Developed to be used in mobile devices, or within the PC environment, the ST21NFCA is a flexible fully integrated system-on-chip IC that offers a complete hardware capability for contactless communication at 13.56MHz, and is suitable to be designed into RF reader systems, as well as RF Tag or contactless smart cards. The device also integrates the necessary Host Controller Interface functions, in addition to interfaces for both the I2Cbus and SPIbus, and is compliant with the ETSI specification for Single Wire Protocol (SWP), which describes the connection between a mobile phone’s Universal Integrated Circuit Card and the NFC controller.

Based on the technology and the architectures already implemented in ST’s SIM card range, the ST21NFCA includes the company’s ST21 smart card microcontroller along with 36 Kbytes of EEPROM, 112 Kbytes of User ROM and 4 Kbytes of RAM. In addition, the chip includes an integrated RF analog front end and embedded firmware that supports the existing contactless standards for proximity and vicinity. Additionally, the chip’s fully integrated firmware provides fast and easy design and implementation for leading mobile phone and portable consumer equipment manufacturers.

“NFC technology has already proven that it has huge potential for a range of applications, such as secure payment via a mobile phone or electronic ticketing for travel,” said Marie-France Florentin, ST’s Smartcard ICs business director.

Engineering samples will be available in Q2 2008, and then production is expected to ramp-up in Q4 2008. Pricing for the ST21NFCA is $3 per package in quantities of 1000.