Renesas Electronics intros industry’s first MCU integrating NFC and security functions for smartphones

CARTES & IDentification 2010, SANTA CLARA, USA: Renesas Electronics Corp. has introduced the industry’s first product in the RF20 series of microcontrollers (MCUs), the RF21S, that combines on a single chip a near field communication (NFC) controller supporting the ISO/IEC 18092 international standard along with secure element functionality for use in consumer electronic products such as smartphones and other mobile phones, notebook PCs, and PC peripherals.

The new RF21S MCU integrates on a single chip an NFC controller and security functions to enable the capabilities of financial transaction cards, transit system cards, and ID cards, and features an ultra-thin package profile only 0.22 millimeters (mm) thick by using wafer-process-package (WPP) on-wafer packaging technology.

NFC can be extended to cover a broad range of applications, including financial transactions, transit system payment cards, ticketing, and ID cards, and the market for this technology is expected to increase over the next few years. In recent years, adoption of mobile phones incorporating NFC functionality has expanded rapidly.

However, conventional design configurations have required two separate chips for the NFC controller and security element, resulting in the need to reduce the mounting space. Furthermore, there is a demand for more processing power and the elimination of lag time when communicating with the secure element to reduce the transaction time for transit system ticket gates.

Samples of Renesas Electronics’ new RF21S MCU are scheduled to be available starting March 2011, with a suggested price of $5. Mass production is scheduled to begin starting July 2011 with a combined volume of 1,000,000 units per month projected by January 2012.