2 General description
PN5180, the best full NFC frontend on the market.
As a highly integrated high performance full NFC Forum-compliant frontend IC for
contactless communication at 13.56 MHz, this frontend IC utilizes an outstanding
modulation and demodulation concept completely integrated for different kinds of
contactless communication methods and protocols.
The PN5180 ensures maximum interoperability for next generation of NFC enabled
mobile phones. The PN5180 is optimized for point of sales terminal applications and
implements a high-power NFC frontend functionality which allows to achieve EMV
compliance on RF level without additional external active components.
The PN5180 frontend IC supports the following RF operating modes:
• Reader/Writer mode supporting ISO/IEC 14443-A up to 848 kBit/s, MIFARE
• Reader/Writer mode supporting ISO/IEC 14443-B up to 848 kBit/s
• Reader/Writer mode supporting JIS X 6319-4 (comparable with FeliCa scheme)
• Supports reading of all NFC tag types (type 1, type 2, type 3, type 4A and type 4B)
• Reader/Writer mode supporting ISO/IEC 15693
• Reader/Writer mode supporting ISO/IEC 18000-3 Mode 3
• ISO/IEC 18092 (NFC-IP1)
• ISO/IEC 21481 (NFC-IP-2)
• ISO/IEC 14443-type A Card emulation up to 848 kBit/s
One host interface based on SPI is implemented:
• SPI interface with data rates up to 7 Mbit/s with MOSI, MISO, NSS and SCK signals
• Interrupt request line to inform host controller on events
• EEPROM configurable pull-up resistor on SPI MISO line
• Busy line to indicate to host availability of data for reading
The PN5180 supports highly innovative and unique features which do not require any
host controller interaction. These unique features include Dynamic Power Control
(DPC), Adaptive Waveform Control (AWC), Adaptive Receiver Control (ARC), and fully
automatic EMD error handling. The independency of real-time host controller interactions
makes this product the best choice for systems which operate a preemptive multi-tasking
OS like Linux or Android.
As new power-saving feature the PN5180 allows using a general-purpose output to
control an external LDO or DC/DC during Low-Power Card Detection. One generalpurpose
output is used to wake-up an LDO or DC/DC from power-saving mode before
the RF field for an LPCD polling cycle is switched on.
The PN5180 supports an external silicon system-power-on switch by using the energy
of the RF field generated by an NFC phone to switch on the system, like it is generated
during the NFC polling loop. This unique and new Zero-Power-Wake-up feature allows
designing systems with a power consumption close to zero during standby.

3 Features and benefits
• Transmitter current up to 250 mA
• Dynamic Power Control (DPC) for optimized RF performance, even under detuned
antenna conditions
• Adaptive Waveform Control (AWC) automatically adjusts the transmitter modulation for
RF compliancy
• Adaptive Receiver Control (ARC) automatically adjusts the receiver parameters for
always reliable communication
• Includes NXP ISO/IEC14443-A and Innovatron ISO/IEC14443-B intellectual property
licensing rights
• Full compliancy with all standards relevant to NFC, contactless operation and EMVCo
• Active load modulation supports smaller antenna in Card Emulation Mode
• Automatic EMD handling performed without host interaction relaxes the timing
requirements on the Host Controller
• Low-power card detection (LPCD) minimizes current consumption during polling
• Automatic support of system LDO or system DC/DC power-down mode during LPCD
• Zero-Power-Wake-up
• Small, industry-standard packages
• NFC Cockpit: PC-based support tool for fast configuration of register settings
• Development kit with 32-bit NXP LPC1769 MCU and antenna
• NFC Reader Library with source code ready for EMVCo L1 and NFC Forum
compliance

4 Applications
• Payment
• Physical-access
• eGov
• Industrial