OpenWrt Package: libnfc-nci

OpenWrt package for NXP PN7160 NFC Controller NCI stack.

NOTE: do not download the firmware, because download bugy

now software support version:

FW Version: 12.50.5 (in module)

FW Version: 12.50.9 (in libpn7160_fw.so)

🔍 PN7160 Special Characteristics

Why doesn't i2cdetect scan detect it?

According to NXP official documentation, PN7160 will not respond to standard I2C scans. Here's why:

PN7160 Special Features:

Uses proprietary NCI (NFC Controller Interface) protocol
Not a standard I2C slave device
Only responds to specific NCI command sequences
Does not respond to regular I2C read operations
Requires specific initialization handshake process

Correct Usage:

Must send correct NCI initialization commands
Use NXP provided libraries and drivers
Similar chips (like PN532, PN7150) have the same characteristics
All require specialized drivers

🛠️ Using NXP Official Drivers and Libraries (Recommended Method)

# 1. Get NXP's NCI stack
git clone https://github.com/NXPNFCLinux/linux_libnfc-nci.git

# 2. Compile and install
cd linux_libnfc-nci
./bootstrap
./configure
make
sudo make install

# 3. Configure device tree or kernel driver
# PN7160 support needs to be enabled in Linux kernel

📦 Package Structure

libnfc-nci/
├── Makefile              # OpenWrt package definition
├── README.md             # This file (English)
├── README_CN.md          # Chinese documentation
├── patches/              # Source code patches
│   ├── 001-change-config-dir.patch
│   ├── 002-fix-transport-config-path.patch
│   ├── 003-fix-config-path-provider.patch
│   └── 100-64bit-support.patch
├── files/                # Additional files to install
└── src/                  # (Reserved for local source if needed)

🔧 Patches Description

Configuration Path Patches (001-003)

These patches change the configuration file location from /usr/local/etc/ to /etc/nfc/:

Patch File	Description
001-change-config-dir.patch	Updates `Makefile.am` to install configs to `/etc/nfc/`
002-fix-transport-config-path.patch	Updates `config.cc` transport path
003-fix-config-path-provider.patch	Updates all config paths in `ConfigPathProvider.cc`

64-bit Support Patch (100)

100-64bit-support.patch: Fixes for 64-bit architecture compatibility

Type conversion fixes (unsigned int vs size_t)
Pointer dereference fixes
Data structure alignment fixes

⚙️ Configuration Files

The package installs configuration files to /etc/nfc/:

Main Configuration Files:

libnfc-nci.conf - System configuration
libnfc-nxp.conf - Vendor configuration

Additional Configuration Files (if present):

libese-nxp.conf - ESE configuration
libnfc-nxp_RF.conf - RF configuration
libnfc-nxpTransit.conf - Transit configuration

📦 Build Packages

This package produces three packages:

1. libnfc-nci - Main library

/usr/lib/libnfc_nci_linux.so*
/etc/nfc/libnfc-nci.conf
/etc/nfc/libnfc-nxp.conf

2. libnfc-nci-utils - Utilities

/usr/sbin/nfcDemoApp

3. libpn7160-fw - Firmware library

/usr/lib/libpn7160_fw.so*

📋 Dependencies

Runtime Dependencies

Library	Description
`libstdcpp`	C++ standard library
`libpthread`	POSIX threads
`librt`	Real-time extensions
`libgpiod`	GPIO library (for PN7160 hardware control)

Build Dependencies

autoconf
automake
libtool

🚀 Installation

1. Add to OpenWrt Build System

Copy this directory to your OpenWrt packages feed:

# For feeds/packages
cp -r libnfc-nci $(OPENWRT_DIR)/feeds/packages/libs/

# Or for custom packages
cp -r libnfc-nci $(OPENWRT_DIR)/package/

2. Update Feeds (if using feeds)

cd $(OPENWRT_DIR)
./scripts/feeds update -a
./scripts/feeds install -a

3. Configure Package

make menuconfig

Navigate to:

Libraries → Select libnfc-nci
Utilities → Select libnfc-nci-utils
Libraries → Select libpn7160-fw

4. Build Package

# Build single package
make package/libnfc-nci/compile V=s

# Build with dependencies
make package/libnfc-nci/{clean,compile} V=s

# Build all selected packages
make -j$(nproc)

5. Find Built Packages

ls $(OPENWRT_DIR)/bin/packages/*/packages/libnfc-nci*.ipk

🔌 Hardware Setup

BPI-R3 26-Pin GPIO Header Pinout

Sparefunction	Mainfunction	pin#		pin#	Mainfunction	Sparefunction
-	3V3	1	● ●	2	5V	-
I2C_SDA	GPIO 4	3	● ●	4	5V	-
I2C SCL	GPIO 3	5	● ●	6	GND	-
PWM1	GPIO 22	7	● ●	8	GPIO 43	UART1 TX
-	GND	9	● ●	10	GPIO 42	UART1 RX
UART2 TX	GPIO 30	11	● ●	12	GPIO 64	PCM_CLK
UART2 RX	GPIO 29	13	● ●	14	GND	-
PCM_FS	GPIO 65	15	● ●	16	GPIO 45	UART1_RTS
-	3V3	17	● ●	18	GPIO 44	UART1_CTS
SPIC_MO	GPIO 7	19	● ●	20	GND	-
SPIC_MI	GPIO 8	21	● ●	22	GPIO 62	PCM_DTX
SPIC_CK	GPIO 6	23	● ●	24	GPIO 14	SPIC_CS
-	GND	25	● ●	26	GPIO 63	PCM_DRX

PN7160 Module Pinout (B26-I-6818)

PIN	Signal	I/O Type	Description
PIN1	SCL	OD	I2C SCL (internal 4.7K pull-up)
PIN2	SDA	OD	I2C SDA (internal 4.7K pull-up)
PIN3	IRQ	I/O	Tell the host this module have I2C data to send. High enable, normal Low
PIN4	VEN	I/O	Reset the module, set Low to reset
PIN5	D-/DWL	I/O	USB D- (USB mode); DWL (I2C mode - firmware download)
PIN6	D+/NC	I/O	USB D+ (USB mode); NC (I2C mode - not connected)
PIN7	GND	PWR	Power GND
PIN8	VDD	PWR	Power supply, default 5V (3.3V selectable)

Notes:

① Module has internal 4.7KΩ pull-up resistors on I2C lines
② USB D+/D- pins for USB communication mode
③ In I2C mode: PIN5 = DWL (firmware download), PIN6 = NC (not connected)

PN7160 to BPI-R3 Connection

BPI-R3 Pin	PN7160 Pin	Function
Pin 2 (5V)	VDD (PIN8)	Power
Pin 6 (GND)	GND (PIN7)	Ground
Pin 3 (GPIO 4/SDA)	SDA (PIN2)	I2C Data
Pin 5 (GPIO 3/SCL)	SCL (PIN1)	I2C Clock
Pin 23 (GPIO 6)	IRQ (PIN3)	Interrupt
Pin 21 (GPIO 8)	VEN (PIN4)	Enable
Pin 15 (GPIO 65)	DWL (PIN5)	Download

Connection Summary:

Power & Ground: Pin 2 (5V) and Pin 6 (GND - near 5V)
I2C Bus: Pin 3 (SDA) and Pin 5 (SCL) → Hardware I2C (i2c-0)
Control Signals: Pin 23 (IRQ), Pin 21 (VEN), Pin 15 (DWL)

Enable I2C Interface

Add to /etc/config/modules or load manually:

insmod i2c-dev

💻 Usage

Hardware Connection Example

PN7160 module connected to BPI-R3 via 26-pin header

Basic NFC Operations

# Run demo application
nfcDemoApp poll

# Check configuration files
cat /etc/nfc/libnfc-nci.conf
cat /etc/nfc/libnfc-nxp.conf

Configuration Files

The package includes multiple configuration files:

libnfc-nxp.conf - Main NXP vendor configuration
libnfc-nxp-debug.conf - Debug configuration with verbose logging
libnfc-nci.conf - System configuration

Test Results

Successful NFC tag detection and reading

Configuration Override

You can override config paths using environment variables:

export LIBNFC_NCI_CONF_PATH=/custom/path/

⚠️ Important Notes

1. I2C Detection

PN7160 will NOT respond to standard I2C scan (i2cdetect -y 1). This is normal behavior as the device requires GPIO initialization first.

2. GPIO Library

Ensure libgpiod is installed. Required for modern kernels (6.6+).

3. Permission Requirements

The application needs access to:

I2C device (/dev/i2c-*)
GPIO devices
Configuration files in /etc/nfc/

4. Kernel Requirements

Kernels < 6.6: Legacy GPIO sysfs interface
Kernels >= 6.6: libgpiod required

🛠️ Troubleshooting

❌ Problem: "nfcservice init fail"

Solutions:

✓ Verify GPIO pins are correctly configured
✓ Ensure libgpiod is installed
✓ Check I2C interface is enabled
✓ Verify hardware connections
✓ Check dmesg for kernel messages

❌ Problem: Configuration file not found

Solutions:

✓ Verify files exist in /etc/nfc/
✓ Check file permissions
✓ Review application logs for path details

❌ Problem: Build fails

Solutions:

✓ Ensure all dependencies are selected in menuconfig
✓ Clean build: make package/libnfc-nci/clean
✓ Check build log: make package/libnfc-nci/compile V=s

👨‍💻 Development

Adding Custom Patches

Create patch file in patches/ directory
Name format: NNN-description.patch
- 000-099 → Configuration patches
- 100-199 → Architecture/platform patches
- 200-299 → Feature patches
- 900-999 → Local/temporary patches
Patches are applied in numerical order

Testing Changes

# Clean and rebuild
make package/libnfc-nci/clean
make package/libnfc-nci/compile V=s

# Test on device
scp bin/packages/*/packages/libnfc-nci*.ipk root@device:/tmp/
ssh root@device "opkg install /tmp/libnfc-nci*.ipk"

📄 License

BSD-3-Clause

📚 References

Official Documentation

🔗 NXP Official Repository
🔗 NXP NFC Examples
🔗 NXP Community Porting Guide - Raspberry Pi 5
🔗 PN7160 Linux Porting Guide (AN13287)
🔗 PN7160 Evaluation Kit Quick Start Guide (AN12991)

Community Resources

💬 Support

For issues related to:

Issue Type	Get Help
🔨 Package building	Check OpenWrt forums
📡 NFC functionality	Refer to NXP documentation
🔧 PN7160 hardware	Check NXP community forums

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
docs		docs
files		files
patches		patches
.DS_Store		.DS_Store
Makefile		Makefile
README.md		README.md
README_CN.md		README_CN.md

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OpenWrt Package: libnfc-nci

🔍 PN7160 Special Characteristics

Why doesn't i2cdetect scan detect it?

🛠️ Using NXP Official Drivers and Libraries (Recommended Method)

📦 Package Structure

🔧 Patches Description

Configuration Path Patches (001-003)

64-bit Support Patch (100)

⚙️ Configuration Files

📦 Build Packages

1. libnfc-nci - Main library

2. libnfc-nci-utils - Utilities

3. libpn7160-fw - Firmware library

📋 Dependencies

Runtime Dependencies

Build Dependencies

🚀 Installation

1. Add to OpenWrt Build System

2. Update Feeds (if using feeds)

3. Configure Package

4. Build Package

5. Find Built Packages

🔌 Hardware Setup

BPI-R3 26-Pin GPIO Header Pinout

PN7160 Module Pinout (B26-I-6818)

PN7160 to BPI-R3 Connection

Enable I2C Interface

💻 Usage

Hardware Connection Example

Basic NFC Operations

Configuration Files

Test Results

Configuration Override

⚠️ Important Notes

1. I2C Detection

2. GPIO Library

3. Permission Requirements

4. Kernel Requirements

🛠️ Troubleshooting

❌ Problem: "nfcservice init fail"

❌ Problem: Configuration file not found

❌ Problem: Build fails

👨‍💻 Development

Adding Custom Patches

Testing Changes

📄 License

📚 References

Official Documentation

Community Resources

OpenWrt Related

PN7160 Module Purchase

PN7160 firmware download issue

💬 Support

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