NXP Semiconductors

MF3D(H)x3

MIFARE DESFire EV3 contactless multi-application IC

7 Functional description

7.1 Introduction

MIFARE DESFire EV3 is a contactless multi-application smart card IC compliant with ISOIEC 14443A (part

1-4). The MIFARE DESFire EV3 operating system provides an off-the-shelf development platform for smart card

application providers.

The memory organization of MIFARE DESFire EV3 is flexible and can be dynamically structured to fit into any

application requirements. The application and file structure is shown in Figure 3. Each application folder is a

container of data files usable within a certain real world application (e.g. Transport ticketing). There are 5 file

types available for data storage and 1 file type for storing Transaction MAC as detailed in Section 7.6.

Within the application folder, there is a set of keys and configuration settings dedicated for the application. The

application owner can freely organize the file structure and security setting within his application. An adjacent

application will not have access to its files as long as they do not possess the correct security rights. MIFARE

DESFire EV3 also supports the ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure and APDU.

At the PICC level, there is another set of keys and security settings for the PICC owner. The PICC owner will

have the right to create or delete any application, but he will not have access to the application's files, unless he

knows the application keys too.

Value

File

Application z

Application x

aaa-022073

Cyclic Record

File

Application Y

BackUp Data

File

Std. Data

File

PICC Setting and

configuration

App. Setting

configuration

Application

Keys

Up to 14 keys, free and never access options per application.

Linear Record

File

Transaction

MAC

File

Applications are independent of PICC keys and crypto

Independent file access and communication settings

Maximum 32 files per application

5 types of data file + 1 Transaction MAC file (optional)

Applications are independent of each other

PICC Keys

Figure 3. MIFARE DESFire EV3 product-based application and file structure

MIFARE DESFire EV3 supports confidential and integrity protected communication (see Section 7.7). Each

MIFARE DESFire EV3 application can have its own cryptographic settings (i.e. 2TDEA, 3TDEA or AES)

and secure messaging for communication. The D40 and EV1 secure messaging are included in the product

for backward compatible support of existing installations. For new projects, the EV3 secure messaging is

recommended.

MF3D_H_X3_SDS

All information provided in this document is subject to legal disclaimers.

© 2024 NXP B.V. All rights reserved.

Product short data sheet

Rev. 3.1 — 11 January 2024

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