Easy API to communicate with DESFire with PN7120 and libnfc-nci

[diegovalladolid]

Last year I spent some months developing an application with a KL26 that communicated with a PN512 via I2C by using (and adapting) the library "NXP NFC Reader Library". With that library, interacting with DESFire tags was as easy as using functions like phalMfdf_CreateApplication(..), phalMfdf_GetVersion(...) and similar.

Now I am reading up on PN7120 as the system we're going to use in Linux. The idea is to interface an iMX6 with a PN7120. I have successfully installed the driver and the libnfc-nci library by following AN11697. The demo application can read tags like Mifare UL or Mifare Classic but, when tapping a DESFire or a PLUS tag the message "Not a MIFARE card" is shown.

After reading carefully the nfc-nci API I concluded that it does not offer a high-level API that eases the communication with a DESFire, PLUS or any other "complex" tag. I really expected to have something similar to what it is being offered in the "NXP NFC Reader Library".

Is it really necessary that I implement commands like 3-pass authentication, create application, create/delete file, etc.? I can't believe that there is no other way to communicate with a DESFire (I am always talking about DESFire but I could also refer to some other models of tags that are not natively supported like Mifare Plus).

Could someone enlighten me in this topic?

I'd really appreciate!

[sreten_jovicic]

Hi Diego.

I also found out about this in a painful way.

Did you had any success with this? Can you recommend a starting point?

[IvanRuiz]

Hello,

In this case, the library should also be adapted. Currently, there are no published examples of MIFARE DESfire. The crypto modules have to be ported on top of the nxp-nci library.

Thank you for your comprehension.

Regards,

Ivan.

[sreten_jovicic]

Hi, Ivan.

Does this means that NXP does not provide any support (library or driver) for interfacing between MIFARE DESFire EV1/EV2 ICs and NXP readers / writers (like PN7150) ?

[IvanRuiz]

Hi,

Currently it is not available; thank you for your comprehension.

Regards,

Ivan.

[sreten_jovicic]

Hi Ivan,

Can you direct me in any way?
I know for a fact that others are using MIFARE DESFire ICs. And I know for a fact that MIFARE and NXP are partners. So, there must be a way to use those ICs with at least one of NXP's readers / writers.

Regards.

[IvanRuiz]

Hi,

There is an extended version of the NFC Reader Library for PN7462 which has support for MIFARE DESFire. For this, you will need to register to DocStore and have an active NDA.

Regards,

Ivan.

[sreten_jovicic]

Thank you Ivan.

This helps.