NFC read/write and card functionality in PN532

[arunavdev]

I am a newbie in NFC technology. I have been reading the user manual and online about PN532 chip. However form the manual I am not sure if the chip can act as both reader/writer (NFCIP-1) and card mode. Basically I want two bracelets to be able to pass each others information. I was thinking to use two PN532 in each, one for reader and the other for card. Do I need an external antenna for reader functionality? Here https://www.adafruit.com/products/789 they are using an additional antenna to have the chip function as a reader so that creates an additional suspicion. In the manual here in the application diagram it is not clear if the antenna is external or internal.

 

[xFFFF]

I'm a little confused by what you're asking but the PN532 supports 'Virtual Card mode', PCD mode and PICC mode.

Does this answer your question?

 

[robertpalmerjr]

As noted by xFFFF, the PN532 will support card emulation and PCD mode. It can also do peer to peer, which is a little different from PCD/PICC communications. You are mis-interpreting the adafruit picture, the antenna being held in hand is a tag. The antenna (which is for all modes) is built into the PCB.