Ci520 — 13.56 MHz ISO/IEC 14443A Contactless Reader IC

The Ci520 is a highly integrated 13.56 MHz contactless reader chip supporting ISO/IEC 14443 Type A (MIFARE Classic, etc.).

No external circuitry required — the internal transmitter directly drives the reader antenna; the receiver provides robust demodulation/decoding; the digital section handles full ISO/IEC 14443A framing, parity, and CRC.

Host interface: SPI (up to 10 Mbit/s).

Key Features

• Highly integrated analog front-end (demodulation & decoding)

• Buffered antenna drivers — minimal external components

• Full ISO/IEC 14443A support

• Typical reading distance ~50 mm (depends on antenna size)

• High-speed modes up to 848 kBd

• 64-byte TX/RX FIFO

• Flexible interrupt modes

• Hard power-down (low-power reset)

• Software power-down mode

• Programmable timer

• Internal oscillator with 27.12 MHz quartz

• Supply voltage: 2.3 V – 3.6 V

• Integrated CRC co-processor

Perfect for access control, payment terminals, public transport, and low-cost MIFARE reader applications.