We would like to give you an overview of the new NTAG21X series of tags manufactured by NXP Semiconductors.
In October 2012, NXP Semiconductors released information about the manufacture of second-generation tags under the collective name NTAG21X. Specifically, within this series NXP began producing the NTAG210, NTAG212, NTAG213, NTAG215 and NTAG216 tags. In essence it is a continuation of the Ultralight and NTAG203 series, although the NTAG215 and 216 tags are rather successors to the MIFARE 1k and DESfire 2k and 4k tags.
A few words about NXP Semiconductors
NXP Semiconductors is a global semiconductor manufacturer with annual revenues in the billions. Besides microchips it produces a long line of other products, so NFC chips make up only a small part of its output. Even so, it is one of the two largest companies operating in the field of NFC technology, the other being Broadcom. Before launching the new NTAG21X series on the market, they manufactured (and some of them they still manufacture) the NTAG203, Ultralight, Ultralight C, MIFARE 1k and DESfire 4k chips. Another of their products are the NFC chipsets used extensively in a wide range of NFC devices all over the world.
New features
When it comes to NFC chips, there are five factors that matter – reliability, price, functional scanning distance, memory capacity and also their advanced features. The new NTAG21X line aims to ensure that the last of these characteristics, namely the advanced functions of the chip, offers more than was usual in the past. It therefore provides application developers and NFC tag integrators with new, better and faster ways to use them. We have in mind features such as a 32-bit password, UID ASCII mirror, a 24-bit counter and a signature pattern.
| Feature | NTAG210 | NTAG212 | NTAG213 | NTAG215 | NTAG216 |
| Usable memory (in bytes) | 48 | 128 | 144 | 504 | 888 |
| 32-bit password | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| UID ASCII mirror | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 24-bit counter | - | - | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Original signatures | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fast read command | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NFC Forum Type 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 7-byte unique ID | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Comparison of the functional scanning distance of NTAG203 and NTAG210
The comparison of the NTAG203 and NTAG210 NFC tags was tested at two different tag sizes. Both tags in the first pair had a diameter of 38 mm, the tags in the second pair had a diameter of 29 mm. In both measured pairs it was shown that the new-generation NTAG210 tag delivers an 8–11% better functional scanning distance compared with its predecessor, the NTAG203. In a real-world environment those percentages mean an improvement of the order of a few millimetres.
