High Performance NFC Forum Reader Devices Accelerate Payment and Consumer Application Designs

Published  June 9, 2022   0
L Lakshita
Author
NFC Forum Reader Devices

STMicroelectronics has announced two new NFC Forum Reader devices ST25R3916B-AQWT and ST25R3917B-AQWT that support NFC initiator, target, reader, and card-emulation modes and can be used in contactless payment, device-pairing, wireless-charging, brand protection, and other industrial and consumer applications. These new devices introduce improved active wave shaping (AWS) with increased flexibility that simplifies the adjustment of the RF output to optimize overshoot and undershoot.

These devices deliver up to 1.6W RF output power and can drive antennas directly at high efficiency. Dynamic power-output (DPO) adjustment enables designers to keep the radiated power between the upper and lower limits defined by EMVCo and the NFC Forum specifications. Combining a highly noise-resistant input structure and noise-suppression receivers (NSR), these devices have high immunity to interference from other nearby equipment such as power supplies and POS terminals. Both devices offer a high level of resistance to both radiated noise and conducted noise.

Key Features

  • Dynamic power output (DPO) controls the field strength to stay within given limits

  • Active wave shaping (AWS) reduces over-and under-shoots

  • Noise suppression receiver (NSR) allows reception in noisy environment

  • Automatic antenna tuning (AAT) via variable capacitor

  • Integrated EMVCo® 3.1a compliant EMD handling

  • Automatic gain control and squelch feature to maximize SNR

  • Low power NFC active and passive target modes

  • Adjustable ASK modulation depth, from 0 to 82%

  • Integrated regulators to boost system PSRR

The ST25R3916B/17B ICs offer a wide power-supply voltage range, from as low as 2.4V to 5.5V, and operating temperatures from -40°C to 105°C. The peripheral I/O circuitry can operate from as little as 1.65V. Free samples of these devices are now available on ST eStore in 32-lead VFQFPN 5mm x 5mm x 1mm package and 36-bump wafer-level chip-scale package (WLCSP) options.