emand to transfer compressed video between devices, and the target is to transfer Wireless PAN Standards one hour of MPEG2 compressed video (100-200 MB) over a handheld link in no more than 10 seconds. One usage model anticipates that a customer will use a handheld device such as a mobile phone to pay for and download video content from vending machines on the street. Future developments will also see an extension of the effective range of IrDA beyond the current one metre limit. This will enable the "mobile phone as digital wallet" usage model to be extended out of doors, to applications such as motorway toll collection. Near Field Communications Origins and Main Characteristics Near field communication (NFC) is an ultra short range wireless communication technology that uses magnetic field induction to enable connectivity between devices when they are in physical contact or within a range of a few centimetres. NFC has emerged as a technology for interconnecting consumer electronic devices from the convergence of contactless identification (e.g. RFID) and networking technologies, and aims at simple peer-to-peer networking through automatic connection and configuration. The key difference between NFC and standard RF wireless communication is the way in which the RF signal is propagated between the transmitter and receiver, as described in the Section "RF Signal Propagation and Reception, p. 105". Standard RF communications, such as a Wi-Fi, is described as "far-field" since the communication range is large compared to the size of the antenna. Near field communication relies on direct magnetic or electrostatic coupling between components within the communicating devices rather than free space propagation of radio waves. Because of the very short range, NFC devices can communicate using extremely low electric or magnetic field strengths, well below regulatory noise emission thresholds, SO that there are no limitations on frequency band usage due to licensing restrictions. NFC technology is a joint development of Ph