This article will explain how it can take just a few minutes to design a NFC antenna by using Panasonic’s free online design tool. This can therefore save you time and money when designing an NFC enabled solution with the MN63Y Series NFC Tags from Panasonic.
Click on http://www.semicon.panasonic.co.jp/en/tool/nfcdesignnavigator/ to launch the Panasonic NFC Design Navigator. The opening screen (Fig. 1) includes a helpful video that outlines how to use this tool.
Fig. 1
You find easily find all the documentation of the Panasonic NFC Design Navigator ( Tutorial, Design guide, Measurement & tuning methods, … ) via the menu bar at the top.
In order to show you quickly how easy it is to design a NFC antenna by the Panasonic NFC Design Navigator, let’s assume as an example that you want to design a NFC antenna for the Panasonic NFC Tag MN63Y1214 and that your prefer an antenna size of 20 mm x 15 mm.
Select the part number type, in this case “MN63Y1214” in the Selection of LSI table then click on the “Auto” tab under Tag antenna design which selects the automatic calculation panel that you see in the Fig 2.
Please select “Yes” in the Tag antenna design, enter the dimensions 20 mm (X) x 15 mm (Y) and then click “Calc.” button to start the calculation of the best antenna design for the given dimension requirements.
After the calculation is completed the following screen appears.
Fig. 2
You can find here for the example used ( MN63Y1214, 20 mm x 15 mm antenna ) that the online tool calculates the communication distances for each NFC standard ( 52 mm for Type A, 43 mm for Type B and 48 mm for FeliCa).
Please note that the communication distance is very dependent on the antenna size, so you could achieve greater communication distances if you increase the antenna size.
If you now press the “Accept” button the following screen appears:
Fig.3
You can now simulate the behaviour of your antenna design, for example by the 3D magnetic field strength simulation which is shown on the right side.
On this screen under the Tag antenna design section you are able to change the antenna parameters manually, for example to simulate the tolerances of the antenna parameters.
When you select the tab “PCB” under the Function and result section you can generate the Gerber data for your NFC PCB antenna which is one of the many convenient features of the Panasonic NFC Design Navigator.
I hope you see how quick and easy the NFC antenna design can be if you choose the MN63Y Series NFC Tags from Panasonic.
For more info, please click here: RFID | Farnell element14