1. NFC Test in Manufacturing Pi Huang
Presentation Title
NFC Test in Manufacturing Pi Huang

2. Agenda NFC Market NFC overview NFC manufacturing tests
IQnfc introduction

3. NFC Overview
Near field communication (NFC) is a set of short-range wireless communication technologies
NFC offers safe yet simple communication between electronic devices
It has gained traction in the market and is poised to build global scale
Dramatic increase of NFC enabled devices in the last few years
Originally slow to gain traction due to fragmented standards and lack of applications
It’s evolving from trial to commercial status around the world

4. Market Overview Most NFC deployment today are in smartphones
Smartphones accounted for 80% of NFC devices shipped in 2013
1in 3 smartphones now comes with NFC (Strategy Analytics, Aug 13)
IHS Technology forecast 1.2 bn phones to come with NFC in 2018, with CAGR 40%
Standalone NFC chips dominated
9 in 10 NFC enabled smartphones use standalone NFC chips in 2013
Combo chips to gain more market share in 2014

5. Matching circuit and antenna
NFC Operating Modes
Card Emulation Mode
Transport & Ticketing
Access Control
Mobile Payment
Applications
Phone (Passive acting as a Tag), Reader (Active) OS
CPU
Load Modulation
RF 13.56MHz
RF 13.56MHz
Load Modulation
Reader Mode
Smart Posters
ID Check
Mobile Advertising
Phone (Active), Tag (Passive)
SIM or SE
NFC Chip
Matching circuit and antenna
RF 13.56MHz
Peer to Peer Mode
Data Exchange
P2P Payment
Phone (Active), Device (Active)

6. MFG Challenges for NFC
NFC operates differently compared to other wireless technologies
Near field induction vs. far field
Relies on sharp frequency response to provide efficient power transfer
Frequency response is dependent on the resonant circuit and coil
Resonant circuits are sensitive to variation
High Q Response f
S21
ferror
Antenna
Radio
Baseband
Matching
Antenna is getting smaller
Small antenna has much smaller tolerance for the tuning circuit component variation
30x30mm
17x30mm
10x10mm

7. What Can Happen in MFG? * Production Issues Wrong value components
Wrong tolerance components
Out of spec components *
Nearly 50% reduction in transmitted energy
Performance Impact
Higher power consumption
Reduced operating range
Poor User Experience
Financial transactions fail
Delays/failure on mass transit entry
etc.
500 kHz Shift (on a 1 MHz BW Signal)
*: 5% tolerance values

8. LitePoint IQnfc Test Solution
Optimized NFC Test System
Fast and simple testing for manufacturing — one-click operation to characterize Device Under Test
Detailed RF parametric measurements for lab — intuitive GUI for waveform analysis
Universal Test Head for both Polling and Listening device emulation
Compact and rugged design
Good test coverage
Covers all key NFC standards
Frequency response measurement
Flexible
Multi-level software APIs for test flow customization
IQnfc can be used with LitePoint or customer designed test heads
High test speed – 1 resonant sweep and one standard capture recommended. 3 Seconds

9. IQnfc Test Configuration
DUT
IQnfc Test Instrument
IQnfc Test Head
Test fixture
High test speed – 1 resonant sweep and one standard capture recommended. 3 Seconds

10. Smartphone NFC Example
Application
Processor
NFC Die C C L R
EEPROM R OR
Multi-standard chip
Resonant circuit
Smaller coil OR
Secure Element

11. Recommended Tests for Manufacturing
Purpose of manufacturing tests are to ensure production and component quality
Manufacturing defects and process variances
Component defects and tolerance problems
Assembly errors and defects
For NFC manufacturing, we recommend the following tests
Resonance sweep: ensure all of the components in the transceiver RF path are correctly installed, within tolerance, and no assembly defects exist
A basic functional test: ensure the DUT can both receive and transmit correctly. This checks that the IC has not been damaged during assembly and its pins are correctly soldered

12. Standard and Operation Mode Coverage
Presentation Title
Test mode
(NFC Forum)
ISO Standard
Initiator
Target
NFC A
14443A (EMVco) √
NFC B
14443B (EMVco)
NFC F
18092 (FeliCa)
NFC P2P
18092 peer to peer
EMVco is supported in NFC-A and B

13. NFC Conformance Test NFC Forum EMVCo Poller Coil Generate Field
Sense response from DUT
Listener Coil
Sense Poll field strength
Respond to initiator
Operation
Volume

14. IQnfc Software User friendly GUI for detailed RF parametric results
Similar look and feel to IQxel/IQxel-M/IQxstream
Frequency sweep mode
Initiator mode
Target mode

15. IQnfc Software Automated Test Program for manufacturing
Integrated Test Plan Editor
Single-click operation
Chipset agnostic due to signaling operation
Programming interfaces: SCPI and IQmeasure (C based)

16. Golden Unit vs. IQnfc in Production
Functional test
1 standard and mode
All key standards, both initiator and target modes
RF parametric test
N/A
Frequency response
Modulation quality
Other RF parametric tests
Speed
Fast
Very fast
Cost
Very low
Low; <0.4 cent (based on 3 yr depreciation)
Summary
Manual process;
Detect gross failure only;
Can not screen marginal units;
Can not analyze failure;
Automated turnkey solution;
Detect gross and marginal failure;
Provide quantitative failure analysis;
High test speed – 1 resonant sweep and one standard capture recommended. 3 Seconds

17. Summary NFC is to become a common technology in smart phones
Golden DUT approach in production not enough to ensure product quality
IQnfc focuses on NFC physical layer characterization
Fast and simple testing for manufacturing
Easy to setup and simple to operate
Wide array of physical layer measurements for labs
Detailed RF parametric analysis through intuitive GUI
Functional verification on all key NFC standards through reduced signaling
Verify system level operation while minimizing test time
Rugged and compact design