Japan's Blazing Fast Transit Cards: The FeliCa Advantage

Japan's public transport system is famously efficient, and a key part of that is its incredibly fast tap-in/tap-out gates. This speed is thanks to FeliCa, a Sony-developed NFC technology that outperforms Western alternatives like MIFARE. FeliCa's offline transaction processing, storing value and transaction history directly on the card, significantly speeds up the process. The article delves into FeliCa's technical details, the Osaifu-Keitai mobile payment system, its impressive security, and potential future research avenues including a miniature train station network simulation and investigating the physics behind FeliCa's speed.