Abstract:
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a relay device for use in near field communication (NFC) transactions is provided, said relay device comprising a communication unit, wherein said communication unit comprises an NFC controller and a wireless communication controller which are operatively connected to each other through a physical interface, said NFC controller being arranged to establish communication with an NFC-enabled device that is external to the relay device, and said wireless communication controller being arranged to establish communication with a wireless device that is external to the relay device, wherein the communication unit is arranged to relay transaction data between the NFC-enabled device and the wireless device. According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a corresponding method for facilitating near field communication (NFC) transactions is conceived. According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a corresponding non-transitory, tangible computer program product is provided.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates to a relay device for use in near field communication (NFC) transactions. Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a transaction system comprising such a relay device, to a method for facilitating NFC transactions, and to a corresponding non-transitory, tangible computer program product. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Today, security plays an important role in many electronic devices and computing environments. For example, conventional mobile electronic devices may be used for payment transactions, or other transactions, which involve the exchange of sensitive transaction data with terminal devices. Such mobile electronic devices may for instance be equipped with a near field communication (NFC) interface based on radio frequency (RF) technology, in order to exchange said transaction data with a terminal device at a point-of-sale (POS). Traditionally, sensitive transaction data have been incorporated into dedicated security tokens such as smart cards, in which the data are inherently confined to a relatively trusted environment. With the advent of integrated solutions, in particular the integration of so-called secure elements (SEs) in consumer devices, transaction data have increasingly been incorporated into such secure elements. Alternatively, so-called emulated cards embedded in consumer devices have often been used for accommodating transaction data. As mentioned above, the card or the consumer device, as the case may be, exchanges the transaction data with a terminal device at a POS. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a relay device for use in near field communication (NFC) transactions is provided, said relay device comprising a communication unit, wherein said communication unit comprises an NFC controller and a wireless communication controller which are operatively connected to each other through a physical interface, said NFC controller being arranged to establish communication with an NFC-enabled device that is external to the relay device, and said wireless communication controller being arranged to establish communication with a wireless device that is external to the relay device, wherein the communication unit is arranged to relay transaction data between the NFC-enabled device and the wireless device. 
         [0004]    In one or more embodiments, the physical interface is isolated from other components of the relay device. 
         [0005]    In one or more embodiments, the communication unit is a single integrated circuit comprising the NFC controller and the wireless communication controller. 
         [0006]    In one or more embodiments, the wireless communication controller is a Bluetooth communication controller. 
         [0007]    In one or more embodiments, the relay device further comprises an authentication module for authenticating the relay device to the wireless device. 
         [0008]    In one or more embodiments, the relay device is arranged to exchange authentication credentials with the wireless device through the NFC controller. 
         [0009]    In one or more embodiments, the relay device is arranged to add an authentication code to the transaction data. 
         [0010]    In one or more embodiments, the NFC controller is arranged to send waiting-time extension requests to the NFC-enabled device. 
         [0011]    In one or more embodiments, the relay device is at least one of a wearable device and a smart watch. 
         [0012]    In one or more embodiments, a transaction system comprises a relay device of the kind set forth and a wireless device. 
         [0013]    In one or more embodiments, the wireless device comprises a secure element for storing and processing the transaction data. 
         [0000]    In one or more embodiments, the wireless device comprises a further communication unit, said further communication unit comprising a further NFC controller which is operatively connected to the secure element, and a further wireless communication controller which is operatively connected to the further NFC controller. 
         [0014]    In one or more embodiments, the wireless device is arranged to exchange authentication credentials with the relay device through the further NFC controller. 
         [0015]    According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a method for facilitating near field communication (NFC) transactions is conceived, the method comprising: establishing, by a communication unit in a relay device, communication with an NFC-enabled device, which is external to the relay device, through an NFC controller comprised in said communication unit; establishing, by the communication unit, communication with a wireless device, which is external to the relay device, through a wireless communication controller comprised in said integrated circuit, wherein the wireless communication controller is operatively connected to the NFC controller through a physical interface; relaying, by the communication unit, transaction data between the NFC-enabled device and the wireless device. 
         [0016]    According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory, tangible computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising instructions which, when being executed by a processing unit, cause said processing unit to carry out or control a method of the kind set forth. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0017]    Embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which: 
           [0018]      FIG. 1  shows an example of a transaction system; 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  shows an illustrative embodiment of a transaction system: 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  shows an illustrative embodiment of a method for facilitating NFC transactions. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]      FIG. 1  shows an example of a transaction system  100 . The system  100  comprises a contactless reader  102 , which may, for example, function as a terminal device at a point-of-sale (POS). The system  100  also comprises a mobile device  106 , for instance a smart phone, which may communicate contactlessly with the contactless reader  102 . To this end, the mobile device  106  comprises an NFC device  110  and the contactless reader  102  comprises an NFC device  104 . In operation, an NFC channel may be established between these NFC devices  104 ,  110 . The NFC device  104 ,  110  may be NFC controller chips, examples of which are commonly available on the market. The mobile device  106  further comprises an application processor  108  which is operatively connected to the NFC device  110 , and a secure element  112  which is operatively connected to the NFC device  110 . The secure element  112  may be implemented as an embedded chip, more specifically as a tamper-resistant integrated circuit with installed or pre-installed smart-card-grade applications, for instance payment applications, which have a prescribed functionality and a prescribed level of security. Furthermore, the secure element  112  may implement security functions, such as cryptographic functions and authentication functions. 
         [0022]    Although the mobile device  106  can be used to carry out NFC transactions, such as direct payment transactions in shops or passenger fare transactions in public transport, it can still be inconvenient and potentially unsafe to have to take the mobile device  106  out of the pocket in public, for example in a metro station or on the street. The mobile device  106  may, for example, be an expensive smart phone which easily be stolen. Therefore, it has been proposed to use wearable devices, such as smart watches which are more fixed to the human body and consequently less susceptible to theft, for carrying out NFC transactions with terminal devices. 
         [0023]    However, there may be wearable devices, such as smart watches, which are not equipped with secure elements of the kind set forth. It is already complicated enough in practice to manage secure elements on mobile devices such as smart phones. The management of access control and applet installation, for instance, already involves a number of (sometimes even competing) parties, such as a device manufacturer, an operating-system vendor and a mobile network operator (MNO). This has the effect that the full potential of the relatively expensive secure element is usually not fully realized. In view thereof, it may be expected that the same would be true in case of a secure element in a different device, which makes it rather unlikely that the integration of a secure element in a wearable device will take place on a large scale, even though it is technically possible. An additional challenge is that while applications installed in secure elements in mobile devices are usually managed remotely over-the-air (OTA), this would not always be possible, or at least be more complicated, in case of a wearable device. 
         [0024]    In order to avoid these problems, it would be possible to integrate an NFC controller, which is able to do host card Emulation (HCE) into a wearable device and have it function as a proxy of a secure element in a mobile device by having an application (e.g., a so-called “app”) on the mobile device access the secure element. By sending requests from the contactless reader, received via HCE on the wearable device and transmitted via a wireless communication channel (e.g., via a Bluetooth communication channel in accordance with the IEEE 802.15.1 standard) to the mobile device, via the app to the secure element and sending the responses from the secure element via the same route back to the contactless reader, one can set up a connection between the contactless reader and the mobile device&#39;s secure element. Thus, the wearable device effectively functions as a relay device for relaying transaction data between the contactless reader and the mobile device. 
         [0025]    Although this could work in practice, the security provided by the secure element would be lost or weakened. That is to say, if transaction data for the secure element is exchanged between the mobile device and the wearable device via a wireless communication channel that is not an NFC channel, it may be possible for malicious software in the mobile device to intercept and/or manipulate these data. It may also become possible that other (potentially hostile) devices access the secure element via the same wireless technology as used for the link with the wearable device. Another way to attack the secure element could be through malicious applications on the wearable device, using the existing link to the secure element through the mobile device. Hence, there may exist a need to mitigate these security risks. 
         [0026]    In accordance with the present disclosure, therefore, a relay device for use in near field communication (NFC) transactions is provided. Said relay device comprises a communication unit, which comprises an NFC controller and a wireless communication controller which are operatively connected to each other through a physical interface. The NFC controller is arranged to establish communication with an NFC-enabled device that is external to the relay device. Furthermore, the wireless communication controller is arranged to establish communication with a wireless device that is external to the relay device. Thus, the communication unit is arranged to relay transaction data between the NFC-enabled device and the wireless device. The NFC-enabled device may be a contactless reader, for example. The wireless device may be a mobile device, such as a smart phone or a tablet. 
         [0027]    In order to mitigate the above-mentioned security risks, the NFC controller and the wireless communication controller are integrated in a single communication unit in the relay device. This communication unit may, for example, be a single integrated circuit (i.e., a combo IC) having integrated thereon controllers for different communication technologies. In this communication unit, the wireless communication controller may exchange transaction data directly with the NFC controller. In particular, the physical interface between the NFC controller and the wireless communication controller may be isolated from other components (e.g., from an application processor) of the relay device. That is to say, since the communication unit is a separate component in the relay device, it may interact with other components (e.g., the application processor) through input/output interfaces, for example, while preventing said other components from accessing the physical interface between the NFC controller and the wireless communication controller. Thus, the probability that the transaction data are intercepted and/or manipulated by these other components is reduced. 
         [0028]      FIG. 2  shows an illustrative embodiment of a transaction system  200 . The system  200  comprises a relay device  202 , in particular a wearable device, which comprises an application processor  204  and a combo device  206  (i.e., a combo IC). The application processor  204  may be any kind of processing unit for performing computational tasks, in particular for executing computer programs or applications, for example a central processing unit or a microprocessor. The combo device  206  comprises an NFC controller  208  and a wireless communication controller  210 , in particular a Bluetooth communication controller, which are operatively connected to each other through a physical interface. Furthermore, the system  200  comprises a contactless reader  212 . The contactless reader  212  comprises an NFC device  214 . In operation, an NFC channel may be established between the NFC controller  208  of the relay device  202  and the NFC device  214  of the contactless reader  212 . Furthermore, the system  200  comprises a wireless device  216 , in particular a mobile device. The wireless device  216  comprises an application processor  218 , a combo device  222  (i.e., a combo IC) operatively connected to the application processor  218 , and a secure element  220  operatively connected to an NFC controller  226  of the combo device  222 . The application processor  218  may be any kind of processing unit for performing computational tasks, in particular for executing computer programs or applications, for example a central processing unit or a microprocessor. The combo device  222  comprises said NFC controller  226  and a wireless communication controller  224 , in particular a Bluetooth communication controller, which is operatively connected to the NFC controller  226 . In operation, a wireless communication channel (in particular a Bluetooth communication channel) may be established between the wireless communication controller  210  of the relay device  202  and the wireless communication controller  224  of the wireless device  216 . The secure element  220  may be implemented as an embedded chip, more specifically as a tamper-resistant integrated circuit with installed or pre-installed smart-card-grade applications, for instance payment applications, which have a prescribed functionality and a prescribed level of security. Furthermore, the secure element  220  may implement security functions, such as cryptographic functions and authentication functions. Alternatively, but without limitation, the secure element  220  may be implemented as a virtual secure element, for example as an emulated secure element (i.e., an emulated card) based on host card emulation (HCE) technology. 
         [0029]    Thus, in one or more embodiments, the wireless device  216  also comprises a combo device  222  with an integrated NFC controller  226  and a wireless communication controller  224  which are operatively connected to each other. In other words, the wireless device  216  comprises a further communication unit  222 , said further communication unit  222  comprising a further NFC controller  226  which is operatively connected to the secure element  220  of the wireless device  216 , and a further wireless communication controller  224  which is operatively connected to the further NFC controller  226 . The further communication unit  222  may, for example, be a single integrated circuit (i.e., a combo IC). In this way, the probability that transaction data are intercepted and/or manipulated by other components of the wireless device  216  is reduced. Thus, a relatively isolated communication channel may be established for the exchange of transaction data between the contactless reader  212  and the secure element  220  of the wireless device  216 . 
         [0030]    Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the relay device  202  comprises an authentication module (not shown) for authenticating the relay device  202  to the wireless device  216 . The use of such an authentication module enables an easy, yet effective, mechanism to prevent that unauthorized relay devices access the secure element  220 . In particular, the authentication of the relay device  202  to the wireless device  216  by means of said module may be an additional step in the normal pairing procedure between wireless devices. Most Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices, for example, can only set up connections after explicit user confirmation (e.g., after touching an “OK” button displayed on the screen). However, in order to prevent a scenario wherein an attacker tricks a user into confirming a connection set-up request from a malicious device, more may be needed than only a simple confirmation. In practice, Bluetooth security may offer limited security. By equipping relay devices with an authentication module, only specific relay devices can connect, upon or after successful authentication using a simple, dedicated built-in piece of security hardware. The authentication module may be an authentication chip containing authentication credentials that may be verified by the wireless device  216 . 
         [0031]    Alternatively or in addition, the relay device  202  may be arranged to exchange authentication credentials with the wireless device  216  through the NFC controller  208 . These authentication credentials may be alternative or complementary to the authentication credentials contained in the authentication module. It may be envisaged, for example, that the relay device  202  is brought into close proximity of the wireless device  216  in order to set up an NFC-based Bluetooth pairing procedure between the relay device  202  and the wireless device  216 . During said pairing procedure, authentication credentials may be exchanged between the wireless device  216  and the relay device  202  through an NFC channel (not shown) between the NFC controllers  208  and  226 . Said credentials may be used in a mutual authentication procedure, for example. 
         [0032]    It is noted that the pairing procedure may preferably be triggered by the wireless device  216 , because the secure element  220  is the asset that should be protected. By touching it to the relay device  202  device, pairing data, such as a Bluetooth media access control address and an authentication key, can be transferred (optionally after verifying, for example using the above-mentioned authentication module, that the relay device  202  is a piece of hardware that is authentic and can be trusted). The pairing data may be generated by the Bluetooth controller  224 , such that the application processor  218  (and any apps running on it) will not have access to them and consequently cannot steal them. If the procedure succeeds, the user may get a confirmation message on the wireless device  216  and/or on the relay device  202  to indicate that the relay device  202  is paired and has access to the secure element  220 . 
         [0033]    Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the relay device  202  is arranged to add an authentication code to the transaction data. This is useful because it may provide a form of protection of the wireless communication channel between the relay device  202  and the wireless device  216 . In particular, it may be important that the secure element  220  only responds to commands that originate from the contactless reader  212  with which the relay device  202  is actually communicating. If that were not the case, an attacker might inject extra commands into the wireless communication channel and use the secure element&#39;s response for a malicious purpose. In order to prevent such an attack, a message authentication code (MAC) may be appended to all messages containing transaction data. The key needed for generating such a code may be part of the pairing data exchanged with the relay device  202  during the pairing procedure. 
         [0034]    Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the NFC controller  208  of the relay device  202  is arranged to send waiting-time extension requests to the NFC-enabled device  212  (i.e., the contactless reader). This is useful because it may prevent that timing requirements are not met. Whenever the contactless reader  212  sends an ISO 14443 contactless card command to the NFC controller  208  in the relay device  202 , this command has to be relayed via the Bluetooth communication channel and the NFC controller  226  in the wireless device  216  to the secure element  220 . Some of these commands are very timing-critical, while others are not. Most notably, the initial discovery and anti-collision phase of the ISO 14443 communication set-up has very strict timing requirements. While later on, when the contactless reader  212  starts sending ISO 7816-4 card reader commands over ISO 14443 there is a waiting-time extension (WTX) mechanism to delay responses from the secure element  220 . In order to satisfy the timing requirements for the initial ISO 14443 communication set-up, the same procedure may be used as is used for HCE. As mentioned above, in the case of HCE, a secure element (also referred to as a “contactless card”) is emulated by an application (app) executed on a wireless device, while its NFC controller takes care of the communication set-up. Similarly, the NFC controller  208  in the relay device  202  may use a so-called Random ID and use that during the anti-collision phase of the ISO 14443 protocol. Only when the contactless reader  212  has actually selected the Random ID and starts sending card-specific commands, then these would be relayed to the secure element  220  of the wireless device  216 . Whenever the contactless reader  212  sends such a command, which has the form of an ISO 7816-4 application protocol data unit (APDU) command inside an ISO 14443 protocol message, the NFC controller  208  in the relay device  202  would respond with a WTX request to the contactless reader  212 , while passing on the reader command to the wireless device  216 . As long as it has not received a response back from the secure element  220  of the wireless device  216 , the NFC controller  208  of the relay device  202  would keep sending WTX requests when the time runs out. In this way, the communication is kept going, while the ISO 14443 communication is not interrupted by the possible delay introduced by the exchange of messages between the relay device  202  and the wireless device  216  over the wireless communication channel. 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  shows an illustrative embodiment of a method  300  for facilitating NFC transactions. The method  300  comprises, at  302 , establishing, by the combo device  206  in the relay device  202 , near field communication with the contactless reader  212  through the NFC controller  208 ; at  304 , establishing, by said combo device  206 , wireless communication with the wireless device  216  through the wireless communication controller  210 ; and at  306 , relaying, by the combo device  206 , transaction data between the contactless reader  212  and the wireless device  216 . These steps may be controlled and/or implemented at least partially by a computer program, comprising instructions which may be executed by the NFC controller  208  and/or the wireless communication controller  210 . 
         [0036]    Although, in the above-described embodiments, the wireless communication channel is a Bluetooth communication channel, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. That is to say, the skilled person will appreciate that other types of wireless communication may also be used, for instance Wi-Fi and ZigBee. In those cases, the combo devices  206  and  222  should comprise a wireless communication controller in accordance with the selected communication type. 
         [0037]    Furthermore, in the above-described examples the communication unit of the relay device and the further communication unit of the wireless device are so-called combo ICs, i.e. single integrated circuits containing both an NFC controller and a wireless communication controller. Combo ICs may effectively support the isolation of the physical interface between the NFC controller and the wireless communication controller from other components of said relay device and wireless device. However, it is noted that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Alternatively, but without limitation, the communication unit may be a so-called System-in-Package (SiP) containing interconnected controller ICs integrated in a single package, or the communication unit may be a single daughterboard having interconnected controller ICs mounted thereon, wherein the daughterboard is separate from the motherboard on which other components are mounted. The skilled person will appreciate that such structures may also sufficiently support the isolation of said physical interface. 
         [0038]    The systems and methods described herein may be embodied by a computer program or a plurality of computer programs, which may exist in a variety of forms both active and inactive in a single computer system or across multiple computer systems. For example, they may exist as software program(s) comprised of program instructions in source code, object code, executable code or other formats for performing some of the steps. Any of the above may be embodied on a computer-readable medium, which may include storage devices and signals, in compressed or uncompressed form. 
         [0039]    As used herein, the term “mobile device” refers to any type of portable electronic device, including a cellular telephone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), smartphone, tablet etc. Furthermore, the term “computer” refers to any electronic device comprising a processor, such as a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a specific-purpose processor or a microcontroller. A computer is capable of receiving data (an input), of performing a sequence of predetermined operations thereupon, and of producing thereby a result in the form of information or signals (an output). Depending on the context, the term “computer” will mean either a processor in particular or more generally a processor in association with an assemblage of interrelated elements contained within a single case or housing. 
         [0040]    The term “processor” refers to a data processing circuit that may be a microprocessor, a co-processor, a microcontroller, a microcomputer, a central processing unit, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic circuit, and/or any circuit that manipulates signals (analog or digital) based on operational instructions that are stored in a memory. The term “memory” refers to a storage circuit or multiple storage circuits such as read-only memory, random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, Flash memory, cache memory, and/or any circuit that stores digital information. 
         [0041]    As used herein, a “computer-readable medium” or “storage medium” may be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport a computer program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium may include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a Blu-ray disc (BD), and a memory card. 
         [0042]    It is noted that the embodiments above have been described with reference to different subject-matters. In particular, some embodiments may have been described with reference to method-type claims whereas other embodiments may have been described with reference to apparatus-type claims. However, a person skilled in the art will gather from the above that, unless otherwise indicated, in addition to any combination of features belonging to one type of subject-matter also any combination of features relating to different subject-matters, in particular a combination of features of the method-type claims and features of the apparatus-type claims, is considered to be disclosed with this document. 
         [0043]    Furthermore, it is noted that the drawings are schematic. In different drawings, similar or identical elements are provided with the same reference signs. Furthermore, it is noted that in an effort to provide a concise description of the illustrative embodiments, implementation details which fall into the customary practice of the skilled person may not have been described. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developers&#39; specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill. 
         [0044]    Finally, it is noted that the skilled person will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference sign placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word “comprise(s)” or “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. Measures recited in the claims may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements and/or by means of a suitably programmed processor. In a device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. 
       LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS 
       [0000]    
       
           100  transaction system 
           102  contactless reader 
           104  NFC device 
           106  mobile device 
           108  application processor 
           110  NFC device 
           112  secure element 
           200  transaction system 
           202  wearable device 
           204  application processor 
           206  combo device 
           208  NFC controller 
           210  Bluetooth communication controller 
           212  contactless reader 
           214  NFC device 
           216  mobile device 
           218  application processor 
           220  secure element 
           222  combo device 
           224  Bluetooth communication controller 
           226  NFC controller 
           300  method for facilitating NFC transactions 
           302  establish NFC 
           304  establish wireless communication 
           306  relay transaction data