SoC chip eases NFC implementation

Feb 14, 2008 10:30 AM

Using 0.13 micron CMOS process, STMicroelectronics has developed a new fully integrated secure system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution for the fast emerging near field communication (NFC) applications. NFC technology provides advanced wireless or contactless services for users, such as electronic payment via mobile phone. Called the ST21NFCA, it integrates all the necessary hardware and software for a complete NFC system, including support for all the NFC proximity and vicinity standards, said the maker.

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Developed to be used in mobile devices, or within the PC environment, the ST21NFCA is a flexible fully integrated SoC chip that offers a complete hardware capability for contactless communication at 13.56 MHz, and is suitable to be designed into RF reader systems, as well as RF tag or contactless smart cards. The device also integrates the necessary host controller interface (HCI) functions, in addition to interfaces for both the I2C bus and SPI bus, and is compliant with the ETSI specification for single wire protocol (SWP), which describes the connection between a mobile phone’s universal integrated circuit card (UICC) and the NFC controller.

Based on the technology and the architectures already implemented in ST’s advanced SIM card range, the ST21NFCA includes the company’s advanced ST21 smart card microcontroller along with 36 Kbytes of EEPROM, 112 Kbytes of user ROM and 4 Kbytes of RAM. In addition, the chip includes an integrated RF analog front-end (AFE) and embedded firmware that supports the existing contactless standards for proximity and vicinity. Additionally, the chip’s fully integrated firmware provides fast and easy design and implementation for leading mobile phone and portable consumer equipment manufacturers.

Housed in QFN32 packages, engineering samples are expected in the second quarter to lead customers and volume ramp-up is planned for the fourth quarter, according to STMicroelectronics. Pricing for the ST21NFCA is $3 per package, in quantities of 1000.