Panthronics PTX30W is a 1W NFC wireless charging listener IC

Panthronics PTX30W is an NFC wireless charging listener chip that can receive up to 1W as per the NFC Wireless Charging (WLC) specification unveiled in 2020 and integrates a power management unit and a Li-Ion battery charger.

Offered in a compact 3.2mm2 (1.78 x 1.78 mm) WL-CSP package, the PTX30W will enable small battery-powered products, such as smartwatches and other wearables, to be charged over NFC. The chip can operate in standalone mode or connected to a host microcontroller, and the company claims it is around four times smaller than existing designs based on multiple discrete components.

PTX30W features and specifications:

• Integrated NFC Wireless Charging Listener device
  • Efficient Active Rectifier
  • RF interface according to Forum Type 2 Tag
  • Li-Ion battery charger with charging current from 5mA to 250mA
  • MCU LDO with 1.8V or 3.3V output, up to 50mA
  • Embedded power negotiation logic
• High-efficiency NFC wireless charging listener IC with up to 1W received power capability
• Designed according to NFC Forum Wireless Charging standard with support for static and negotiated WLC control support
• Standalone operation (optional external Host MCU)
• I2C slave interface
• 2x configurable GPIOs
• On-chip overvoltage limiter circuit
• On-chip temperature sensor for over-temperature detection/protection
• Package – 1.78×1.78mm, 16 pins, 0.4mm pitch WL-CSP package

As shown above, NFC wireless charging system consists of a “WLC Poller” acting as a power transmitter and communication initiator, and a “WLC Listener” power receiver, or in other words a charger and a battery-operated device. The PTX30W is a Listener IC that will be found in wearables or other low-power devices, while other chips from the companies such as the PTX130W will be found in NFC WLC-compliant chargers.

Most specifically, Panthronics expects the PTX30W to be found not only in wearables such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, wristbands, but also smart and audio glasses, earbuds, headphones, and hearing aids, stylus pens, computer mouses, and industrial devices.

The company also provides an evaluation kit with a PTX130W Poller board and a PTX30W Listener board to let manufacturers evaluate the solution before integrating the chips into their own products. The kit also supports the reader function for all types of NFC and standard protocols and is supported with Config Tools and SDKs.

The NFC WLC standard was only published in 2020, and we should start to see NFC chargers compliant with the standard this year, as chips such as the PTX30W are now sampling, and volume production is scheduled to start in Q2 2023. Some proprietary solutions may deliver more power over NFC, at the cost of potentially lacking compliance with the new standard, and NuCurrent demonstrated 3W NFC charging last year with an internal platform that was not available to third parties at the time.

More details about the Panthronics PTX30W Listener IC and other NFC WLC chips, such as the PTX130W Poller IC, may be found on the products page and the press release.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

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