Fast Transfer Mode using FEIG Reader

[shahbaz]

I am experimenting with STs Fast Transfer Mode using FEIG MR102 Reader.

 

I tried the FTM Demo on the ST25PC NFC. For that I connected the STEVAL-25R3916B reader and used ST25DVC Discovery board for ST25DV tag.  

Please note that I am using the source code of ST25PC NFC to run the FTM Demo so that I can capture the console. I used the "Send a 100k-byte random buffer" option from FTM Demo and looks like it works fine. You can see one instance from console of the FTM in action:

 

2026-02-27 11:42:53.286 fastWriteMsg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
2026-02-27 11:42:53.398 fastWriteMsg << 0000

 

The data packet almost makes sense,

Request Flag: 0x22h

Command Code (Fast Write Message): 0xCAh

IC Mfg Code: 0x02h

UID: 329411AE665102E0

Message Length: 0xFFh

No sure what is that for: 08h

Message Data: E2961EF89....

 

After that, I connected FEIG MR102 reader to run the same FTM Demo (Send a 100k-byte random buffer). It transfers the data but at a very lower rate. The reason being its not using fastWriteMsg, instead it is using writeMsg.

I am attaching an instance from the console. 

 

2026-02-27 13:01:03.568 writeMsg >> 22AA02329411AE665102E02F08CBC2A87FDC5802320459FCFC18276991AD24D37A3B393CCCE9EAE1EE45562402691D06BB8D7099FEC333C5D2DB77BA
2026-02-27 13:01:03.59 writeMsg << 0078F0

 

 You can see in the packet that the reader is using Write Message command code (0xAAh) to send the data to the tag

The FTM Demo is specifically designed for ST25DV-Discovery board. Could that be the reason for that?  

Is Fast Transfer Mode not supported in FEIG readers? Or is it simply not supported in any non-ST readers?

Moreover, I ran the ISO15693/NFC Type5 specific Fast Transfer Mode from ST25PC NFC to send 256byte of data using FEIG reader. It also used Write Message command to send data instead of Fast Write Message. It even uses the same Write Message command on STEVAL-25R3916B.

[JL. Lebon]

Hello, 

May be a clarification about Fast Transfer Mode and Fast commands.

Fast Transfer Mode is a special mode of operation of the ST25DV where data is transferred through a buffer (the mailbox) via proprietary commands, instead of writing data in EEPROM via standard commands.
Those proprietary commands can be 26kbs (High data rate) like Write Message (AAh) or 53kbs (fast data rate) like Fast Write Message (CAh).

Fast data rate is the data rate of the response of fast commands (53kbs). Fast commands are commands with a command code starting with a Cxh. There are fast commands that can be used to read or write data in Fast Transfer Mode, and there are also fast commands that can be used to read data into the EEPROM (i.e. Fast Read Multiple Blocks). Fast commands are not directly related to Fast Transfer mode. They share the "fast" name, which is confusing, but this is two different things.
Last point about fast commands: they are proprietary commands, and as a result are only supported by readers that knows those proprietary commands.

In your case, you are trying to use fast commands (53kbs) in a Fast transfer mode context. But you could as well use high bitrate (26kbs) commands to do the same thing. Actually, as you are doing transfer from the reader to the tag, there is no benefit to use fast bitrate commands, since they only provide fast data rate in the tag to reader direction. In your case, most of the data are transferred from the reader to the tag.

In case of the FEIG reader, it is possible (and even most probable) that it does not support ST25DV proprietary fast commands. In order to support fast command, the reader must be aware that the tag response will be at 53kbs. you may check if tour reader is capable of this bit rate in the tag to reader direction, and if it is, check how to enable this mode when sending a command.

Best regards.