Communicating via near field communications

1. A computer-implemented method to communicate via near field communication (NFC) between NFC readers and NFC-enabled applications available on NFC-enabled user computing devices, comprising:

receiving, from an NFC reader by an NFC-enabled user computing device, a first selection of an NFC application identifier (AID) proxy of the user computing device;

receiving, from the NFC reader by the selected proxy, a query directed to an availability of an NFC-enabled application on the user computing device, the query comprising an argument identifying the application by a domain name;

determining, by the proxy, whether the received domain name corresponds to an AID of an application available on the user computing device;

for a received domain name determined to correspond to an AID of an application available on the user computing device, transmitting, to the NFC reader by the user computing device a response indicating the AID of the application corresponding to the received domain name;

receiving, from the NFC reader by the user computing device via an NFC channel, a selection of the transmitted AID; and

in response to the received selection of the transmitted AID, communicating, by the application corresponding to the selected AID via the channel, via an NFC application protocol data unit (APDU) communication session with the NFC reader.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the user computing device, a revision to at least one AID in the data store relating each domain name of each application available on the user computing device to a corresponding AID; and

revising, by the user computing device, the data store with the received at least one AID.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to receiving the first selection of the proxy:

receiving, from the reader by the user computing device via the channel, a prior selection of the proxy;

receiving, from the reader by the prior selected proxy via the channel, at least one query directed to the identity of each application within a category of applications on the user computing device, the query comprising an argument identifying the queried category of applications;

determining, by the proxy, the domain name of each application on the user computing device in the queried category; and

transmitting, by the user computing device to the reader via the channel, a set of one or more determined domain names;

wherein the at least one query directed to the availability of an NFC-enabled application on the user computing device comprises an argument identifying a domain name from among the transmitted set of one or more domain names.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the category of applications is one of payments, transit, access, and identification.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the method further comprises, after transmitting each determined domain name by the user computing device to the reader, and prior to receiving the selection of an available domain name by the user computing device from the reader, determining, by the reader, according to a policy of the reader, one domain name from among the set of one or more determined domain names to be communicated.

6. The method of claim 1 :

wherein the AID comprises embedded routing information; and

wherein communicating comprises routing, by the user computing device, each APDU received by the user computing device in accordance with the embedded routing information contained in the AID of each APDU.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the embedded AID routing information comprises one of: a bit pattern in the last byte of the AID, and a 16-byte AID comprising an last bit quartet indicating AID routing information and a next-to-last bit quartet indicating the length of a base AID.

8. A computer program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage device having computer-executable

program instructions embodied thereon that when executed by a computer cause the computer to communicate via near field communication (NFC) between NFC readers and NFC-enabled applications available on NFC-enabled user computing devices, the computer-executable program instructions comprising:

computer-executable program instructions to receive, from an NFC reader by an NFC-enabled user computing device, a first selection command for an NFC application identifier (AID) proxy of the user computing device;

computer-executable program instructions to receive, from the reader by the selected proxy, a query directed to an availability of an NFC-enabled application on the user computing device, the query comprising an argument identifying the application by a domain name;

computer-executable program instructions to determine, by the proxy, whether the received domain name corresponds to an AID of an application available on the user computing device;

computer-executable program instructions, for a received domain name determined to correspond to an AID of an application available on the user computing device, to transmit, to the NFC reader by the user computing device, a response indicating the AID of the application corresponding to the received domain name;

computer-executable program instructions to receive, from the reader by the user computing device via an NFC channel, a selection command for the transmitted AID; and

computer-executable program instructions to communicate, by the application corresponding to the selected AID via the channel, in an NFC application protocol data unit (APDU) communication session with the reader.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving, by the user computing device, a revision to at least one AID in the data store relating each domain name of each application available on the user computing device to a corresponding AID; and

revising, by the user computing device, the data store with the received at least one AID.

10. The computer program product of claim 8 , further comprising:

prior to receiving the first selection of the proxy:

receiving, from the reader by the user computing device via the channel, a prior selection of the proxy;

receiving, from the reader by the prior selected proxy via the channel, at least one query directed to the identity of each application within a category of applications on the user computing device, the query comprising an argument identifying the queried category of applications;

determining, by the proxy, the domain name of each application on the user computing device in the queried category; and

communicating, by the user computing device to the reader via the channel, a set of one or more determined domain names;

wherein the at least one query directed to the availability of an NFC-enabled application on the user computing device comprises an argument identifying a domain name from among the communicated set of one or more domain names.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the category of applications is one of payments, transit, access, and identification.

12. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises, after communicating each determined domain name by the user computing device to the reader, and prior to receiving the selection of an available domain name by the user computing device from the reader, determining, by the reader, according to a policy of the reader, one domain name from among the set of one or more determined domain names to be communicated.

13. The computer program product of claim 8 :

wherein the AID comprises embedded routing information; and

wherein communicating comprises routing, by the user computing device, each APDU received by the user computing device in accordance with the embedded routing information contained in the AID of each APDU.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the embedded AID routing information comprises one of: a bit pattern in the last byte of the AID, and a 16-byte AID comprising an last bit quartet indicating AID routing information and a next-to-last bit quartet indicating the length of a base AID.

15. A system to communicate via near field communication (NFC) between NFC readers and NFC-enabled applications available on NFC-enabled user computing devices, comprising:

a storage device; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the storage device, wherein the processor executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to:

receive, from an NFC reader by an NFC-enabled user computing device, a first selection of an NFC application identifier (AID) proxy of the user computing device;

receive, from the reader by the selected proxy, a query directed to the availability of an NFC-enabled application on the user computing device, the query comprising an argument identifying the application by a domain name;

determine, by the proxy, whether the received domain name corresponds to an AID of an application available on the user computing device;

for a received domain name determined to correspond to an AID of an application available on the user computing device, transmit, to the NFC reader by the user computing device, a response indicating the AID of the application corresponding to the received domain name;

receive, from the reader by the user computing device via an NFC channel, a selection of the transmitted AID; and

communicate, by the application corresponding to the selected AID via the channel, in an NFC application protocol data unit (APDU) communication session with the reader in response to the received selection of the transmitted AID.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the processor further executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to:

receive, by the user computing device, a revision to at least one AID in the data store relating each domain name of each application available on the user computing device to a corresponding AID; and

revise, by the user computing device, the data store with the received at least one AID.

17. The system of claim 15 :

wherein the processor further executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to, prior to receiving the first selection of the proxy:

receive, from the reader by the user computing device via the channel, a prior selection of the proxy;

receive, from the reader by the prior selected proxy via the channel, at least one query directed to the identity of each application within a category of applications on the user computing device, the query comprising an argument identifying the queried category of applications;

determine, by the proxy, the domain name of each application on the user computing device in the queried category; and

communicate, by the user computing device to the reader via the channel, a set of one or more determined domain names;

wherein the at least one query directed to the availability of an NFC-enabled application on the user computing device comprises an argument identifying a domain name from among the communicated set of one or more domain names.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the category of applications is one of payments, transit, access, and identification.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the processor further executes application code instructions that are stored in the storage device to cause the system to, after communicating each determined domain name by the user computing device to the reader, and prior to receiving the selection of an available domain name by the user computing device from the reader, determine, by the reader, according to a policy of the reader, one domain name from among the set of one or more determined domain names to be communicated.

20. The system of claim 15 :

wherein the AID comprises embedded routing information; and

wherein communicating comprises routing, by the user computing device, each APDU received by the user computing device in accordance with the embedded routing information contained in the AID of each APDU.