RFID and NFC antenna design

Cartes Asia 2014

Jrgen Schrder / Steven Chang

March 2014

NFC Key Points

13,56MHz RF Link

Wireless Short Range Communication Technology

Based on RFID technology at 13,56 MHz
Operating distance requires close proximity of devices
Data exchange rate today up to 424kbit/s
Compatible with todays field proven contactless reader infrastructure
Passive communication more allows battery saving implementations

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NFC modes
Like
ISO/IEC 14443 PCD

Like
ISO/IEC 14443 PICC

1 - Card emulation

2 - Card reader

(payment, transport & event

ticketing, access, )

(smart posters, tagged

promotions, authentication, )

3 P2P
(Easy BT/Wifi
pairing, games,
data exchange,
)

Active P2P:
Both devices generate
their own RF field

Passive P2P:
Extended ISO/IEC
14443 PCD/PICC

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How the RFID/NFC Antenna works

PCD
Antenna Coil

PCD

PICC Coil

PICC
k

L1

L2

C2

R2

energy
Transformer
principle !

data

k : coupling coefficient

k =
PCD: Proximity Coupling Device (Reader)
PICC: Proximity Chip Card (Card)

2
1

Index 1: PCD antenna = design parameters

Index 2: PICC antenna = typ. fixed parameters

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A general equivalent antenna circuit

Ra

La

Ca

Free air
condition

L - Inductance, mainly defined by the number of turns of the antenna

R - Resistance, mainly defined by the diameter and length of antenna wires
C - Capacitance, mainly defined by the distance of antenna wires from each other and number of turns

Ra

NFC-IC

L/R/C
Network

Ca
La

Example values of an
existing antenna
L - 1,45uH
R 0,4 Ohm
C 3,5pF

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Antenna matching / tuning

A RFID or NFC antenna with the typical sizes has a impedance that is
rather low and resonance frequency which is higher than 13,56MHz
Therefore a antenna matching and tuning is required.
The antenna tuning is adjusting the antenna resonance frequency by
the addition of parallel capacitors (typically) to bring the resonance
frequency close to 13,56 MHz.
The antenna matching is adjusting the impledance of the antenna seen
by the NFC IC, so that a optimal RF power efficiency can be achieved
and the maximum current of the NFC-IC is not exceeded.
A typical impedance for an antenna is ranging from 3060 Ohms,
depending on the antenna
A typical inductance is in the range of 13 H
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Antenna
performance, integration, optimization
NFC Antenna performance depends on:

Coil outline area

Number of turns
Track width and pitch
Track material
Environmental impact

How is it made:
Wire (copper) in a loop and embedded in phone.
Ferrite layer is used in designs to avoid interferences.

Location is critical for usability:

Different approaches depending on OEM.

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Considerations for Antenna sizes

Mobile phones typically implement a rather small antenna for the NFC function
A large antenna of a typical RFID reader works well for SmartCard
communication, but might have a weak coupling to a mobile phone NFC
antenna and by this a reduced operating distance might occur.

NFC Device
(Primary coil)
NFC Phone
(Secondary coil)
The number of antenna turns has no impact on coupling.
The size (geometry) of an RFID/NFC antenna defines the operating distance
(performance):
Small size = small operating distance
Large size = large operating distance
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Typical Antenna Matching network

EMC Filter: Square wave output driversignal is shaped to a sinus singal

Macthing Cirquit: Lowers the self resonance frequency of the antenna to approx 13,56Mhz

Typical NFC development board

and components as described in the
schematics

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Determining the equivalent antenna

components
Equivalent antenna components are Ra, La, Ca , the damping resistance Ra is defining the Q
factor of the antenna
The inductance and resistance should be measured a frequency of 1MHz.
A VNA (Vector Network Analyzer) can be used to perform this measurement.

The self resonance frequency (fra) and the parallel resistance can be obtained at the resonant
point of the system where the imaginary part is zero.
The antenna capacitance Ca can be calculated with:

The quality factor of the antenna is calculated with:

A proposed value for Q is 30. If the calculated Q is higher an external damping resistor RQ
has to be inserted on each antenna side to reduce the Q-factor to the target value.
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Determining the self resonance

frequency
So far, we have determined the equivalent components Ra,and La a
In order to calculate the parameter Ca the self resonant frequency of the loop is needed.
The self resoncant frequency is typically high, therefore configure the VNA for a
frequency range 1-100MHz
->The frequency point where Xs (imaginery part) is sharply going from inductive to
capacitive (negative) value is the self resonant frequency
The self resonance frequency measured = 70.75MHz.
Then the capacitance Ca of equivalent circuit can the be calculated using this frequency.
Knowing now the equivalent components
of the antenna, we can calculate the
required parallel capacitor values for C2
to bring the resonance frequency down
to the desired 13,56MHz

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Calculation of EMC filter and matching

capacitors
The remaining parts of the matching network are the capacitors C1 which is
used to match the impedance and the capacitor C0 and inductivity L0 which are
components for the EMC filter.
There is a calculation excel table available to ease the calculation of this
components. The table can be downloaded using the following link:
http://www.nxp.com/documents/application_note/AN1425_AN166510.zip

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Verifying the correct tuning and

matching of the antenna
The VNA can be used to display a
smith chart.
Measuring needs to be done before the
EMC filter inductors
Target is to achieve a real impedance
@13,56Mhz
NFC Forum compliant transceiver like
PN512 device operates in card and
reader mode and a tradeoff for the
optimal Z matching must be evaluated.

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Which tools do I need?

Network or Impedance analyzer

Rohde & Schwarz

Agilent
miniVNA Pro (cheap alternative)
etc

Design itself

Oscilloscope
Like for every electronic design

RFID / NFC Test tools

Calibrated Reference PICCs

NFC Listener
Test software

Test & Qualification

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Conclusion
RFID and NFC antennas are transformers in resonance
NFC mobile devices must cover 2 (or 3) operation modes:
Card Reader Mode (like RFID reader)
Card Emulation Mode (like RFID smart card): optional
P2P mode (between two NFC devices)

The size (geometry) of an RFID/NFC antenna defines the operating

distance (performance) in principle:
Small size = small operating distance
Large size = large operating distance

Metal
around or behind the RFID/NFC antenna kills the magnetic field.
behind the antenna can be shielded with ferrite.

The final design of an RFID/NFC antenna is quite straight forward with

the right tools.
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