The demo and development board is based on the NXP LPC11U37 ARM® Cortex™ M0 microcontroller (MCU) and the NXP NTAG I2C IC. It comes with sample firmware and Android applications, and the source code is provided under the GPL (GNU General Public License). The Louvre board is also equipped with an Arduino connector interface for easy connection to an external platform for which thousands of applications are available, and features a 2.7-inch, full-size e-ink display.
The ArchiTech Louvre board connects to a smartphone or other NFC-enabled device to update firmware, read sensors (without consuming power), and exchange data with the MCU. The ARM® Cortex™ M0 microcontroller consumes only 85 µW/MHz, making the board ideal for developing low-power devices such as sensor nodes for the Internet of Things (IoT). The e-ink display only consumes power during updates.
The NXP NTAG I2C is compliant with the NFC Forum Type-2 specification. It has two interfaces. The first is a passive wireless port, accessed via an NFC interface. The tag draws power from the smartphone's wireless signal, which acts as the active reader. A second port provides I2C access when external power is supplied via a USB connector. The tag has a configurable PIN detection field for activating an external device, depending on activity on the RF interface.
Engineers no longer need to rely on touchscreens or Wi-Fi for wireless data transfer. Instead, they can use the Louvre board to build embedded applications that utilize NFC-enabled mobile devices, such as remote user interfaces.
