Initiator for the NTAG I2C plus tag

[wael_hazin]

Hello:

We are currently in the development phase of a medical product that will need to harvest power and I have been using the NTAG I2C Plus tag with the NTAG I2C plus Explorer kit(OM5569) and the class 6 antenna. I have been able to measure the harvested power and test the communication using the NTAG I2C Demo App on a PC and the various firmware examples. My next step is to try and increase the range and power and started to look at the initiator side of things. After some investigation, the initiator/Reader in the kit uses the PN512 frontend and isn’t the highest performing frontend offered by NXP from what I am able to investigate.

Based on the tag solutions outlined in this document,

https://www.nxp.com/docs/en/brochure/939775017564.pdf?fsrch=1&sr=1&pageNum=1

I think I would either use the CLRC663 plus or the PN5180. But I really don’t see much of a difference. Can someone please outline what the difference is and will either one work for the NTAG I2C plus tag? Some advantages/disadvantages between the two, etc.

Also, under the Active communication spec, only the PN5180 has the feature. Am I still able to communicate/transfer data like I was able to using the PN512 initiator in the dev kit?

the transmit power of the CLRC663 plus can be up to 250mA MORE than the PN5180 but yet the stated spec for distance is the same for both. Why is that? Assuming I use the same initiator/target antenna on both devices, should I be able either transmit more power and/or longer distances using the CLRC663?

Does one have better control algorithm to minimize power consumption based on the target distance/power requirement?

These questions are truly critical for me to move forward as I am unable to talk to anyone at NXP and I am fairly new to NFC. Please be very detailed in your response and your time and effort will be greatly appreciated.

[nxf58474]

Hi,

The main difference between those readers is that the PN5180 supports the three NFC communication modes (Read/Write, Tag Emulation and Peer-to-Peer), and the CLRC663 only supports the Read/Write mode. This webinar would help you to understand the NFC communication modes: NFC Essentials.

Both are NFC Readers, the NFC distance range is 10cm.

The decision of which reader use, would depend on what you want do. If you only want to read / write on the tag, any of these two readers would help you.

Best Regards,

Ricardo

[wael_hazin]

Hi Ricardo:

Thank you for your help. I now understand the mode difference, but still not clear as to why the transmit power of the CLRC663 plus has up to 250mA more than the PN5180. please explain the following:

1) assuming they have the same distance range, does that mean I am able to harvest more power on the tag end using the CLRC663 plus? Assuming I use the same initiator/target antenna on both devices, should I be able either transmit more power and/or longer distances using the CLRC663 plus? if not, whats the purpose of the higher transmit power?

2) Does one have better control algorithm/DPC to minimize power consumption based on the target distance/power requirement?

again, your time and effort will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Wael

[nxf58474]

Hi Wael.

NTAG I2C plus provides the capability to supply external low-power devices with up to 15 mW of energy, harvested from the RF field of an NFC device. The voltage and current from the energy harvesting depend on various parameters, such as the strength of the RF field, tag antenna size, and distance from the NFC device.

The differences between the readers, is because of the NFC communication modes. And the PN5180 is EMVCo compliance and also include a Dynamic Power Control feature.

You should design your antenna depending on your reader. For CLRC663 please refer to CLRC663, MFRC630, MFRC631, SLRC610 Antenna Design, and for PN5180 refer to PN5180 Antenna design guide.

Regards,

Ricardo