Wireless memory features 32-bit-password data-protection

STMicroelectronics recently introduced the M24LR64 wireless memory, which can transmit and receive information from an application to a smartphone containing NFC technology or to an industrial RFID reader, allowing for rapid transactions, data exchange, object identification and tracking.

NFC operates at 13.56MHz and is finding use in smartphones to enable customers to make payments, such as for public transit and in convenience stores, using their mobile devices. The technology can also permit communication between NFC-enabled devices.

According to market researcher IHS iSuppli, partnerships between major US wireless carriers and credit-card companies will drive NFC technology into 30.5 percent of all handsets in 2015.

The dual-EE application, which operates on the Android operating system, is fully compatible with STMicroelectronics’ M24LR64 wireless memory. The application connects an NFC-enabled smartphone to a prototype temperature recorder featuring the M24LR64 and demonstrates data transfer and storage. These features can work in medical devices, home appliances, consumer electronics, and meters.

The dual-interface M24LR64 EEPROM can connect directly to wireless antennas, such as those in RFID tags, to transfer data through the energy in radio waves between an RFID or an NFC reader and an electric tag attached to an object, allowing reading or updating of the equipment when it is off. It communicates with RFID and ISO15693-capable NFC readers and with the system’s own processors. It also features a 32-bit-password data-protection scheme, enabling control of wireless read- and write-memory access. The device has a low-power wired-I2C interface to a microcontroller or a chip set, and sells for $0.72 (1,000).

STMicroelectronics