SLOA248B January   2018  – March 2019 TRF7960A , TRF7962A , TRF7963A

 

  1.   Frequently asked questions for TRF7960A, TRF7962A, and TRF7963A devices
    1.     Trademarks
    2. 1 General Questions
      1. 1.1 What is the TRF79xxA?
      2. 1.2 What protocols are supported by the TRF7960A, TRF7970A, and variants?
      3. 1.3 What evaluation hardware and firmware should I get to evaluate the TRF79xxA devices?
      4. 1.4 What are the expected read ranges for NFC/RFID tags with TRF79xxA evaluation hardware?
    3. 2 NFC/RFID Operating Mode Questions
      1. 2.1 Reader/Writer Mode
        1. 2.1.1 What is the difference between an NFC tag and an HF RFID tag?
        2. 2.1.2 Why is NDEF used? What advantages does NDEF provide?
    4. 3 Hardware and Design Questions
      1. 3.1 Where can I get schematics and layout files for the TRF79xxA devices?
      2. 3.2 How do I design and tune an antenna to 13.56 MHz for the TRF79xxA devices?
      3. 3.3 Does TI provide FCC certification for the TRF79xxA devices?
      4. 3.4 What TI reference designs are available for the TRF79xxA devices?
    5. 4 Software Questions
      1. 4.1 What are the software differences between TRF7960A and TRF7970A?
      2. 4.2 I need to read a non-NFC compliant tag or transponder, what firmware example should I use?
      3. 4.3 Are there any firmware examples available for TI MCUs other than MSP430 and MSP432 MCUs?
      4. 4.4 Are authentication examples available for the TRF79xxA devices?
      5. 4.5 What are the recommended TRF79xxA register settings or device configuration?
      6. 4.6 What does an IRQ status of 0xC0 mean?
      7. 4.7 Are software examples available to read Topaz-512 (NFC Forum Type 1) tags?
      8. 4.8 Are software examples available to read iCLASS or PicoPass tags?
    6. 5 Miscellaneous Questions
      1. 5.1 Is there any support for RF power amplifiers?
      2. 5.2 Are there Energia or Arduino examples for the TRF79xxA?
      3. 5.3 What IDEs are supported for Texas Instruments TRF79xxA firmware examples?
      4. 5.4 What Android handset interoperability is supported?
      5. 5.5 How do I configure the TRF79xxA to output a continuous or unmodulated RF field?
    7. 6 References
  2.   Revision History

1.3 What evaluation hardware and firmware should I get to evaluate the TRF79xxA devices?

All of the latest TI EVM and example firmware offerings are for the TRF7970A. Therefore, TI recommends using a LaunchPad™ development kit and a BoosterPack™ plug-in module for the TRF7970A for evaluation of all TRF79xxA devices.

The TRF79xxA devices described in this FAQ guide have only one firmware example that does not require any modifications. All other firmware bases need the modifications outlined in Section 4.1.

The aforementioned firmware example only supports basic RFID reader functionality, and the evaluation hardware that goes with it uses the TRF7970A device:

NOTE

The RFID Reader firmware example does not include full support for NDEF messages. For a TI example with full NDEF support, see Frequently asked questions for the TRF7970A and TRF7964A. If it is not clear whether or not NDEF support is required, see Section 2.1 for further details.

The TRF79xxA devices covered in this FAQ guide are not software compatible with the TRF7970A. See Section 4.1 for further details.

To evaluate the other TRF79xxA devices, it is possible to replace the TRF7970A on a TI EVM with the desired TRF79xxA device to help validate that the system, including firmware, is functional on TI hardware before producing any custom PCBs.