Infineon’s new NFC tag side controller integrates sensing and energy harvesting functions

Infineon's new NFC tag side controller integrates sensing and energy collection functions to help make battery-less smart sensing IoT solutions more compact

[April 4, 2023, Munich, Germany] The built-in energy harvesting function of the sensor controller based on near field communication (NFC) technology is crucial for the development of passive smart devices. This feature not only makes the design of IoT smart devices more convenient , so that it can be used in a wide range of applications, and at the same time, it can also make the equipment work more accurately and efficiently . The latest NGC1081 launched by Infineon Technologies AG will further expand the product portfolio of NFC tag side controllers. This new single-chip IC solution can help IoT industry customers develop lower-cost and smaller intelligent edge computing/sensing devices, ultimately bringing maximum benefits to end users and manufacturers. Smart devices designed based on NGC1081 can be controlled and powered by mobile phones, which makes them suitable not only for medical patches and disposable fixed-point care testers, but also for a wider range of applications such as data loggers, smart thermostats and sensor inlays.

The tag-side controller can support dual power supply functions, allowing it to operate in a passive mode (without battery) or battery-powered mode based on energy harvesting. When working in battery-powered mode, the system can become an independent sensing node by connecting to an external power supply of 3 to 3.3V. In passive mode, the entire sensing system including the IC and its connected sensors can obtain power by harvesting energy from the NFC field of the mobile phone. Supporting dual power supply function coupled with its own galvanically isolated sensing interface, these features not only provide unlimited possibilities for creating more battery-free, maintenance-free innovative sensing applications, but are also suitable for those that meet safety requirements. power applications requiring galvanic isolation.

NGC1081 integrates a low-power ARM® Cortex®-M0 microcontroller and other key components. These integrated components include an NFC front-end device compatible with the ISO14443 type-A standard and an H-bridge-based motor with a current drive capability of up to 250mA. drive . Not only that, NGC1081 also integrates a sensing unit, which is designed based on a 12-bit SAR ADC and has 4 analog signal input ports and an analog output port of a 10-bit DAC. The NGC1081's sensing unit also contains a 12V converter and a built-in temperature sensor that provides ±0.3°C accuracy over the 0°C to 45°C temperature range and -20°C to 0°C and 45°C to 85°C Provides ±0.4°C accuracy over temperature range.

NGC1081, a highly integrated single-chip solution, not only helps customers achieve smaller product designs, but also helps customers reduce the BOM cost of the entire system. In addition, with its unique IC design architecture and professionally designed supporting hardware/software, customers can also design more independent software functions. NGC1081 relies on its easy configuration and diversity of functions to become the best solution that can easily adapt to various applications and special system requirements.

In addition, systems designed based on NGC1081 can have seamless data links with mobile phones, which greatly promotes the adoption of this solution by products based on access to the cloud business model. This seamless connection to mobile phones is made possible thanks to a streamlined and scalable mailbox access concept that ensures data integrity and security during data access. Not only that, but application-specific instructions and information transmitted through the open protocol interface can further extend the protocol layer.

Availability

NGC1081 is packaged in VQFN-32