Mobile contactless solution using NFC and BLE

As access control systems have evolved beyond physical access cards, access control solutions using mobile phones as a credential were introduced. Suprema Mobile Access employs a smartphone application with NFC (Near Field Communication) and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to communicate with card readers, allowing access to doors and other secured assets. 

Suprema Mobile Access simplifies the management of access cards as the entire process goes online, without face-to-face interaction, allowing users to remotely manage credentials, issuing and revoking them in real-time. Using Suprema's 'AirFob Portal', the Mobile Access management portal, one can issue mobile access cards to users via email. Using a link in the email, users can then install Suprema's mobile app 'AirFob Pass' on their Android or iOS phone.

Once the app has been installed, the mobile access card is ready to be used. Like a physical card, users can tap smartphones on a mobile enabled card reader to access doors and other controlled items. For a seamless user experience, the app supports background mode, which eliminates the requirement to wake up the phone in order to get access.

To ensure the security of user data on the platform, Suprema Mobile Access is designed from the ground up with enhanced security features including data encryption throughout the process of issuing and using credentials. The backend server for Suprema Mobile Access is managed separately and the server encryption keys are protected with special proprietary methods.

The solution has been certified by an independent audit to be compliant with the ISO 27001 standard for Information Security Management, signifying Suprema's continuing commitment to the protection of private information as the highest priority. Suprema Mobile Access supports both NFC and BLE, guaranteeing compatibility with most iOS and Android smartphones.

The solution overcomes the limitation of a slow authentication speed common in other BLE based solutions by utilizing a unique method of analyzing the GAP and GATT layers of BLE.

By making use of these data, users can simply present their phones to mobile enabled card readers without requiring any additional gestures such as turning or waving the smartphones. With this enhanced technology, the authentication of Suprema Mobile Access takes less than 0.5 seconds, which is comparable to the speed of reading RFID cards.

Introducing the new platform, Young S. Moon, CEO of Suprema, noted: "As maintaining a high level of reliability, convenience, and personal hygiene has become crucial in recent times, Suprema Mobile Access will be the best choice for the next generation contactless security solutions. The innovation in the reading speed and the user experience of Suprema Mobile Access will accelerate the transition from plastic cards to mobile phones as the most common credential of physical access control."