Unterpremstaetten, Austria (February 21, 2012) – austriamicrosystems (SIX: AMS), a leading global designer and manufacturer of high-performance analog ICs announced that the AS3911 NFC Reader IC has been selected as a finalist in the EE Times and EDN 2012 UBM Electronics ACE Awards.  The AS3911 was recognized for providing capacitive wakeup, the industry’s lowest power consumption, automatic antenna tuning, and able to deliver up to
1 W output power.  This NFC reader enables a number of applications, including EMV (Europay MasterCard Visa) payment, access control, automotive, NFC Infrastructure, and ticketing.

“The new ACE Awards program, presented for the first time by both EE Times and EDN, provides us with an opportunity to recognize the technologies that have made a difference in the way we work, live and play over the past year.  We congratulate the finalists on their innovations and leadership in the electronics industry.  Additionally, we look forward to our awards ceremony in March to celebrate the innovation, creativity and contributions of the engineering community,” said Junko Yoshida, Editor in Chief, EE Times, UBM Electronics.

“Customers repeatedly requested a reader chip designed for NFC infrastructure applications that allows them the flexibility, RF performance, and speed to enable them to overcome the weaker performance of the NFC enabled phones”, said Kambiz Dawoodi, Senior VP & GM of the Power and Wireless Business Unit at austriamicrosystems.  “The AS3911 reader IC gives designers a system solution to speed their time to market, lower the battery consumption and minimize total solution cost.  Being nominated as a finalist for the EE Times and EDN ACE Awards affirms the real innovative design that went into the AS3911.”

With an on-chip capacitive sensor, the AS3911 reader IC requires only 5 μA of current and can wake in the presence of a tag.  This unique feature extends battery life and results in the lowest current consumption in the industry. The IC provides automatic antenna tuning to eliminate manual tuning while providing 1 W of output power – the only reader IC to do so – eliminating the need for an external booster circuit. This is a key feature since a card requires 650 mW of power.  Typical system cost can be cut in half due to the unique features, high level of integration, and exclusive antenna management of the AS3911.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, March 27 at The Fairmont San Jose, during DESIGN West, a new UBM Electronics conference and expo building on the rich foundation of training, education and products available at ESC, combined with popular summits and new event launches in one venue for the first time.

For more information on the AS3911 NFC reader IC, visit www.ams.com/RFID/AS3911

About UBM Electronics

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