NFC pioneer NXP has announced a new chip for NFC tags which offers improved radio sensitivity, meaning that tags can be read over a greater range or that tag antennas can be made smaller.

A specific focus in the design stage was to optimize the chip’s RF performance to tune for either longer read range with existing antenna designs, or to allow smaller tags with read range equivalent to existing solutions. Now tags as small as 12mm in diameter can be used with respectable performance from an NFC-enabled mobile device, says the Dutch chip giant, and the results of initial RF tests show a 20-25% increase in performance compared to equivalent sized tags, which in turn allows the mobile device to read the tag with more ease.

“We analyzed market demand as well as new use cases, to enhance our portfolio of NFC tag ICs. The result is the NTAG203, an NFC tag IC that can enhance the performance of existing tags, or enable the design of smaller tags without compromising performance,” says NXP’s Chris Feige.

The NTAG203 is an NFC Forum Type 2 Tag with 144 bytes of memory. Tags incorporating the device are available now in sample quantities through NXP partners including Avery Dennison, Identive, Mikron, Smartrac, and UPM RFID.

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