PN5180 vs. PN512 Confusion

[xenon]

Hi. On paper, the PN512 and PN5180 look pretty similar. Both support ISO14443, etc. However apparently the PN5180 has it's own firmware that can be upgraded over SPI, but PN512 does not. What is this firmware doing in the PN5180 and why doesn't the PN512 need any? According to this page https://www.nxp.com/products/rfid-nfc/nfc-hf/nfc-readers:NFC-READER the PN5180 doesn't contain a microcontroller core, yet its firmware is obviously running on something in the chip... so what's it running on then? Thanks

[KellyLi]

Hello @xenon 

Thanks for contacting us and you raise a good question.

PN512 is just the front-end Reader, but PN5180 is not only the Reader also have more extended features. For example, LPCD, DPC, AWC and so on. Because of these features, embedded algorithm firmware is required, which can be achieved by simply configuring the corresponding register for the user. But then PN512 does not need such a thing. Hope the above explanation can clarify your question.

BR

kelly