NFC system reference design by ams and ST for mobile and wearable

ams AG and STMicroelectronics introduced an NFC system reference design for secure contactless transactions supporting sleek form factor of mobile and wearable devices. The reference design can work with tiny antenna, that is typically adjacent to metal surfaces or shielded by the user’s hand, and mounted in a location hostile to RF transmissions. The ref design uses AS39230 analog front end (AFE) with boostedNFC technology from ams, along with the ST21NFCC controller and ST33G1M2 Secure MCU from ST. The certification includes EMVCo, GlobalPlatform, and Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and PBOC1. “Through this partnership with ams, the undisputed leader in NFC booster technology, ST customers can enjoy complete NFC turnkey solutions with enhanced RF performance and reduced cost of integration and ownership,” said Laurent Degauque, Embedded Security Marketing Director at STMicroelectronics. “Our common reference design can be easily integrated into various devices including mobile phones, smart watches, wearables, and secure connected devices, and will significantly improve consumer experiences with contactless transactions.” "ams’ new AS39230 boosts the signal on the antenna, increasing the signal strength up to 10 times when compared with conventional passive load modulation (PLM) methods of transmitting a signal from an NFC tag, card, or card emulator to an NFC reader....