Evaluation board accelerates IoT product design

The board is based on the ST25TA family that consists of a range of NFC Forum Type 4 tag chips that boast the industry’s widest range of integrated EEPROM memory size (512-Bit up to 64-kBit) along with the most robust memory performance, with data retention times of up to 200 years, the industry’s widest operating temperature range (-40 to +85°C), and an endurance of one million erase-write cycles.

These devices are suitable for WiFi and/or Bluetooth pairing, smart posters (e.g. storing URLs or triggering apps), Vcards containing contact details and ID photo, product identification, asset tracking, and a host of other consumer, industrial, and IoT applications.

Other key features of the ST25A family include RF performance that works effectively with ultra-small antennae, using a 50pF internal RF tunable capacitance, and general-purpose output, asserted every time an event occurs in the RF field. This output can be used as a wake-up signal for WiFi and Bluetooth, and it does not require any external components. 

Optional password protection guarantees data security in the tag, and a 20-bit event counter allows analytics to track the level of interest in the information contained in the tag.

The UFDFPN5 (1.7x1.4mm) package, makes the devices suitable for wearables and other IoT applications where board space is at a premium. An easy-access development platform with full native NFC support, the ST25TA-CLOUD evaluation board is available now at a price of US$5.