What is the difference between Whisper Mode Pairing and NFC?

Answer

NFC also requires two devices to be in close proximity to one another for pairing to take place, but it typically requires additional hardware and support for OOB pairing procedure at both ends of the connection, which consequently results in greater power consumption. Unlike NFC, Whisper Mode can decrease footprint and BOM (bill of materials) costs for OEMs by removing requirements for additional wireless technologies.

As an alternative, Laird’ s Whisper Mode Pairing creates a ‘bubble’ of influence, outside of which pairing will not succeed; thus BL600 modules offer proximity-enhanced security without the need for additional hardware costs, code, power consumption and operates with any BLE device. An additional benefit of the BL600 firmware release is that it offers AES Encryption and Decryption, which further enhances security. Whisper Mode Pairing coupled with these cryptographic functions provides increased security and encryption, allowing end-users to make trusted connections and private data transfers.