Top 5 Reasons Why Abracon’s Components are Ideal for Access Control

Top 5 Reasons Why Abracon’s Components are Ideal for Access Control Systems

Reason 1 – AFAR3026-SN: NFC Antenna

The AFAR3026-SN is an NFC antenna that is optimized for 13.56MHz operation frequency. The antenna is extremely thin at only 0.6mm on a 26.5 x 30mm flexi PCB board with a 100mm cable and IPEX connector.

While many choose to design their own NFC antenna in the PCB, having the PCB on a cable has the distinct advantage of being able to locate the antenna away from material or circuitry which might interfere with attenuating the RF signals.

Reason 2 – ProAnt PCB trace antennas for WiFi/Bluetooth

The ProAnt PCB trace antennas for WiFi/Bluetooth are compact with the option of RF cable and connector making them easy to integrate into your design. The antenna can then be located away from your PCB for system design flexibility and quick go-to-market time.

Abracon’s design and optimization service can ensure you have an optimized solution if required. The service is regularly used to ensure you have the right solution for your requirement and best performance. 

WiFi is often used for Access Control systems to wirelessly connect the system to the local network, for example, video data to a mobile device, or integration with other parts of a full access control system.

The availability of the regular options is world-leading— with products readily available from many major distribution channels. This is often a big consideration and important when designing a new PCB circuit.

Consider the ProAnt PCB trace antennas which are designed and manufactured by Abracon’s brand ProAnt with a patented design. The embedded PCB antennas have a 100mm cable and IPEX/MHF connectors both MHF (U.FL comparable) and MHF-4 type (ultra-low profile type). The length of the cable can be customized to suit your requirements. Although sticking to the standard at 100mm is likely to meet most requirements.

Part Numbers:

• PRO-IS-299 (ProAnt PCB trace antenna 22.0 x 11.0 x 0.8mm BT/WiFi dual-band, 100mm cable with MHF (F) connector).

• PRO-IS-578 (ProAnt PCB trace antenna 22 x 11 x 0.8mm BT/WiFi dual-band, 100mm cable with MHF-4 (F) connector).

• PRO-IS-432 (ProAnt PCB trace antenna 22 x 20 x 0.8mmBT/WiFi dual-band, 100mm cable with MHF (F) connector).

• PRO-IS-579 (ProAnt PCB trace antenna BT/WiFi dual-band, 100mm cable with MHF-4 (F) connector).

Reason 3 – ABS8W Series Crystal Resonators

The ABM8W Series crystal resonators can help with a very reliable oscillator start-up performance and support circuit designs where low power consumption is important such as battery-operated products.

These crystals have an industry-leading ESR and C0, both are key determinants of the oscillator circuit start-up performance.

A popular reference frequency for Access Control Systems operating at 13.56MHz is 27.12MHz (i.e. 2x). At this frequency, the ABM8W Series has a maximum ESR of 50 Ohms, typically 25 Ohms, and the maximum C0 is 2.0 pF, typically 1.2pF.

Both characteristics make the ABM8W Series ideal for applications where very reliable start-up performance is key.

The start-up performance is related to the forward gain margin (GM) which is defined as how many times the transimpedance is larger than the critical transimpedance (gmcritical).

(1) GM = gm / gmcritical

For robust oscillations, it is understood that the industry practice is to target a Gain Margin (GM) of more than 5.0, minimum 3.0.

For closed loop oscillator circuits, gm(critical) is defined as follows:

(2) Gm(critical) = 4 x ESR x (2πF)² x (C0 + CL)²

Where:

• ESR is the Equivalent Series Resistance of the crystal resonator.
• F is the resonant frequency of the resonator.
• C0 is the Shunt Capacitance comprised of the package and electrode capacitance of the resonator element.
• CL is the Load Capacitance.

The challenge is that the latest FPGAs, and microprocessors are often designed for low energy consumption, so they often have a low transimpedance for the crystal resonator. So, to achieve a high gain margin (GM), crystal manufacturers focus on minimizing the critical transimpedance.

We can see from equation (1) that when the transimpedance (gm) is fixed to achieve a higher gain margin (GM) gm(critical) must be decreased. In practical terms, this means minimizing the crystal ESR, C0, and CL. The result is the ABM8W Series crystal resonators. These crystals are ideal for your PCB design where a very reliable start-up is highly desirable.

The crystals have the option of exceptionally low plating capacitance, 4pF, 8pF, 7pF, and 6pF.

The Load Capacitance helps with low power consumption design. 

Reason 4 – ABS05 Series

The ABS05 Series 32.768kHz crystal resonators can help support a lower power consumption design. They have the option of exceptionally low Load Capacitance of 4pF and 3pF.

Access Control Systems often have a “sleep” function where the system stays in a dormant mode until an HF electromagnetic field is present when the system “wakes up”, i.e. when an access card is near the reader. This is to save the overall power consumption of the RFID system.

The sleep mode requires a Low Frequency (LF) crystal at 32.768kHz as part of the oscillator circuit. 

The ABS05 Series is further optimized for low current consumption with an industry-leading ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) and CL (Load Capacitance).

The benefit of having a lower power consumption system is that it makes it easier to meet industry standards for energy consumption and longer battery life can be achieved.  The series also has low Shunt Capacitance (C0) making them ideal for designs that require an exceptionally reliable start-up performance.

Reason 5 – ASADV Series Continuous Volt SMD Crystal Oscillators

The ASADV Series continuous volt SMD crystal oscillators are well-suited for Access Control. The input voltage is 1.6V to 3.6V making them ideal for battery-powered products. Additionally, the RMS Phase Jitter is low at a maximum of 1.0ps (12kHz to 20MHz) resulting in a good RFID performance.

The jitter performance of the ASADV Series can result in a higher Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and therefore in theory a longer RFID/NFC wireless range allowing easier use of the NFC contactless access and higher reliability.

Learn more about Abracon's products here: Abracon | Products