Broadcom Corp. announced a new family of NFC chips designed to drive the mass deployment of NFC consumer devices.
The first ever NFC chips to be manufactured in the 40 nanometer CMOS process, Broadcom’s BCM2079x family consumes 90 percent less power than other chips, uses 40 percent fewer components and has a 40% smaller board area, making it the smallest and most power efficient NFC solution on the market, Broadcom said in a release.
The BCM2079x also supports field power harvesting, allowing the chip to draw energy from the environment so it can support transactions even if the phone battery is dead.
According to Broadcom, the NFC controllers can be used on any platform and support multiple secure elements or SIM cards — or both at the same time. In addition, Broadcom’s Maestro middleware allows NFC applications to leverage Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities to connect devices such as Bluetooth headsets and Wi-Fi-enabled digital televisions.
Broadcom says they are now working closely with the NFC Forum on standards to ensure interoperability with other NFC devices. ![[end]](/resources/bullet/nfcnews-4.gif)
