Cost-efficient HF RFID reader IC – RA10

The RA10 HiRead-R is a single-chip reader ASIC for 13.56-MHz RFID/contactless ISO14443 Type-A standard protocols, including Crypto_M. The HiRead-R provides a hi-speed SPI controller/host interface with a built-in 64-byte FIFO for smooth data transfer. Furthermore, the embedded codec is capable of handling all bit-level coding/encoding, encrypting/decrypting as well as frame-level manipulation for transmission and reception. The chip is well suited for mobile devices due to its low power consumption and low operating voltage from 2.7-3.3 V. The on-chip 3.3V regulators are provided to stabilize the chip’s power, and simultaneously supply the power to the external companion microcontroller up to 80 mA.

The HiRead-R receiver circuit incorporates a full AGC loop allowing a wide dynamic range of RF input signal levels. The chip’s excellent sensitivity performance enables detection of the input signals with amplitudes as low as 1mVpkpk without distorting the data integrity. The receiver filters can be selected optionally either to a predefined band in accordance with the generic required standard setup, or to an arbitrarily defined combination which gives flexibility to cope with various antenna variations/parameters. The base band circuits permit the inbound/outbound configuration to accept various forms of customized protocols, incoming to the chip and outgoing to the external RF circuitry in the application specific-design system. The HiRead-R transmitter is capable of accepting a wide range of operating supply voltages to serve various applications, e.g., base stations, desktop readers, and handheld devices. The transmission controller is entirely used to support all operation status and requests, including FIFO status full/high/low and Transmission/Reception complete. The transmitter drivers support a wide range of power supply voltages from 2.7 to 7 V. A high drive current up to 200 mA is guaranteed for demanding item-level mid-range reader designs. The dual high-powered transmitters can be flexibly configured in various configurations, e.g. differential driving, single-ended driving, and a mode to drive an external Class-E amplifier for improving the drive strength in the gate antenna setup.

To facilitate operation of the companion microcontroller, the HiRead-R is fully equipped with on-chip peripheral support devices such as a voltage reference, an RF-trig timer, a host interrupt generator, and a clock divider. The RA10 is offered in a low-profile QFN package with excellent heat dissipation when self-mounted on PCB.

Supported Protocols

• ISO14443 Type-A all bit rates
  • o 106, 212, 424 and 848 kbps
• Compatible to Crypto_M

Transmitter

• Proximity operating distance up to 10 cm (based on 3×4 cm2 antenna)
• Maximum driving current up to
  • 200 mA/ PIN @ 5V VDDT
  • 300 mA/ PIN @ 7V VDDT
• Accept external baseband signal for RF modulation
• Accept wide operating voltage for Tx from 2.7 -7 V
• On-chip Framing coder

Receiver

• Rx sensitivity down to 1 mVpkpk
• Rx automatic gain control (AGC)
• Accept external baseband signal from external circuitry for frame level processing
• On-chip Framing handler for supported standards

Interface and Peripheral

• SPI Interface up to 10 Mbps
• 64-byte send and receive FIFO-buffer
• 64-byte addressing user-configurable registers
• Interrupt (IRQ) PIN
• Programmable timer
• Programmable clock divider for external MCU
• Low jitter on-chip oscillator buffer
• On-Chip Dual 80 mA 3.3V Regulators

Operating Conditions

• Operating temperature from -40°C to 85°C
• Operating voltage from 2.7 to 3.3 V for Receiver
• Operating voltage from 2.7 to 7 V for Transmitter
• 5.5 uA in power down mode
• 1.3 mA in standby mode
• 8.0 mA when all receiver blocks are active
• Small QFN5x5 32-Pin with Heat sink pad or TSSOP-28

Reference Design/ Evaluation Kit

• Ready-to-use USB Module and Generic module
• Demonstration Software/ Sample firmware available

Applications

• Contactless payment system
• Secure access control
• PC peripherals device
• Handheld RFID reader