Why NFC wireless charging?
NFC technology is one of the most ubiquitous technologies on the planet: One-quarter of the world’s population already has access to it. According to a 2022 report by ABI Research, 85% of consumers use NFC technology, and nearly half prefer using their mobile phone or smartwatch to a contactless card for payment.
This pervasiveness is fueling the rise of NFC wireless charging in 2023 across mobile devices, including smartphones, smartwatches, fitness trackers and other wearables, as well as tablets and other handheld devices. Most of these already use NFC technology for data transfer and communication.
The drive toward NFC wireless charging started three years ago, when the NFC Forum released a wireless charging specification that transformed smartphones or other NFC-enabled devices into portable charging stations. This means that NFC-enabled devices can, without cables, wirelessly charge small battery-powered IoT devices with 1 W and eventually up to 3 W of power. These devices include fitness watches, wireless earbuds, digital stylus pens, smart glasses and other devices.
Aside from conventional charger-receiver setups, NFC wireless charging can occur when earbuds are placed on top of an NFC-enabled smartphone or when an active digital stylus pen is placed on its tablet device. In the latter example, the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) in collaboration with the NFC Forum piloted NFC wireless charging and rolled it into the specification for its digital stylus. USI is the non-proprietary active digital stylus technology leader and the only open digital stylus standard available. It is standard on Google Chromebooks.
The benefits of NFC wireless charging stem from the ability of the small NFC antenna in an NFC-enabled device to both communicate with and wirelessly charge the enabled devices. The benefits include:
• Convenience of charging
• Better accessibility, as the approach eliminates the need for cords
• Reliability, as there are no connectors to corrode
• Better sustainability through reduced e-waste with the removal of cables and disposable batteries
• Easier use for those with skin sensitivity to metal (up to 15% of the general population has a hypersensitivity to metal)
• Enabling the use of mobile phones for device programming and configuration
De facto standard for less than 3 W
The NFC Forum and industry analysts predict that this year, we’ll see the beginning of a parade of products with NFC wireless charging technology. Many of the major industry players are already rolling out chipsets for NFC wireless charging, and the opportunity is significant.
Michael Stark, principal standards architect at NXP Semiconductors, was an author of the NFC wireless charging specification and is vice chair of the NFC Forum Board of Directors. “We created the NFC wireless charging specification to be a simple, certified technology to wirelessly charge small IoT devices using NFC when cables are not an option,” he said. “Our goal is for NFC wireless charging to become the wireless charging de facto standard for powering small IoT devices up to 3 W.”
Complements Qi
NFC wireless charging complements the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi wireless charging standard and strengthens the overall wireless charging ecosystem. Qi is focused on wireless charging above 5 W, while NFC wireless charging currently targets 250- to 1,000-mW charging, with the potential to increase support to at least 3 W.
Qi and NFC already complement each other as an in-console solution. Qi chargers typically also implement NFC card protection. Moreover, this NFC interface could wirelessly charge items like automobile key fobs.
The enterprise device market is also a significant opportunity for NFC wireless charging technology, bringing advantages and design savings.
NFC wireless charging could serve as a complementary power-charging source and could help to address many enterprise-market use cases once it matures above 3 W, according to Marek Trusinski, engineering fellow, solutions architect, technology lead and NFC subject matter expert at Zebra Technologies. This is one of the reasons that plans call for expanding NFC wireless charging beyond 3 W to perhaps 5 W in the future, as enterprise devices typically have higher charging requirements.
In his latest report on the global wireless power market, Dinesh Kithany, chief analyst at Wired and Wireless Technology, predicts robust growth for the high-frequency–based wireless charging market, including NFC charging, with rapid adoption and a forecast of 100 million receiver units by 2026. Given the pervasiveness of wireless power transmitter units, such as smartphones and/or tablets enabled with NFC, the opportunity for NFC charging could double the shipment of receiver units.
Chip vendors lead the way
STMicroelectronics and NXP are among the NFC wireless charging pioneers. Products in ST’s ST25 family of NFC and RFID tag and reader ICs feature NFC wireless charging for a variety of NFC-enabled solutions.
“NFC wireless charging provides easy integration into small applications through tiny antenna footprints, with targeted antenna dimensions ranging down to below 0.15 in.2 [1 cm2],” said Peter Neger-Loibner, NFC product marketing manager at STMicroelectronics. “Using PCB or flex-PCB antennas, these products can be an ideal fit for complex form factors. It is this convenience and versatility that make NFC wireless charging so useful for consumers and easy to integrate for developers.”
Panthronics AG also added wireless charging functionality to its product line. Its next-generation system solutions include PTX130W, an NFC wireless charging poller IC, and PTX30W, a fully integrated listener IC.
“Our goal is to simplify NFC wireless charging technology, making things easier for our customers and accelerating its adoption into new applications,” said Alessandro Goitre, director of product management at Panthronics. “This does not mean we compromise on performance; we continue to push the boundaries on what is achievable. The appetite for leveraging the benefit of NFC wireless charging continues to grow. I think we’re seeing the beginning of what will prove to be an amazing era for NFC-based technology in digital styluses, wearables, smart glasses and [smart] rings, hearables and medical sensors. All these devices will improve the customer experience through NFC wireless charging.”
Infineon Technologies is developing a new NFC wireless charging turnkey solution with an emphasis on the power density (received power/PCB size) and the integration of system functions, such as thermal control and battery charging.
“Our goal is to help customers achieve a very cost-effective implementation of NFC functions,” said Qi Zhu, director of product marketing and business development at Infineon. “Reducing the total ownership cost is one aspect. The PCB size limitation of compact devices is another reason customers are asking for a higher level of integration.”
Cooperation makes a better future possible
It takes an enormous amount of work to set a firm foundation for an entire industry. The NFC Forum brings together more than 300 organizations, with forum members collaborating with dozens of technical organizations to support the NFC ecosystem.
“To ensure a use case can adopt a certain technology where many different players are involved, you need a reliable base that enables interoperability among the different providers, and it must be future-proof,” NFC Forum’s Stark said. “Worldwide standardization is the only way to do that, and that’s exactly what the NFC Forum brings to NFC wireless charging.”
8th Edition COMMS | 27-28 July 2023 | Delhi
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