Intermediate
30 min

Connect your devices for a seamless and efficient user experience using ST25R3916 and PIC18F87J11

NFC revolution: Making your digital world a touch away

NFC 4 Click with EasyPIC PRO v8

Published Oct 18, 2023

Click board™

NFC 4 Click

Dev Board

EasyPIC PRO v8

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC18F87J11

Join the NFC revolution and see how it's making your digital world accessible with a touch, enabling a new era of convenience and connectivity

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

NFC 4 Click is based on the ST25R3916, a high-performance multi-purpose NFC transceiver supporting NFC initiator, NFC target, reader, and card emulation modes from STMicroelectronics. It features high RF output power to directly drive an antenna etched on the PCB, alongside its tuning circuit, at high efficiency. Besides being fully compliant with EMVCo 3.0, it also includes an advanced analog front end and a highly integrated data framing system for ISO 18092 passive and active initiator and target, NFC-A/B (ISO 14443A/B) reader including higher bit rates, NFC-F (FeliCa™) reader, NFC-V (ISO 15693) reader up to 53 kbps, and NFC-A / NFC-F card emulation. Due to this combination of high RF output power and low power modes, this Click board™ is ideally suited for infrastructure NFC applications. The ST25R3916 features a built-in A/D converter,

which input can be multiplexed from different sources for diagnostic functions and low-power card detection. The result of the A/D conversion is stored in a register that can be read through the selectable host interface. It also contains a low-power capacitive sensor to detect the presence of a card without switching on the reader field by measuring the amplitude or phase of the antenna signal. Also, an integrated low-power RC oscillator and a wake-up timer automatically wake up the ST25R3916 and check for the presence of a tag using one or more techniques of low-power detection of card presence (capacitive, phase, or amplitude). NFC 4 Click communicates with a microcontroller via an SPI interface or an I2C interface. The ST25R3916 acts as a peripheral device on both interfaces, relying on the microcontroller to initiate all communication. The

communication selection can be made by positioning SMD jumpers labeled COMM SEL to an appropriate position. Note that all the jumpers' positions must be on the same side, or the Click board™ may become unresponsive. This Click board™ also features an additional interrupt signal routed on the INT pin of the mikroBUS™ socket to notify the microcontroller of completed commands or external events (e.g., peer device field on). This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. Also, it comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

NFC 4 Click top side image
NFC 4 Click bottom side image

Features overview

Development board

EasyPIC PRO v8 is a development board specially designed for the needs of rapid development of embedded applications. It supports many high pin count 8-bit PIC microcontrollers from Microchip, regardless of their number of pins, and a broad set of unique functions, such as the first-ever embedded debugger/programmer over WiFi. The development board is well organized and designed so that the end-user has all the necessary elements, such as switches, buttons, indicators, connectors, and others, in one place. Thanks to innovative manufacturing technology, EasyPIC PRO v8 provides a fluid and immersive working experience, allowing access anywhere and under

any circumstances at any time. Each part of the EasyPIC PRO v8 development board contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. In addition to the advanced integrated CODEGRIP programmer/debugger module, which offers many valuable programming/debugging options and seamless integration with the Mikroe software environment, the board also includes a clean and regulated power supply module for the development board. It can use a wide range of external power sources, including a battery, an external 12V power supply, and a power source via the USB Type-C (USB-C) connector.

Communication options such as USB-UART, USB DEVICE, and Ethernet are also included, including the well-established mikroBUS™ standard, a standardized socket for the MCU card (SiBRAIN standard), and two display options (graphical and character-based LCD). EasyPIC PRO v8 is an integral part of the Mikroe ecosystem for rapid development. Natively supported by Mikroe software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping and development thanks to a considerable number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing every day.

EasyPIC PRO v8 horizontal image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Type

8th Generation

Architecture

PIC

MCU Memory (KB)

128

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

80

RAM (Bytes)

3904

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

NC
NC
AN
NC
NC
RST
SPI Chip Select
PJ0
CS
SPI Clock
PD6
SCK
SPI Data OUT
PD5
MISO
SPI Data IN
PD4
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
PWM
Interrupt
PB0
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
I2C Clock
PC3
SCL
I2C Data
PC4
SDA
NC
NC
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Schematic

NFC 4 Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Fusion for PIC v8 front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the EasyPIC PRO v8 as your development board.

Fusion for PIC v8 front image hardware assembly
Buck 22 Click front image hardware assembly
SiBRAIN for PIC32MZ1024EFK144 front image hardware assembly
v8 SiBRAIN MB 1 - upright/background hardware assembly
Necto image step 2 hardware assembly
Necto image step 3 hardware assembly
Necto image step 4 hardware assembly
NECTO Compiler Selection Step Image hardware assembly
NECTO Output Selection Step Image hardware assembly
Necto image step 6 hardware assembly
Necto image step 7 hardware assembly
Necto image step 8 hardware assembly
Necto image step 9 hardware assembly
Necto image step 10 hardware assembly
Necto PreFlash Image hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output

After pressing the "FLASH" button on the left-side panel, it is necessary to open the UART terminal to display the achieved results. By clicking on the Tools icon in the right-hand panel, multiple different functions are displayed, among which is the UART Terminal. Click on the offered "UART Terminal" icon.

UART Application Output Step 1

Once the UART terminal is opened, the window takes on a new form. At the top of the tab are two buttons, one for adjusting the parameters of the UART terminal and the other for connecting the UART terminal. The tab's lower part is reserved for displaying the achieved results. Before connecting, the terminal has a Disconnected status, indicating that the terminal is not yet active. Before connecting, it is necessary to check the set parameters of the UART terminal. Click on the "OPTIONS" button.

UART Application Output Step 2

In the newly opened UART Terminal Options field, we check if the terminal settings are correct, such as the set port and the Baud rate of UART communication. If the data is not displayed properly, it is possible that the Baud rate value is not set correctly and needs to be adjusted to 115200. If all the parameters are set correctly, click on "CONFIGURE".

UART Application Output Step 3

The next step is to click on the "CONNECT" button, after which the terminal status changes from Disconnected to Connected in green, and the data is displayed in the Received data field.

UART Application Output Step 4

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for NFC 4 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • nfc4_get_mifare_tag_uid - This function reads the UID of a mifare tag.

  • nfc4_write_register - This function writes a desired data to the selected register.

  • nfc4_read_register - This function reads a desired data from the selected register.

Open Source

Code example

This example can be found in NECTO Studio. Feel free to download the code, or you can copy the code below.

/*!
 * @file main.c
 * @brief NFC4 Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates the use of NFC 4 Click board 
 * by reading MIFARE ISO/IEC 14443 type A tag UID.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initializes the driver and performs the click default configuration.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * If there's a tag detected, it reads its UID and displays it on the USB UART every 500ms.
 *
 * @note
 * For testing purposes we used MIKROE-1475 - an RFiD tag 13.56MHz compliant with ISO14443-A standard.
 *
 * @author Stefan Filipovic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "nfc4.h"

static nfc4_t nfc4;
static log_t logger;

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;      /**< Logger config object. */
    nfc4_cfg_t nfc4_cfg;    /**< Click config object. */

    /** 
     * Logger initialization.
     * Default baud rate: 115200
     * Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
     * @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX 
     * are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will 
     * need to define them manually for log to work. 
     * See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
     */
    LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
    log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
    log_info( &logger, " Application Init " );

    // Click initialization.
    nfc4_cfg_setup( &nfc4_cfg );
    NFC4_MAP_MIKROBUS( nfc4_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    err_t init_flag  = nfc4_init( &nfc4, &nfc4_cfg );
    if ( ( I2C_MASTER_ERROR == init_flag ) || ( SPI_MASTER_ERROR == init_flag ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Application Init Error. " );
        log_info( &logger, " Please, run program again... " );

        for ( ; ; );
    }

    NFC4_SET_DATA_SAMPLE_EDGE;
    
    if ( NFC4_ERROR == nfc4_default_cfg ( &nfc4 ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Default Config Error. " );
        log_info( &logger, " Please, run program again... " );

        for ( ; ; );
    }

    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    uint8_t tag_uid[ 10 ] = { 0 };
    uint8_t uid_len = 0;
    
    if( NFC4_OK == nfc4_get_mifare_tag_uid( &nfc4, tag_uid, &uid_len ) )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, " Tag UID: " );
        for ( uint8_t cnt = 0; cnt < uid_len; cnt++ )
        {
            log_printf( &logger, "%.2X", ( uint16_t ) tag_uid[ cnt ] );
        }
        log_printf( &logger, "\r\n" );
        Delay_ms( 500 );
    }
}

void main ( void )
{
    application_init( );

    for ( ; ; )
    {
        application_task( );
    }
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END

Additional Support

Resources