as magnetic-stripe tickets, tokens or coins.

The introduction of the new contactless MIFARE Ultralight IC will lead to a reduction of system installation and maintenance costs. Terminals will be less vulnerable to damages and mechanical failures caused by ticket jams. MIFARE Ultralight can easily be integrated into existing schemes and even standard paper ticket vending equipment can be upgraded. In addition, this solution for low cost tickets helps transport operators to reduce fraud and the circulation of cash within the system.

As frequent travellers and commuters normally use a high-end contactless smart card (e.g.: based on MIFARE DESFire) for their regular trips, MIFARE Ultralight enables occasional travellers to benefit from the same advantages. It significantly improves boarding times and helps to experience quicker travel and easier movement between buses, trains and other means of transportation.

The mechanical and electronical specifications of MIFARE Ultralight are tailored to meet the requirements of paper ticket manufacturers. Issuing smart paper tickets based on MIFARE Ultralight only requires a minor upgrade to standard Edmonson / Eurosize ticket vending terminals. This can be achieved by fitting a simple contactless reader for ticket initialization.

MIFARE Ultralight operates according to the ISO 14443A standard. Meaning cards or tickets based on MIFARE Ultralight can be used at a distance of up to 10 cm with true anti-collision properties and without the need for a battery. Last but not least, MIFARE Ultralight is fully compatible with all existing MIFARE infrastructures and can therefore be easily integrated in current transportation schemes.

For more information visit our web-site www.nxp.com .