PN5180, the Best Full NFC Frontend on the Market

The NXP PN5180 NFC frontend is equipped with unique features that improve performance, save energy, and maximize efficiency, enables best-in-class readers that conform to the requirements for EMVCo and NFC Forum specifications, for the broadest possible interoperability

As a high performance, NFC Forum-compliant frontend IC for contactless communication at 13.56 MHz, the PN5180 utilizes an outstanding modulation and demodulation concept completely integrated for different kinds of contactless communication methods and protocols.

The PN5180 supports highly innovative and unique features which do not require any host controller interaction. These unique features include Dynamic Power Control (DPC), Adaptive Waveform Control (AWC), Adaptive Receiver Control (ARC), and fully automatic EMD error handling to deliver an optimized and robust RF performance. The independence of real-time host controller interactions makes this product the best choice for systems which operate a preemptive multi-tasking OS like Linux or Android.

The PN5180 ensures maximum interoperability for next generation of NFC enabled mobile phones and is optimized for point of sales terminal applications. The NFC frontend solution implements a high-power functionality which allows to achieve EMV compliance on RF level without additional external active components

PN5180 Block diagram

FEATURES/SPECS

• Peer to Peer mode:
  • Initiator/Target
  • P2P supported for types: A( 106 kbit/s), F (212,424 kbit/s)
• Card emulation mode:
  • ISO/IEC 14443 Type A with active and passive load communication
• Max transmitter current: 250 mA
• Host interface: 1.8 or 3.3 V
  • 7 Mbit/s SPI, IRQ & busy signals
• Connects to a host microcontroller with a SPI interface for configuration
• Active load modulation supports smaller antenna in Card Emulation Mode
• Automatic EMD handling performed without host interaction relaxes the timing requirements on the Host Controller
• Low-power card detection (LPCD) minimizes current consumption during polling
• Automatic support of system LDO or system DC/DC power-down mode during LPCD
• Dynamic Power Control (DPC) for optimized RF performance, even under detuned antenna conditions
• Adaptive Waveform Control (AWC) automatically adjusts the transmitter modulation for RF compliance
• Adaptive Receiver Control (ARC) automatically adjusts the receiver parameters for always reliable communication
• NFC Cockpit: PC-based support tool for fast configuration of register settings
• NFC Reader Library with source code ready for EMVCo L1 and NFC Forum compliance

APPLICATIONS

• Payment terminals
• Physical-access readers
• eGov readers
• Industrial readers
• High performance readers

SUPPORTED RF PROTOCOLS

• EMVCo
• FeliCa R/W support up to 424 kbit/s
• ISO/IEC14443-A,B
• ISO/IEC 15693 Reader ( ICODE)
• FC Forum tag type 1,2,3,4,5
• NXP MIFARE Crypto

BENEFITS

• Best RF performance
• PCI-compliant payment terminals
• Full interoperability with the latest NFC devices
• Standard and proprietary implementations
• Long battery life
• Fast time-to-market

The PN5180 development board (part #: OM25180FDK,699) enables users to perform quick evaluation of the PN5180 NFC frontend IC. Hardware designers are presented with the option to connect their own antenna to the board. In addition, dedicated boards which allow to solder custom matching components are available.

The PN5180 is supported by the NFC Cockpit for NFC application development The NFC Cockpit is an intuitive GUI that lets users configure and adapt IC settings without writing a single line of software code.

The NFC Reader Library is an ideal software companion for the PN5180 and is designed to give developers a faster and simpler way to deliver NFC-enabled products. This multi-layer library, written in C, makes it easy to create NFC based applications. Special features, including interrupt-based event handling, Free RTOS support and MISRA-C compliancy, are provided along with the NFC Reader Library. The software is designed in a way to be easily portable to many different microcontrollers.

The PN5180 development kit contains:

• 32 bit LPC1769 MCU
• 65 mm x 65 mm antenna optimized for EMVCo applications
• 30 mm x 50 mm antenna with matching components
• 3 small antenna matching PCBs
• NFC tag sample card
• 10 PN5180 samples in HVQFN package

Additional Resources:
PN5180-CutSheet
NFC Reader Library
NFC Cockpit