Vivotech has made its near field communication infrastructure software available on Sun Microsystems’ Solaris 10 operating system, used on the high end Sparc servers popular with banks, mobile operators and transport operators.

The move has been made in response to demand from clients who are now looking to launch large scale commercial NFC services, Mohammad Khan, president and founder of Vivotech, told NFCW, and means that the company’s VivoNFC Suite 2.8 can now be deployed in applications involving millions of users. “We have multiple clients lined up for this,” says Khan, “one of them implementing a limited commercial rollout by the end of this year.”

Previously, VivoNFC was available only on Windows. “That’s fine for pilots,” says Khan, but it lacks the processing power needed for large scale deployments.

“VivoNFC software has been ruggedized and enriched through dozens of NFC mobile payment pilots, which have been successfully completed in multiple countries, working with most of the ecosystem players,” Khan added. “We are delighted to bring VivoNFC 2.8 to market on Sun’s commercial-grade software and hardware platforms, which will enable upcoming roll-out of limited to large-scale production-grade NFC deployments.”

VivoNFC uses a unique dual server architecture designed to give more control to card issuers looking to add their services to a SIM owned by a mobile operator. It comprises the Vivoplatform Issuer Server, Vivoplatform Control Server and the Vivowallet mobile phone application and also includes Vivotech’s patented over-the-air (OTA) provisioning methods:

• The VivoNFC Issuer Server resides on-site, either at the issuer’s or at the outsourced partner’s location, so that the issuer maintains full possession and control of the card data they wish to relay to their customers’ mobile handsets.
• The VivoNFC Control Server resides either at the mobile operator or at the Trusted Service Manager’s (TSM) premises, providing administrative services to facilitate multiple payment, loyalty, and promotion applications through an embedded or SIM-based secure element on a mobile payment device.
• The Vivowallet application runs on NFC mobile phones, enabling multiple payment-related applications, managing secure data and allowing secure contactless payment transactions. The Vivowallet also provides the interface for provisioning data to the mobile device, as well as transmitting payment card or coupon information directly to POS terminals equipped with a contactless reader.

“Sun provides a proven platform to enable the deployment of NFC mobile payment and promotions for large-scale commercial deployments,” added Ambreesh Khanna, global head of financial services for Sun Microsystems. “By joining our powerful technology with the Vivotech mobile payment solution, we are further extending our reach in the fast-growing mobile commerce market.”

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