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OPINION | COMMUNICATIONS
The drive toward NFC wireless charging
2023: The Year of started three years ago, when the NFC Forum
released a wireless charging specification that
transformed smartphones or other NFC-
NFC Wireless Charging enabled devices into portable charging sta-
tions. This means that NFC-enabled devices
can, without cables, wirelessly charge small
battery-powered IoT devices with 1 W and
By Mike McCamon, NFC Forum eventually up to 3 W of power. These devices
include fitness watches, wireless earbuds,
digital stylus pens, smart glasses and other
Within a year, you’ll be able to wirelessly recharge your devices.
earbuds with your phone. You’ll also be able to recharge a stylus
using an NFC-enabled tablet—or almost any small IoT device with- Many of the major industry
out cables.
Major manufacturers have already developed these products, and players are already rolling
the NFC Forum, a global industry standards body, has created the out chipsets for NFC
necessary NFC wireless charging standard specifications. Today, with
more than 3 billion NFC-enabled smartphones in use, the market for wireless charging.
NFC wireless charging is ready and accessible.
All the pieces are coming together to make 2023 the year of NFC wireless charging.
Aside from conventional charger-receiver
WHY NFC WIRELESS CHARGING? setups, NFC wireless charging can occur when
NFC technology is one of the most ubiquitous technologies on the planet: One-quarter of the earbuds are placed on top of an NFC-enabled
world’s population already has access to it. According to a 2022 report by ABI Research, 85% of smartphone or when an active digital stylus
consumers use NFC technology, and nearly half prefer using their mobile phone or smartwatch pen is placed on its tablet device. In the latter
to a contactless card for payment. example, the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI)
This pervasiveness is fueling the rise of NFC wireless charging in 2023 across mobile devices, in collaboration with the NFC Forum piloted
including smartphones, smartwatches, fitness trackers and other wearables, as well as tablets NFC wireless charging and rolled it into the
and other handheld devices. Most of these already use NFC technology for data transfer and specification for its digital stylus. USI is the
communication. non-proprietary active digital stylus technol-
ogy leader and the only open digital stylus
standard available. It is standard on Google
Chromebooks.
The benefits of NFC wireless charging stem
from the ability of the small NFC antenna in
an NFC-enabled device to both communi-
cate with and wirelessly charge the enabled
devices. The benefits include:
• Convenience of charging
• Better accessibility, as the approach
eliminates the need for cords
• Reliability, as there are no connectors to
corrode
• Better sustainability through reduced
e-waste with the removal of cables and
disposable batteries
• Easier use for those with skin sensitivity
to metal (up to 15% of the general
population has a hypersensitivity to
metal)
• Enabling the use of mobile phones for
device programming and configuration
DE FACTO STANDARD FOR LESS THAN 3 W
The NFC Forum and industry analysts pre-
dict that this year, we’ll see the beginning
of a parade of products with NFC wireless
charging technology. Many of the major
industry players are already rolling out
chipsets for NFC wireless charging, and the IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
opportunity is significant.
Michael Stark, principal standards architect
at NXP Semiconductors, was an author of

MARCH 2023 | www.eetimes.eu