GMMC SAMAV3663 MIFARE SAM AV3 Evaluation Board User Manual
- June 6, 2024
- GMMC
Table of Contents
SAMAV3663 MIFARE SAM AV3 Evaluation Board
User Manual
Document information
| Information | Content |
|---|---|
| Keywords | MIFARE SAM AV3, evaluation board, Direct Mode (X-mode), Satellite |
Mode (S-mode), I²C, SPI,
ISO/IEC 7816, CLRC663 family, MCU, Arduino
Abstract| This manual shows how to operate the MIFARE SAM AV3 Evaluation board
Revision history
| Rev | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19/01/2022 | Initial version |
Introduction
The MIFARE SAM AV3 Arduino shield-shaped evaluation board is designed to help
evaluate the features of the MIFARE SAM AV3 IC in combination with any MCU and
to quickly and easily develop secure contactless tag applications.
The evaluation board, therefore, incorporates a 13.56 MHz NFC frontend IC of
the CLRC663 plus family and an embedded inductive loop antenna.
Scope
The scope of this document is to give an overview of available interfacing
options and usage possibilities of the MIFARE SAM AV3 evaluation board.
Abbreviations
Table 1. Abbreviations
| I²C | Inter-Integrated Circuit |
|---|---|
| MCU | Microcontroller Unit |
| NFC | Near Field Communication |
| PCB | Printed-Circuit Board |
| SAM | Secure Access Module |
| SPI | Serial Peripheral Interface |
| USB | Universal Serial Bus |
Compliance Statements
FCC Compliance Statement
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to
the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful
interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received,
including interference that may cause undesired operation.
CAUTION: The grantee is not responsible for any changes or modifications not
expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance. Such modifications
could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits
for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These
limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses,
and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not installed and used in
accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not
occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by
turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the
interference by one or more of the following measures:
- Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
- Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
- Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
- Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Canadian Compliance Statement
This device contains license-exempt transmitter(s)/receiver(s) that comply
with Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada license-exempt
RSS(s). Operation is subject to the following two conditions:
CE Declaration of Conformity
The technical documentation required to demonstrate that the products meet the
requirements of the relevant directives has been compiled and is available for
inspection by the relevant enforcement authorities.
Label location and information
The necessary compliance information label can be found at the bottom of the
PCB. There are to possible options. Silk screen and label or silk screen
only.
Figure 1 Label location
Block Diagram
Arduino® R3 header
The MIFARE SAM AV3 evaluation board is equipped with an Arduino® R3
compatible header. The evaluation board can be fully powered with the 5 V line
from this header. 3V3 is directly generated onboard out of this 5 V line. The
header also uses the SPI interface, which can be connected to the CLRC663 host
interface for direct communication. For SAM communication, the user can choose
between 2 I²C interfaces: The default one on IOH1 (called I²C1), as well as
alternative pinning on AD1 (called I²C2). IO4 and IO5 are used for the CLRC663
PDOWN and IRQ, and IO6 can be jumpered to provide the MIFARE SAM AV3 VDD.
Schematics
Power management
The MIFARE SAM AV3 evaluation board is equipped with a mini-USB connector to power the system. The port is used only to provide for power only. The entire board can be powered by either the USB port or the 5 V line on the Arduino header. The power LED signalizes 3.3V power availability.
CLRC663
The MIFARE SAM AV3 evaluation board also has a CLRC663 contactless frontend
incorporated on the PCB. The digital communication interface (SPI, and I²C )
from MCU to the CLRC663 can be selected via jumpers. The SPI-Interface is
directly connected to the Arduino® header, the I²C interfaces are meant to be
used by the MIFARE SAM AV3 for its X-mode. Jumper setting details can be found
in the section jumper settings in this document 
MIFARE SAM AV3 – Add-on Board
Add-on board
The MIFARE SAM AV3 itself is placed on an add-on board, to be able to easily
exchange the MIFARE SAM AV3 in case it has been misconfigured. The pullups for
the MCU_I²C_xxx interface, as well as the voltage level divider, are placed on
the add-on board. 
The MIFARE SAM AV3 can be accessed by either its I²C_Slave (MCU_I²C_xxx)
interface from the host MCU or the ISO7816 interface via CN5. This header is
pin-compatible to the GMMC ISO7816 to SIM SAM Smart Card adapter. 
MIFARE SAM Evaluation Board – Jumper Setting
The MIFARE SAM AV3 evaluation board comes with 3 different colors of Jumpers:
- GREEN: Configuration of RC663 interfaces
- YELLOW: MCU board I²C interface selection
- RED: MIFARE SAM AV3 configuration
CLRC663 Interface Mode
The CLRC663 NFC reader frontend IC offers a Host and a SAM interface.
The HOST communication interface can be configured to SPI or I²C by
configuring the CLRC663
IFSEL 0/1 pins via jumper settings as shown in below. 
SPI
For SPI communication between MCU and CLRC663, the 4 jumpers on the 10 pin
header need to be positioned as shown. This setting is intended to use the
MIFARE SAM AV3 in S-mode, or in an S/X mixed mode. At this point, the MCU can
already control the CLRC663 via SPI.
I²C
In case I²C is selected, the CLRC663 will be controlled by the MIFARE SAM AV3
in X- mode. The 4 jumpers need to be inserted in the 10 pin header as shown,
these correspond to the ADR0 and ADR1 pins on the CLRC663 host interface in
the I²C configuration.
Now the host interface of the CLRC663 is configured as I²C and both ADR pins
are pulled to low. The MIFARE SAM AV3 Master I²C interface (SAM_I²C_xxx) can
be routed to the host interface of the CLRC663. This is done with JP1 and JP2.
CLRC663 SAM I²C Interface
The CLRC663 SAM interface is a dedicated second interface for MIFARE SAM
X-mode operation. As this interface is switched off per default, the I²C
signal from the MIFARE SAM AV3 needs to be set routed to interface 2 on JP1
and JP2. 
If this interface is already activated by setting the corresponding bits in the HostCtl register of the CLRC663, the above setting is sufficient to communicate between CLRC663 and the MIFARE SAM AV3. If not, then an additional SPI connection for the MCU to the CLRC663 is needed, to activate the SAM interface.
MCU Interface Selection
The connection between the MIFARE SAM AV3 and the MCU is done by either of the
2 supported I²C interface locations on the Arduino® R3 header. The selection
is done by JP3 and JP4, which are placed on the corresponding pins.
MIFARE SAM AV3 host interface and VDD selection
The MIFARE SAM AV3 evaluation board offers two options to interface with the
MIFARE SAM AV3: I²C and ISO7816. I²C was explained earlier in this document.
For ISO7816 communication to supply and configure VDD of the MIFARE SAM AV3.
VDD is selected on JP9, the options are permanent 3V3 or IO6 on the Arduino
header. Permanent 3V3 means that the MIFARE SAM AV3 will stay in the state it
is until the whole board is power cycled. The ATR of the SAM only needs to be
retrieved once. Using IO6 as VDD gives the user the possibility to only power
cycle the MIFARE SAM AV3, therefore having the option of a reset, without
resetting the MCU.
In case a user wants to access the MIFARE SAM AV3 via the ISO7816 Smartcard
interface, a Jumper needs to be placed on the ISO7816 header as shown and it
is important that in this case, the VDD selection jumper needs to be removed
(set to inactive position as shown), as the MIFARE SAM AV3 VDD needs to be
controlled by the ISO7816 interface. 
MIFARE SAM AV3 – required default configuration changes
To ensure backward compatibility to the SAM AV2 the default configuration is
set for the NXP front-end reader PN523 IC for X-mode communication. Along with
this, the I²C processing clock speed needs to be adjusted as well as this is
set to I²C fast mode (12 MHz processing clock speed) and needs to be reduced
for operating the CLRC663.
This needs to be changed using the SAM SetConfig command once. The command
looks like the following: Command: 80 3C 01 00 01 03
Set Configuration for reader frontend selection
| Byte | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| CLA | 0x80 | Class |
| INS | Ox3C | Instruction: SAM SetConfiguration |
| P1 | Ox01 | Reader IC configuration |
| P2 | Ox00 | RFU |
| Le | Ox01 | Length of the subsequent data field |
| INF | 0x03 | X-mode frontend CLRC663 |
Command: 80 3C 02 00 01 06
SAM_SetConfiguration for I²C processing clock speed
| Byte | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| CLA | 0x80 | Class |
| INS | Ox3C | Instruction: SAM SetConfiguration |
| P1 | 0x02 | I2C processing clock speed |
| P2 | Ox00 | RFU |
| Le | Ox01 | Length of the subsequent data field |
| INF | 0x06 | I2C processing clock speed: 6 MHz |
This reduces the I²C communication speed on the X-mode interface to ~400
kbit/s.
All details about the MIFARE SAM AV3 configuration and features can be found
in the respective NXP documents.
Modes of Operation
X-Mode
The easiest way to get started with the MIFARE SAM AV3 evaluation board is to
operate the MIFARE SAM AV3 in X-mode. See an example configuration below where
the SAM can be accessed via the I²C1 interface from the MCU and will
communicate to the CLRC663 via its host interface, configured as I²C. The SAM
VDD in the below example is connected to IO6. 
S-Mode
In this S-mode configuration, the MIFARE SAM AV3 is not connected to the
CLRC663. The host MCU controls the CLRC663 via the SPI interface, and the
MIFARE SAM AV3 via I²C1. 
XS – Mode
In this configuration, the CLRC663 is connected on its host interface via SPI to the MCU, and on the second interface via I²C to the SAM. The MIFARE SAM AV3 is connected via I²C1 to the MCU. In this way, the MCU can control the CLRC663’s LPCD procedure, and if a card is detected, the SAM can be switched on and take over the control over the CLRC663.
ISO7816 Interface
In this configuration, the MIFARE SAM AV3 is controlled via the ISO7816
Interface which is available on the 16-pin header CN5. The pinning is
compatible to the GMMC ISO7816 to SIM SAM Adapter which also can be used
stand-alone in case the SIM-sized SAM is used. 
Document References
- Datasheet – MIFARE SAM AV3, document number DS3235xx via NXP DocStore.
- Application Notes – please visit NXP.com
The document content may see additions and modifications in future releases.
GMMC GmbH does not give any representations or warranties as to the accuracy
or completeness of information included herein and shall have no liability for
the consequences of the use of such information.
Notice: All referenced brands, product names, service names, and
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
© GMMC GmbH 2022 All rights reserved.
For more information, about MIFARE SAM AV3 please visit: http://www.nxp.com
For more information, about GMMC GmbH products and services visit http://www
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Date of release: 17 January 2022