Retail & payment

Contactless payment options save time, are less prone to wear and tear and can improve overall security of payment systems. Both Bluetooth Low energy and NFC have roles to play in these systems. NFC offers the inherent security of very short range communication making eavesdropping and attacks very difficult. Bluetooth Low Energy offers more scope and when combined with NFC for secure connections brings scope for the next generation of payment-on-the-go. the nRF52 Series SoCs offer multiprotocol support for a range of wireless technologies, including Bluetooth Low Energy and NFC. Additionally they are equiped with comprehensive on-chip security features for encryption and cryptography.

Photo: Maneul Lab

Key application requirements

Bluetooth Low energy, NFC, on-chip crytographic and encryption support, excellent pwer efficiency, chip-scale packages, powerful Cortex-M4F processing capability.

POS terminals | Price tags

POS terminals

Mobile phones are starting to take on a role in payment, wearables too look to have a role to play in payment. the two stand out wireless technologies here are Bluetooth low energy and NFC. both Bluetooth low energy and NFC have complimentary strengths and have a strong use case for being used in conjuction for retail payment. the nRF52840 and nRF52832 have Bluetooth low energy and NFC on chip. nRF52840 has the ARM CryptoCell crytographic accelerator and is a very compelling candidate SOC for inclusion in designing a secure wireless POS terminal.

Suitable device

nRF52840 aQFN73 SoC bluetooth le/bluetooth low energy bt module — nRF52840

nRF52832 SoC bluetooth le/bluetooth low energy bt module — nRF52832

Price tags

Electronic price tags in stores offer dynamic pricing flexibility to stores and retailers. Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth mesh are ideal in this market space with the ability send information to customers phones where needed and to cover large areas with Bluetooth mesh. The nRF52 Series SoCs with their outstanding energy efficiency and performance are ideal for single chip implementation of smart price tags. they are supported by SDKs, including nRF5 SDK for mesh offering Bluetooth mesh solutions for covering a large space such as a supermarket.