PN7160A1HN-C100E - NFC Plug & Play Controller, 13.56MHz, HVQFN-40
MPN: PN7160A1HN-C100E ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4.95 | $4.95 |
| 10 | $4.46 | $44.60 |
| 100 | $3.97 | $397.00 |
| 500 | $3.58 | $1,790.00 |
| 1,000 | $3.2 | $3,200.00 |
PN7160A1HN-C100E Overview
An NFC controller is a dedicated mixed-signal IC that handles the analog RF front end (transmitter, receiver, AFE, antenna matching) plus the digital protocol stack required to communicate with contactless cards, tags, peer devices, and NFC readers. It sits between the host application processor (which speaks I²C, SPI, or NCI) and the external NFC antenna. Compared to host-side software implementations, an external NFC controller offloads timing-critical protocol handling, improves RF performance, and reduces host CPU load. The PN7160 belongs to the NFC controller (RFID reader IC) product family, with hypernyms: contactless transceiver -> RFID reader -> NFC front-end -> wireless connectivity IC.
Key features include full ISO/IEC 14443 Type A/B, ISO/IEC 15693, FeliCa, and MIFARE Classic/Plus/Ultralight/DESFire support, integrated firmware for plug-and-play operation via the standardized NCI 1.0 host interface, automatic antenna tuning (AAT), low-power card detection (LPCD) modes, and support for Reader/Writer, Peer-to-Peer, and Card Emulation modes. The C100 firmware variant is the standard production firmware configuration as released by NXP. The integrated DC-DC and LDO architecture eliminates many external passives and supports direct battery connection between 2.8 V and 5.5 V.
Architecturally, the PN7160 combines a high-efficiency RF output stage, an ARM Cortex-M0 core for protocol stack execution, on-chip non-volatile memory for the NCI firmware image, and integrated capacitive sensing for low-power card polling. The device implements the NCI 1.0 specification as defined by the NFC Forum, allowing it to be paired with any NCI-compliant host stack on Linux, Android, Windows, or RTOS-based platforms without modification. This abstraction layer means the same PN7160 silicon can be dropped into designs running NXP, ST, Linux, or third-party NFC middleware.
Typical applications include NFC payment terminals (POS), mobile and wearable point-of-sale accessories, Bluetooth pairing and Wi-Fi handover via NFC tap, electronic door locks and access control readers, transit ticketing terminals, and consumer electronics pairing. The low-power card detection mode suits battery-powered access readers and IoT devices that must wake only on tag approach.
Design consideration: antenna matching is critical for read range and regulatory compliance. Use NXP's PN7160 hardware design guide (AN12988) reference matching network. Provide adequate copper thermal relief under the exposed pad and ensure the I²C/SPI host lines include pull-ups per the bus specification.
This page synthesizes DigiKey/Mouser distributor pricing, datasheet extracts, drop-in same-family alternatives, and practical design notes not assembled in any single manufacturer document.
Drop-in alternatives for PN7160A1HN-C100E — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
PN7160B1HN/C100E
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
PN7161A1HN/C100
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
PN7161B1HN/C100E
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ Specs Unverified📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
PN7160A1HN-C100E Specifications (manufacturer-published)
| Function | NFC Controller (Reader/Writer + P2P + Card Emulation) |
| RF Frequency | 13.56 MHz |
| Supported Protocols | FeliCa, ISO 14443, ISO 15693, MIFARE, NFC Forum |
| Host Interface | I²C (Standard, Fast, High-speed) with NCI 1.0 |
| Host Interface Voltage | 1.65 V to 1.95 V |
| Main Supply Voltage | 3 V to 3.6 V |
| Battery / DC-DC Input | 2.8 V to 5.5 V (direct battery supported) |
| Package | 40-HVQFN Exposed Pad (6 x 6 mm) |
| Package Code | HVQFN-40 (HN suffix), pin pitch 0.5 mm |
| Operating Temperature | -30 °C to +85 °C (industrial) |
| MSL (Moisture Sensitivity Level) | 3 (per JEDEC J-STD-020) |
| Peak Reflow Temperature | 260 °C |
| Firmware Variant | C100 (standard NCI plug-and-play firmware) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| Lead-Free | Yes |
PN7160A1HN-C100E Interfaces & Connectors
PN7160A1HN-C100E exposes the following interfaces and connectors as published by the manufacturer: Power Input. Expansion header pinout, connector pin numbering, and electrical limits are defined in the manufacturer documentation.
| Power Input | 3 V to 3.6 V |
Refer to the manufacturer documentation for the full expansion header pinout and connector pin numbering.
Power & Thermal Characteristics
| Power Input | 3 V to 3.6 V |
| Operating Temperature | -30 °C to +85 °C (industrial) |
Power input and thermal parameters for PN7160A1HN-C100E as published by the manufacturer.
Typical Applications
PN7160A1HN-C100E is suitable for 6 applications: NFC Payment Terminal (POS), Bluetooth & Wi-Fi Pairing via NFC Tap, Electronic Door Locks & Access Control, Transit Ticketing Terminals, Consumer Electronics Pairing & Diagnostics, IoT & Smart-Home NFC Readers.
NFC Payment Terminal (POS)
The PN7160A1HN-C100E suits point-of-sale terminals where reliable contactless card reading is essential, supporting ISO 14443 Type A/B, MIFARE, and FeliCa through the integrated NCI 1.0 firmware stack. Its 13.56 MHz RF front end delivers the read range and modulation depth required for tap-to-pay cards, transit tokens, and mobile wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay). The integrated DC-DC accepting 2.8-5.5 V battery input simplifies the power tree in handheld POS mPOS designs, while LPCD reduces quiescent current between transactions to extend battery life across retail shift cycles.
Recommended
Bluetooth & Wi-Fi Pairing via NFC Tap
The PN7160A1HN-C100E is well suited for out-of-band pairing assistants in speakers, headphones, smart-home hubs, and IoT devices where a tap initiates Bluetooth or Wi-Fi handover. NFC Forum Peer-to-Peer and Connection Handover profiles are handled on-chip, so the host does not need to implement NFC-Forum-defined NDEF parsing. The NCI 1.0 interface plugs into Android, Linux, and RTOS NFC service layers with minimal integration cost, and the HVQFN-40 6x6 mm footprint plus low BOM count support compact consumer form factors.
Recommended
Electronic Door Locks & Access Control
In electronic locks and access control readers, the PN7160A1HN-C100E reads MIFARE Classic, MIFARE DESFire, ISO 14443, and ISO 15693 credentials at 13.56 MHz with the integrated AAT (Automatic Antenna Tuning) feature compensating for environmental detuning. LPCD enables battery-powered smart locks to sleep until a card is presented, reducing standby current to microamp levels and extending battery life to multi-year targets. The dual-suprail architecture (1.65-1.95 V host, 3.0-3.6 V main) and direct battery input range match single-cell Li-ion and 3 V coin-cell designs.
Recommended
Transit Ticketing Terminals
The PN7160A1HN-C100E supports ISO 14443 Type A/B and FeliCa - the standard protocols used by global transit ticketing systems including MIFARE DESFire (Oyster, Octopus, etc.) and FeliCa (Suica, Pasmo, etc.). Its on-chip protocol stack offloads fare transaction processing from the terminal's host CPU, accelerating tap response time. The integrated DC-DC and small HVQFN-40 footprint allow transit validators and handheld inspection terminals to maintain compact, battery-friendly designs while supporting multiple regional card standards.
Recommended
Consumer Electronics Pairing & Diagnostics
Pairing Bluetooth speakers, headphones, printers, cameras, and personal medical devices often uses NFC tap-to-pair for a one-touch user experience. The PN7160A1HN-C100E handles the NFC Connection Handover profile on-chip via NCI 1.0, transmitting Wi-Fi/Bluetooth credentials from the device to the host phone when tapped. Operating temperature range of -30 to +85 °C and MSL 3 rating support consumer electronics manufacturing flow including reflow soldering at 260 °C peak.
Recommended
IoT & Smart-Home NFC Readers
In smart-home hubs, NFC-enabled appliances, and IoT endpoints, the PN7160A1HN-C100E enables tap-to-configure, firmware update, and credential provisioning use cases. The integrated DC-DC accepting 2.8-5.5 V battery voltage aligns with common single-cell Li-ion or USB-powered designs, and LPCD allows the reader to spend most of its time in a deep low-power state waking only on tag approach. The same HVQFN-40 footprint across the PN7160/PN7161 family enables design reuse across IoT product lines.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for PN7160A1HN-C100E — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | PN7160B1HN/C100E | PN7161A1HN/C100 | PN7161B1HN/C100E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | NXP Semiconductors | NXP Semiconductors | NXP Semiconductors | NXP Semiconductors |
| Package | HVQFN-40 (6x6 mm) | HVQFN-40 (6x6 mm) - same | HVQFN-40 (6x6 mm) - same | HVQFN-40 (6x6 mm) - same |
| RF Frequency | 13.56 MHz | 13.56 MHz | 13.56 MHz | 13.56 MHz |
| Host Interface | I²C (NCI 1.0) | I²C (NCI 1.0) | I²C (NCI 1.0) | I²C (NCI 1.0) |
| Apple ECP Support | No | No | Yes (after authorization) | Yes (after authorization) |
| Silicon Revision | A1 | B1 (newer) | A1 (PN7161 die) | B1 (newer) |
| Main Supply Voltage | 3.0 V to 3.6 V | 3.0 V to 3.6 V | 3.0 V to 3.6 V | 3.0 V to 3.6 V |
| Host Interface Voltage | 1.65 V to 1.95 V | 1.65 V to 1.95 V | 1.65 V to 1.95 V | 1.65 V to 1.95 V |
| DC-DC Battery Input | 2.8 V to 5.5 V | 2.8 V to 5.5 V | 2.8 V to 5.5 V | 2.8 V to 5.5 V |
| Operating Temperature | -30 °C to +85 °C | -30 °C to +85 °C | -30 °C to +85 °C | -30 °C to +85 °C |
Key Differentiators
- Apple ECP upgrade path on identical PCB footprint (vs PN7160A1HN-C100E (this) vs PN7161A1HN/C100)
- Drop-in silicon revision available without firmware changes (vs PN7160A1HN-C100E vs PN7160B1HN/C100E)
- Integrated NCI 1.0 firmware eliminates host-side stack development (vs PN7160A1HN-C100E vs ST25R3916 (STMicroelectronics analog front-end))
Design Notes
The HVQFN-40 exposed pad must be soldered to a continuous ground plane with thermal vias for heat dissipation and electrical reference. Use NXP's PN7160 hardware design guide (AN12988) as the matching-network reference - the differential TX1/TX2 outputs and RX input require an EMC filter and matching network tuned to 13.56 MHz with the chosen antenna coil inductance. Place the matching components as close to the PN7160A1HN-C100E pins as possible to minimize parasitic capacitance and preserve RF performance. Estimated: based on typical NFC antenna Q factors of 10-20 and target impedance of 50 ohms differential at 13.56 MHz, the matching network component values fall in the 10-100 pF and 100 nH-1 µH range - tune empirically for your specific antenna geometry.
The PN7160A1HN-C100E accepts a direct battery input from 2.8 V to 5.5 V through its integrated DC-DC converter, but VDD (main supply) still requires 3.0 V to 3.6 V from either the DC-DC output or an external regulator. Decouple VDD with at least 1 µF X7R ceramic close to the IC and a 100 nF X7R high-frequency bypass. The host interface rail VDDH (1.65-1.95 V) must be supplied externally and matched to the host MCU's I/O voltage; add a small ferrite bead if VDDH shares a regulator with other noisy loads. Power-up sequencing is not strictly required but holding the host interface in reset during PN7160 firmware boot is recommended.
The I²C bus to the PN7160A1HN-C100E must include pull-up resistors on SDA and SCL sized per the bus capacitance and the chosen speed (Standard, Fast, or High-speed mode per NXP's UM10204 reference). For High-speed mode (3.4 MHz), use 1 kΩ pull-ups and keep the bus capacitance below 40 pF per the I²C specification. According to the PN7160 datasheet, the I²C interface does not support General Call, 10-bit addressing, or Fast-mode Plus, so confirm your host stack uses only 7-bit addressing in Standard/Fast/High-speed modes.
Do not skip the matching network - the PN7160A1HN-C100E requires specific impedance matching between the differential TX outputs and the antenna coil to meet FCC/ETSI radiated limits and achieve the rated read range. A common mistake is using the wrong firmware variant (e.g., a non-C100 image) which can break NCI compliance; confirm with NXP's release notes that the loaded firmware matches the silicon revision. Another pitfall is leaving the exposed pad floating - this degrades thermal performance and RF grounding, reducing read range and increasing EMC emissions.
Keep the antenna loop and matching network on a dedicated RF island separated from noisy digital traces. Use a ground cutout (moat) around the antenna area to prevent unwanted coupling into the surrounding ground plane, and route the differential TX1/TX2 pair with controlled impedance (typically 50 ohms differential) and matched lengths. Per NXP hardware design guide AN12988, the antenna coil should be at least 4-6 turns of 0.5 mm trace on an outer PCB layer with a perimeter of approximately 35-50 mm for typical NFC reader read range.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliance per NXP product page and DigiKey/Mouser listings. Not AEC-Q100 qualified - automotive designs should consider AEC-Q100 equivalents such as PN7160 variants marked Q1. Halogen-free status not explicitly listed in the verified data; treat as unknown.
