NXP forecasts mounting demand for NFC apps

The demand for NFC tags for applications that include social media, smart posters, service discovery and electronic enhancement of printed media is rising, stated NXP Semiconductors N.V. As such, the company said it is ready to answer that need with its NFC Forum-compliant NTAG203 Type 2 tags.

As demonstrated by its support of NFC in Android and Windows 8, NXP believes NFC radios in mobile devices such as phones or tablets will open up new possibilities for the same devices to connect the physical with the virtual world.

The ability to convert static data such as URL into digital bits stored in an NFC tag will allow the mobile device quick data retrieval making it more useful to consumers. Merchants can also secure better analytics of the data through higher redemption rates. Existing contactless solutions such as NXP MIFARE smart cards have helped prove the advantages of a simple tap, paving the way for increased acceptance of new NFC applications.

"The NTAG203 is an NFC IC that can enhance the performance of existing tags, or enable the design of smaller tags without compromising performance," noted Chris Feige, general manager, tags and labels product line at NXP.

The focus of the NTAG family is to facilitate easy reuse of existing inlays and tag designs in production to ensure quick and cost-effective deployment, while minimizing the number of product types customers need to stock. The enhancement leverages existing MIFARE-based tags shipped in the highest volumes worldwide.

One specific concern was to optimize the NTAG RF performance to tune for either longer read range with existing antenna designs, or facilitate smaller tags with ranges equivalent to existing solutions. Now, tags as small as 12mm can be used from an NFC-enabled mobile device.

- Phil Ling
??EE Times