PN532 NFC Reader/Writer Library

Daniel Fiske
Michael Lam
Daniel Tiam
Preface
The PN532 is a Near Field Communication (NFC) controller for contactless communication at 13.56 MHz
manufactured by NXP. The module supports multiple operating modes and is capable of host
communication via SPI, I2C and HSU. For the purposes of our project, this library supports only the
ISO/IEC 14443A/MIFARE Reader mode and relies on our I2C driver for host communication. This library
also only implements the basic functionality to initialize the module and read UIDs. If additional
functionality or modes of operation are required, this library should serve as a solid base to work from.
Finally, this library is based on Adafruit’s PN532 Arduino I2C library[1].
Table of Contents
Background ................................................................................................................................................... 2
Project Setup ................................................................................................................................................. 3
Qsys ........................................................................................................................................................... 3
Quartus ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
NiosII SBT for Eclipse ................................................................................................................................. 3
Software API.................................................................................................................................................. 4
void samConfiguration .............................................................................................................................. 4
void diagnose ............................................................................................................................................ 4
bool parseCommunicationTest ................................................................................................................. 4
void getFirmwareVersion .......................................................................................................................... 4
bool parseFirmwareVersion ...................................................................................................................... 4
void inListPassiveTarget ............................................................................................................................ 4
bool parsePassiveTargetData.................................................................................................................... 4
bool checkAck ........................................................................................................................................... 5
bool checkGeneralSuccess ........................................................................................................................ 5
Sample API Code ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Nfc.c .......................................................................................................................................................... 6
References .................................................................................................................................................... 8

1
Background
The links below should provide useful information on both NFC and the PN532 module:

 NFC Forum: http://nfc-forum.org/

 NFC Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_field_communication
 PN532 Breakout Board: http://www.adafruit.com/products/364
 PN532 Datasheet: http://www.nxp.com/documents/short_data_sheet/PN532_C1_SDS.pdf
 PN532 User Manual: http://www.nxp.com/documents/user_manual/141520.pdf
 PN532 Arduino I2C Library: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NFCShield_I2C

2
Project Setup
As this library is dependent on our I2C driver, please consult Group 5’s Altera DE2 I2C Driver application
note. In addition to the standard I2C bus communication, the PN532 also utilizes an IRQ pin. This IRQ pin
is driven by the PN532 module to alert the host it is ready to send a response frame. The following
describes how to setup the IRQ pin.

Qsys
1. Add a PIO from the component library under Peripherals > Microcontroller Peripherals > PIO:
I. Basic settings:
a. Set Width to 1 bit
b. Set Direction to Input
II. Edge capture register:
a. Check synchronously capture
b. Edge Type: FALLING
c. Check enable bit-clearing for edge capture register
III. Interrupt:
a. Check generate IRQ
b. IRQ Type: EDGE
IV. Click finish.
V. Rename the component to something more descriptive such as 'NFC_IRQ’.
VI. Hookup the component, remembering to export the conduit and assign an IRQ number.
2. If you have conflicting addresses, simply click System > Assign Base Addresses.
3. Generate the SOPC.

Quartus
In your top level .vhd file:

1. Add 'GPIO_0 : inout std_logic_vector(35 downto 0) := (others => 'X');' to the project's top level
entity ports if it has not already been added.
2. Add 'NFC_IRQ : in std_logic := 'X';’ to the NiosII component declaration ports.
3. Add 'NFC_IRQ => GPIO_0(X1)’ to the NiosII component instantiation port map where X1 is an
integer corresponding to an available GPIO pin.
4. Compile the design.

NiosII SBT for Eclipse

Download the I2C files plus PN532.c and PN532.h and add them to your project. Include PN532.h where
necessary.

Initialize and setup an Interrupt Service Routine to handle the IRQ pin interrupts.

3
Software API

void samConfiguration
Parameter Description
alt_u8 mode Secure Access Module (SAM) mode
alt_u8 timeout Virtual card configuration timeout
alt_u8 irqMode Set the IRQ pin mode to on or off
Required to exit the LowVbat mode after power up and configure the PN532 operation mode.

void diagnose
Parameter Description
alt_u8 testID Test identification number
alt_u8* inParams Optional input parameters for the test
alt_u8 inParamsLen Length in bytes of the given input parameters
Tests the PN532 module with the test specified.

bool parseCommunicationTest
Parameter Description
alt_u8* outParams Output parameters returned by the test
alt_u8 inParamsLen Length in bytes of the input parameters given to
diagnose
Reads the data returned from the PN532 module after calling diagnose and specifying the
communication test ID. The output parameter data should be the same as the input parameter data
given to diagnose.

void getFirmwareVersion
Parameter Description
N/A
Queries the PN532 firmware information.

bool parseFirmwareVersion
Parameter Description
FirmwareVersion* firmware Struct to hold the firmware data
Reads the data returned from the PN532 module after calling getFirmwareVersion.

void inListPassiveTarget
Parameter Description
alt_u8 maxTargets Maximum number of targets supported
alt_u8 cardType Type of target(s) to find
Search for targets with the given cardType until one is found within range.

bool parsePassiveTargetData
Parameter Description
alt_u8* numTargets Number of targets actually found
TargetData* targetData Struct to hold the target data

4
Reads the data returned from the PN532 module after calling inListPassiveTarget.

bool checkAck
Parameter Description
N/A
Reads the acknowledgement frame returned by the PN532 after a command is issued to it.

bool checkGeneralSuccess
Parameter Description
N/A
Reads the response frame returned by the PN532 after it successfully receives and completes a
command that has no output data.

5
Sample API Code

Nfc.c
The following sample code is from Group 5 2014’s Smart NFC Door project. It illustrates initialization of
the PN532 module plus reading MIFARE tag UIDs. Notice the use of a semaphore to handle the IRQ
interrupts.

#include "nfc.h"

extern OS_EVENT* NFC_Semaphore;

bool nfcInit()
{
INT8U err = OS_NO_ERR;

//create the nfc sem

NFC_Semaphore = OSSemCreate(0);
if (NFC_Semaphore == NULL)
{
printf("Failed to create NFC Semaphore\n");
return false;
}

// wakeup and configure the nfc reader

samConfiguration(PN532_NORMAL_MODE, PN532_VCARD_TIMEOUT, PN532_VCARD_IRQ_ON);
OSSemPend(NFC_Semaphore, 0, &err);

if (!checkAck())
{
printf("samConfiguration: Ack Failure\n");
return false;
}
OSSemPend(NFC_Semaphore, 0, &err);

if (!checkGeneralSuccess())
{
printf("samConfiguration: Response Failure\n");
return false;
}

printf("samConfiguration: Success\n");
return true;
}

void TaskNFC(void* pdata)

{
INT8U err = OS_NO_ERR;
alt_u8 numTargets = 0;
TargetData listedTargets[PN532_MAX_TARGETS];
char newKey[MIFARE_CHAR_LEN];

// initialize nfc components

nfcInit();

while (1)
{
printf("Looking for targets...\n");
// nfc reader will send irq when a target is found
inListPassiveTarget(PN532_MAX_TARGETS, PN532_MIFARE_ISO14443A);
OSSemPend(NFC_Semaphore, 0, &err);

6
 if (!checkAck())
continue;
OSSemPend(NFC_Semaphore, 0, &err);

if (!parsePassiveTargetData(&numTargets, listedTargets))
continue;

// print UIDs
while (numTargets > 0)
{
memset(newKey, 0, MIFARE_CHAR_LEN);
uidToStr(listedTargets[numTargets-1].id, listedTargets[numTargets-
1].idLen, newKey);
numTargets--;

printf("Target ID: %s\n", newKey);

}
// 5 second buffer between potential key reads
OSTimeDlyHMSM(0, 0, 5, 0);
}
}

7
References
[1] https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_NFCShield_I2C