MIFARE

MobileKnowledge’s small new reference design MK100 supports MIFARE products and payment applications 27. February 2017

MK100 brings a white label platform for hosting multiple payment, transport and secure access NFC cards in a light, compact module small enough for a ring

MobileKnowledge, an expert engineering company in contactless and secure applications, introduces the MK100, a reference design to provide full NFC functionality to wearable devices, and small enough to be embedded in a ring. The MK100 solves the most important challenges wearable manufacturers face today when trying to implement secure contactless applications such as payments or transport. This includes HW and SW integration, worldwide access to any customer’s payment cards, banks and service providers, power consumption and over-the-air (OTA) provisioning of the NFC applications

The module, which uses technology from NXP Semiconductors, features a tamper-proof, banking grade secure element to enable the easy provisioning of any secure contactless applications. Featuring a state-of-the-art antenna design, MK100 is EMVCo pre-certified and includes VISA, Mastercard, Amex, Discover and PBOC applets.

Currently, a selection of high-end smartwatches offer the possibility of storing user’s payment cards. The difficulty in designing and integrating the necessary technology into a wearable, plus the complexity of certification and provisioning of the contactless applications, are making most wearable vendors reluctant to explore the possibility of getting into this lucrative market.

That’s where the MK100 comes in. As a certified engineering consultant partner to NXP, MobileKnowledge has designed the MK100 using NXP’s PN66T NFC secure element, the same which is present in many NFC smartphones, to perform contactless applications. Using the PN66T allows OEMs to benefit from NXP’s Open Secure Element functionality. This enables the device to be directly and securely provisioned from the Tokenization Service Platforms (TSP) of the Payment Network Operators (PNO), via the Bluetooth connection of the customer’s smartphone to their wearable device.

On top of this, a wearable based upon the MK100 will also be able to emulate smartcards based on MIFARE® products and host any additional authentication credentials (e.g. FIDO).

MK100’s compact design also helps reduce the BoM for new devices since it is based upon a compact 2-chip concept. The reference design offers optimized power consumption, enabling the battery to last about six months between charges. The low consumption also offers the option of using a coin-cell non-rechargeable battery. The reference design, measuring only 10 x 15 mm, is ideal for small wearable devices, including rings and bracelets.

Discover the MK100 on NXP’s booth in Hall 7, booth 7E30 + 7C21, at Mobile World Congress 2017.

Read more in Mobile Knowledge’s press release.

MK100 Mobile Knowledge-compressed