Valid Standards are the Foundation of RFID and NFC Communication
CISC Semiconductor provides competitive and tailored products for industries with embedded microelectronics and innovative information and communication technologies. In the last two decades, CISC has gained significant experience and expertise in RF standardization. Developing highly sensitive measurement equipment to test and verify the conformance of RFID and NFC systems for different industries is now a mainstay of CISC’s business activities.
Long-Standing Involvement in Standardization
CISC Semiconductor has long been involved in the definition and dissemination of RFID and NFC standards. "By being an active member of the European standardization bodies GS1, AIM and RAIN RFID, we ensure that the requirements and proposals of a broad group are taken into account and that the group is of one mind," says Josef Preishuber-Pflügl of CISC. "Then we offer the test products to the group." Since not all RF vendors in the RFID and NFC world are members of these standards bodies, CISC can provide a real service by sharing the expertise it has gathered. "If you want to certify RAIN RFID chips, you do it with test equipment from CISC," says Josef Preishuber-Pflügl.
Performance and Conformance Testing
The CISC RAIN RFID Xplorer is a unique RFID test product that not only measures functionality: it also measures tag frequency sensitivity, communication range, and backscatter, as well as reader parameters. The small test device is designed for open-field testing and measurement in an RF-controlled environment using portable or fixed RF test chambers. The system comes with software and a reference tag for self-calibration. All RFID test standards are supported and conformance to established communication protocols is tested.
Test Lab for NFC Performance and Interoperability
Customers who wish to ensure the interoperability of NFC-enabled devices such as mobile phones, wearables, smart cards, or contactless payment terminals, can use the CISC NFC Interoperability Test Lab. It features multiple fully automated test setups. A wide range of readers, mobiles, and smart cards are available to serve as communication counterparts for the interoperability tests. “I recently observed a vendor at a medieval market; she was using her smartphone as contactless POS. This kind of application even in places where you would not have expected them will become more important in the future and we can make sure that devices work at their best”, says Josef Preishuber-Pflügl. All of the test equipment can be purchased for the customer’s convenient use in their facilities.