This report deals with RFID systems and how to detect nearby tags with the Mifare standard using only a microcontroller and an antenna circuit. The aim was to investigate whether there was any possibility to continuously search for a nearby tag for a system operated with batteries without compromising   the lifespan of the battery. At this time the system would take too long time to wake up and look for a tag to give a satisfactory battery lifespan, which should be done a couple of times every second. The report has two issues, namely: Is it possible to direct the microprocessor to detect and identify a nearby tag after the Mifare standard? What hardware is required for this to be possible? As the research method to provide answers to the above questions an action research was used. This approach has meant that the group worked on information retrieval, examined existing solutions, tested their own solutions and documented the results. The group examined an existing solution that can search for nearby tags with minimal energy consumption. An antenna circuit was built that was connected to the processor. The program code was made in AVR Studio on a PC and programmed with a AVR one!. The processor was in an AVR Xplain development board for processors made by Atmel. The software is designed to wake up the system to search for a tag as quickly as possible, and then go back to sleep. By only activating the carrier and measure the amplitude of the received signal could determine whether a tag is around or not. This made it possible to conduct a search for a tag of less than 4 µS.

Contactless cards are everywhere nowadays due to their ease to use and low price to produce. In addition, their reliability is excellent. That is why they are used in systems where security is essential within a low price. To develop the associated systems (cards, readers, terminals), efficient tools are needed. These tools can be a spy analyzing any communication or an emulator that can act and answer exactly as a real contactless card. The objective of this thesis was to develop a contactless card emulator on a product that is currently only spying, the NomadLAB of KEOLABS. The emulator feature is based on a discontinued product, the ProxiCARD, and it has for main objective to be compliant with the ISO 14443 standard. Through the analysis of its architecture and its current performance, I have developed a complete system that can be integrated into the ecosystem of the KEOLABS products. The features I developed take place into the source code of the NomadLAB, at the level of its ARM microcontroller in language C, and in its FPGA in language VHDL. The ARM is here to handle all the smart part of the transmission, while the FPGA to handle the coding and decoding process. In addition, I developed an antenna able to on one hand receive the signal from a reader and on the other hand to reply to it by modulating the magnetic field. I also developed and added my controls to the current computer software. Finally, I have written a lot of testing to make sure that this new system is reliable. The NomadLAB is now able to emulate a contactless card complying with ISO14443 standard, while keeping its spy features, and its control through a computer.