Method and device for installing applications on NFC-enabled devices

A Near-Field Communication (NFC)-enabled device comprising:

• an NFC communication circuit configured to receive, from a source device, a Generic Control record comprising a Target ID associated with a target application;
• a network communication circuit configured to send data to and receive data from nodes in a network to which the NFC-enabled device is connectable;
• and
• an application installer circuit configured to install applications on the NFC-enabled device, wherein the application installer circuit comprises:
• an application discoverer circuit configured to retrieve at least one target Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) from a look-up table based on the Target ID in the received Generic Control record, wherein the look-up table comprises at least one Target ID associated with one or more target URIs from which at least one installation file for the target application associated with the at least one Target ID can be downloaded, wherein the at least one Target ID in the look-up table corresponds to a plurality of target URIs, wherein at least one of the plurality of target URIs is associated with application-related information descriptive of the target application whose at least one installation file is downloadable from the at least one of the plurality of target URIs and the at least one installation file itself, and wherein the application discoverer circuit retrieves the at least one target URI by:
• retrieving contextual information about at least one of the NFC-enabled device and a user of the NFC-enabled device from a register within the NFC-enabled device;
• providing the contextual information as input to the look-up table to allow a comparison between the contextual information and the application-related information;
• and
• retrieving, from the look-up table, the at least one target URI associated with application-related information which, at least to some extent, matches the contextual information;
• and
• an application downloader circuit configured to download the at least one installation file for the target application from the retrieved at least one target URI;
• wherein the application installer circuit is further configured to install the target application on the NFC-enabled device using the at least one installation file for the target application.

A computer program comprising non-transitory computer readable code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer readable code, when run on a Near-Field Communication (NFC)-enabled device, cause the NFC-enabled device to:

• receive a Generic Control record comprising a Target ID associated with a target application from a source device;
• retrieve at least one target Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) from a look-up table based on the Target ID in the received Generic Control record, wherein the look-up table comprises at least one Target ID associated with one or more target URIs from which at least one installation file for the target application associated with the at least one Target ID can be downloaded, wherein the at least one Target ID in the look-up table corresponds to a plurality of target URIs, wherein at least one of the plurality of target URIs is associated with application-related information descriptive of the target application whose at least one installation file is downloadable from the at least one of the plurality of target URIs and the at least one installation file itself, and wherein retrieving the at least one target URI comprises:
• providing contextual information about at least one of the NFC-enabled device and a user of the NFC-enabled device as input to the look-up table to allow a comparison between the contextual information and the application-related information;
• and
• retrieving, from the look-up table, the at least one target URI associated with the application-related information which, at least to some extent, matches the contextual information;
• download the at least one installation file for the target application from the retrieved at least one target URI;
• and
• install the target application on the NFC-enabled device using the at least one installation file for the target application.

A computer program comprising non-transitory computer readable code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein the non-transitory computer readable code, when run on a server computer, cause the server computer to:

• receive a look-up request including a Target ID associated with a target application from a Near-Field Communication (NFC)-enabled device;
• retrieve at least one target Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) from a look-up table based on the Target ID in the received look-up request, wherein the look-up table comprises at least one Target ID associated with one or more target URIs from which at least one installation file for the target application associated with the at least one Target ID can be downloaded;
• and
• send the retrieved at least one target URI to the NFC-enabled device, wherein the look-up request includes contextual information about at least one of the NFC-enabled device and a user of the NFC-enabled device, wherein the at least one Target ID in the look-up table corresponds to a plurality of target URIs, wherein at least one of the plurality of target URIs is associated with application-related information about the target application whose at least one installation file is downloadable from the at least one of the plurality of target URIs and the at least one installation file itself, and wherein the computer program is configured to control the server computer to select which of the plurality of target URIs to send to the NFC-enabled device based on a comparison between the contextual information and the application-related information in the look-up table.