PN512 Emulation Tag Write issue

[Vignesh_Kumar_M]

We have already implemented NFC tag emulation on the PN512. The emulation of the tag is working properly, and the PN512 acts as a passive NFC tag. Nevertheless, attempting to write onto the emulated tag via an NFC mobile program (e.g., NFC Tools) results in a write command error within the mobile program.

We have a question about the Type 2A and Type 4A NFC tag types:

What is a Type 2A tag?

What is a Type 4A tag?

Is the PN512 able to emulate a Type 2A or Type 4A tag?

Does the PN512 support both read and write operations in tag emulation mode?

Project Objective:
Our project includes:

Live transmission of data through NFC,

Support for Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) updates.

First, we were going to employ P2P (Peer-to-Peer) active communication, but the corresponding APIs are obsolete. So, we have chosen to use the PN512 as a passive NFC tag and the mobile phone as the active reader. We're employing NFC Class A communication mode.

[Fabian_R]

Hello sir,

Thank you very much for using our products.

Regarding the use of PN512, I must mention that it isn't recommended for new designs. This is a very old generation of NFC Readers and, is possible that the supply of the IC may be limited by production.

We recommend to please try choose any other of our recommended front end readers: https://www.nxp.com/products/wireless-connectivity/nfc-hf/nfc-readers:NFC-READER

All of them are capable of emulate a Tye 4 Tag.

Now answering your questions:

We first recommend to please try using our Android's App: TagWriter

Type 2 and Type 4 are tags defined by NFC Forum their differences resides on the memory map and how is the information access, Among other characteristics of the Tag. Unfortunately I am not allowed to provide details about it.

According to the Datasheet, the PN512 isn't able to enable Card Emulation not Peer-to-peer. Please explore the possibility of using for example CLRC663 for project.

We do provide a set of examples based on our NFC Reader Library, which will help your team speed up the development process.

If you are interested, we do also have our connected NTAGs for an active interface between NFC and I2C for passing information.

[Vignesh_Kumar_M]

Q1: Is the PN532 suitable for new development and production use?

Q2: We want to use the PN532 in tag emulation mode. If a mobile phone acts as the active device, is it possible for the mobile phone to write data to the PN532?

Q3: Currently, we observe that for each read or write operation with the PN532, the mobile phone needs to scan the tag first. Is it mandatory to scan every time before reading or writing data?

We are planning to implement live data monitoring using the NFC tag. The idea is: the mobile application writes which menu/data it needs into the NFC tag, and after receiving that request, the device writes the corresponding data into the PN532.

Is this approach feasible with the PN532? Or is there a better method to achieve this kind of two-way communication? Please suggest if there's an alternative.

[Fabian_R]

Hello sir,

My apologies for the amount of information shared in the last post. PN532 status is also not recommended for new designs.

Please check our recommended devices in the following link: EdgeVerse™ NFC Readers | NXP Semiconductors

We are happy to help answering any of your questions.

[Vignesh_Kumar_M]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

We've already completed the first-stage code setup and are ready for testing. Right now, we are working on Active Tag Card Emulation using PN532.

Can you suggest an NFC module, which has the same pin mapping as PN532? Additionally, please consider that we have already tailored the PN532 software stack to our needs; hence, coding migration should be minimal effort.

[Fabian_R]

I'm very sorry sir but there isn't a recommended IC that have the same pin mapping as the PN532.

Please keep in mind that for every mode, it is required to load the protocol to act as a Target mode into passive or active.

Unfortunately, the only documentation we have besides the PN532 is the PN512 Tips and tricks. It may be helpful for your implementation. But please provide a little more information about the issues you are encountering for Active mode.

[Vignesh_Kumar_M]

We are currently using Active Card Emulation. The primary use cases are FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air) and Live Data Monitoring.

At present, we are able to scan, write, and read data successfully using our current setup.

We would like to know:

1. Is this setup feasible for production use?

2. Please suggest a suitable NFC chip for production, focusing on minimal code migration effort. The footprint compatibility is not a priority at this stage.

3. Currently, we observe that with the PN532, the mobile phone must scan the tag before each read or write operation.
   Is it mandatory to scan the tag every time before reading or writing data?