Departments:
  1. Electrical Engineering
  2. Electronics Engineering
  3. Mechatronics Engineering
Modules:
  1. MFRC522
Softwares:
  1. Proteus

Hello friends, I hope you are all fine and doing great. In today's tutorial, we will have a look at a detailed Introduction to MFRC522. MFRC522 is an RFID Embedded module used to read and write RFID cards and operates at 13.56MHz contactless communication. It is a less costly, low-voltage, and small-sized non-contact card chip. It is the best choice for intelligent instruments and portable handheld devices. It communicates with microcontrollers over SPI Protocol.

MFRC522 is used in different engineering projects, mostly for security purposes in offices, banks, plazas, etc. You must have seen in English Movies that a person just shows his ID card to the machine and its whole profile data pops up on the computer and if he is authorized then the front door automatically opens up. Those cards are normally RFID cards.

In today's post, we will discuss its pinout, protocol, working, circuit diagram etc. in detail. I will also share links to projects where I have interfaced MFRC522 with Arduino and other microcontrollers. If you have any questions about this device, please ask in the comments, I will try my best to solve your problems. So let's start with a basic Introduction to MFRC522:

Introduction to MFRC522

Let's start with a detailed introduction of MFRC522:

  • MFRC522 module is a less costly, lower voltage, and small-sized noncontact card chip,  it is the best choice for security instrument and portable devices.
  • This sensor-based on advanced modulation and demodulation concept, this concepts uses in all types of contactless communication methods.
  • MFRC522 also supports crypt-01 encryption algorithm to verify Mifare products.
  • It supports Mifare series of high-speed non-contact communication, by using this series we can send and receive data up to 424 kbit/s.
  • A transmitter of MFRC522 is able to drive reader and writer antenna, which designed to communicate with IEC 14443 A/MIFARE cards. It works with this card without any special circuit.
  • MFRC522 supports MF1xxS20 and MF1xxS70  products.
  • There are two versions of MFRC522:
    • MFRC52201HN1
    • MFRC52202HN1
  • The second version of MFRC522 is fully compatible with version one. It has some better features and improvements which are:
    •  This version has An additional timer pre-scaler.
    • It has more stability in rough conditions.
Now, let's discuss the PINOUT of MFRC522:

MFRC522 PINOUT & Description

There are main 8 pins of MRFC522 which are:
  • PIN 01: SDA,  this pin use for SPI protocol.
  • PIN 02: SCK,  this pin used for providing a clock.
  • PIN 03: MOSI,  this pin is used for master device to get out data and for the slave device to get in data.
  • PIN 04: MISO, this pin is used for the slave device to get out data and for a master device to get in data.
  • PIN 05: IRQ,  this pin is for interrupt purpose.
  • PIN 06: GND,  this pin is used for ground.
  • PIN 07: RST,  this pin is used for reset-purpose.
  • PIN 08: Vcc,  at this supply voltages are applied.
For better understanding let see a picture of PINOUT.
Mfrc522 introduction, mfrc522, mfrc522 pinout mfrc522
Now, let's discuss some features of MFRC522:

Features of MFRC522

  • These are some features of MFRC522.
    • Its operating current and voltage are 13 to 26 mA/DC 3.3V.
    • Its Idle operating current voltage is 10-13 mA/ DC 3.3V.
    • Its sleep current is <80 uA.
    • Its Peak current value is <30 mA.
    • Its Operating frequency is 13.56 MHz.
    • Its dimension is 40 mm×60 mm.
    • Its Ambient operating temperature is - 20 to 80 degrees centigrade.
    • Its Ambient storage temperature is - 40 to 85 degrees centigrade.
    • Its Ambient relative humidity 5% is 95%.
    • It has FIFO buffer handles 64 byte sending and receiving data.
    • It Supports MFIN/MFOUT.
Let's discuss the SPI Protocol on which it works.

SPI Protocol

  • Serial peripheral interface (SPI) is supported to enable high-speed communication to the host. This interface can handle data speeds up to 10 Mbit/s.
  • Communicating with a host, the MFRC522 acts as a slave, receiving data from the external host for register settings, sending and receiving data relevant for RF interface communication.
  • An interface with SPI enables high-speed serial communication between the microcontroller and an MFRC522.
  • MFRC522 acts as a slave during SPI communication. SPI clock signal SCK must be generated by the master. Data communication from the master to the slave device uses the MOSI line.
  • MISO line is used to send data from the MFRC522 to the master.
  • Data on both MOSI and MISO lines are sent with the MSB first.
For better understanding lets have a look at its circuit diagram.
spi protocol, mfrc522 introduction, mfrc522 pinout, mfrc522
  Let disuses some applications of MRFC522.

Applications of MFRC522

  • These are some applications of MFRC522.
    • MFRC522 is a highly integrated reader/writer IC for contactless communication.
    • It can be used for security purposes in office, banks, and some buildings.
    • It can be interfaced with Arduino for some industrial projects.

This was all about MFRC522. I hope you will get a lot of knowledge from this post. If you have any questions about MFRC522, please ask in comments. I will resolve your query. Thanks for reading. Take care!!!