NFC RFID Contactless Reader Writer – µFR Zero CS is the next-generation advanced development tool, engineered as the high-speed successor to the legacy µFR Classic CS. Operating at 13.56 MHz, this UART-focused device complies with ISO14443 A&B and ISO15693 standards, delivering unmatched performance for modern RFID/NFC applications.
Designed for IT professionals, developers, and enterprises, the µFR Zero CS combines ultra-fast data transfer with robust cross-platform compatibility. It includes free SDK source code, enhanced firmware with AES256 encryption, USB C and UART communication variants. The device also features a redesigned antenna for extended read ranges (up to 70mm) and improved interference resistance.
As an advanced replacement for the µFR Classic CS, the µFR Zero CS offers seamless backward compatibility with existing SDK libraries while introducing new features like dynamic power management and native support for NFC Forum Tag Type 5 (Vicinity). Available in UART TTL and USB-C configurations, it is ideal for embedded systems, IoT devices, and high-throughput industrial applications.
Docs & Software Download
Who is it for?
µFR Zero CS NFC RFID Reader/Writer is tailored for developers (professionals and hobbyists) and enterprises requiring high-speed RFID/NFC operations. Its variant with the USB C connector is designed to conform with global USB communication standards, while its variant with an expanded UART interface makes it ideal for IoT edge devices, industrial automation, and real-time applications.
µFR Zero CS comes with a fully featured Software Development Kit, including firmware, libraries, source code examples, and documentation for various platforms, operating systems, and development environments. Upgrades (including firmware, libraries, and API) are released frequently and are available for download from our official Gitlab repository for FREE.
Beyond the already mentioned advantages, our clients enjoy a substantial reduction in development time and cost through our free, comprehensive, and fast-responding technical support.
Backward compatibility with µFR series SDKs ensures easy migration, while new features like multi-tag anti-collision and NFC-V support future-proof your projects.
Hardware
Powered by the latest NXP PN7462 IC, the µFR Zero CS operates on HF 13.56 MHz and supports ISO/IEC 14443 A/B, ISO/IEC 15693, and NFC Forum Tag Types 1-5. Its optimized antenna design ensures stable communication up to 70mm, even in noisy environments. Regarding the connection interface, two hardware variations are available:
- USB-C connectivity (default variation)
- UART TTL interface (additional variation)
Its variant with the USB C connector is designed to conform with global USB communication standards. In contrast, its variant with an expanded UART interface makes it ideal for IoT edge devices, industrial automation, and real-time applications. With outstanding modulation and demodulation concepts, and many integrated 13.56 MHz contactless communication protocols, device implementation becomes reliable and simple for every RFID NFC solution developer.
Key hardware upgrades include:
- Dynamic power adjustment for low-energy applications
- Low Power Card Detection
- Anti-collision
- Extended tag support: ICODE, NTAG 5 boost, MIFARE DESFire EV3, and JCOP 4.0
Optional upgrades for µFR Zero CS reader writer are:
- Real-Time Clock
- Cryptographic Coprocessor/Accelerator
- SAM Card Slot
- Access Control Module
- RGB LED Display
- OLED Display
Enhanced Security
One of the significant upgrades compared to the previous generation of devices is the introduction of a secure element with an integrated cryptographic co-processor and accelerator. It integrates ECDH (Elliptic Curve Diffie Hellman) security protocol along with ECDSA (EllipticCurve Digital Signature Algorithm). Apart from secure key storage, this cryptographic accelerator provides secure and quick authentication in a wide range of applications such as
Add-ons and upgrades
Thanks to its modular design, the functionality of the μFR Zero Series can be further expanded by adding various modules. Available modules include Access Control with integrated solid state relays, RGB LEDs, OLED displays, PIN pad, Wiegand interface, RS485 interface, SAM card slots, RTC (Real-Time Clock), and more. Custom development of μFR Zero modules is also possible upon customer request.
Supported technologies
µFR Zero CS reader can be successfully implemented with MIFARE®, NTAG21x, NTAG 4xx DNA, JCOP, and ICODE family cards/tags:
- MIFARE Mini®,
- MIFARE Classic® (1K, 4K, EV1),
- MIFARE Ultralight®,
- MIFARE Ultralight C®,
- MIFARE Plus® (2K, 4K, S, X, EV1),
- MIFARE DESFire® (Light, 2K, 4K, 8K, EV1, EV2),
- NXP NTAG® 21x (210, 213, 215, 216, Tag Tamper),
- NXP NTAG® 4xx DNA (413, 424),
- NXP JCOP® Java Card (J3A040, J3A081, J3H145, JC30M48CR)
- ICODE® (SLI, SLIX SLIX 2, SLIX-L, SLIX-S, DNA, ILT, ILT-M).
Besides, this device supports other tags compatible with the above-listed.
Even though the supported technologies list is already wide, our development team constantly works on product improvements and upgrades, staying in line with this technology’s global trends.
OEM & CUSTOM INTEGRATION
The µFR Zero CS is available as a compact OEM module with:
- USB-C
- UART TTL (RS232 optional)
Firmware
Digital Logic proprietary interoperable firmware runs on all MCU platform-based µFR Series hardware. The reader and the host establish communication directly via the PN7462 CCID USB stack.
Basically, at the communication level, the device uses a unique proprietary Digital Logic communication protocol.
The µFR firmware contains many complex built-in functions available for calling via libraries explained in the API docs.
Finally, many functions implementation examples have been developed to make life easier for developers and integrators by reducing development time.
For instance, the following projects:
- Support for multiple RFID NFC readers on a single host.
- The whole set of commands for MIFARE Classic® manipulation according to the manufacturer’s specification
- Various addressing schemes (Block, BlockInSector)
- The key storage handling(one way, write only, no reading of stored keys)
- Various key applying modes (by index or scheme)
- Value block manipulation
- Using the entire memory structure as linear space ( convenient for most card types)
- NFC tags handling, NDEF format parsing in firmware
- AES128 “on the fly” built-in hardware encryption, which is extremely important for working with complex DESFire security keys
- AES128 encryption of files and keys in DESFire cards
- MIFARE Plus support
- MIFARE Ultralight C support
- APDU command structure support, where applicable (ISO 14443-4 layer)
- Asynchronous UID sending from reader to host COM port when a card is present – the feature is user-programmable.
Specifically, the μFR Firmware key feature is the ability to call all its functions using our communication protocol.
For this reason, it is possible to implement the μFR device on almost any platform with a serial interface.
Supported platforms include:
- PC
- Tablet
- Smartphone
- Embedded systems
- Raspberry Pi and other compatible Single Board Computers
- BeagleBoard
- MIPS boards
- PLCs
- Arduino.
Frequent firmware updates include new features, improvements, and bug fixes while maintaining compatibility with previous versions.
Accordingly, the project code and developed software are secure, so there is no need to make any changes after the firmware upgrade.
All firmware updates and upgrades are FREE and available at the Digital Logic official GitLab repository.
Firmware updates remain free via Digital Logic’s GitLab repository, with over-the-air (OTA) upgrade capability for deployed devices.
Software Development Kit
This RFID NFC reader comes with a fully-featured Software Development Kit with external libraries, examples with source codes, documentation about API references, communication protocol, and many useful software tools.
Libraries are cross-compiled for various platforms and so far support:
- Windows x86/x64
- Windows ARM/UWP
- Linux x86/x64
- Linux ARM/ARM64/ARMHF
- macOS x64
- Android
- Arduino
- ESP32.
Our team is ready to develop additional libraries on client requests. The request realization speed depends on our current project plans and eventual partnership agreement.
Software source code examples are available for all major development platforms and languages:
- Java
- Java Applet
- JavaScript (egg. NFC Reader Browser Extension)
- Node JS
- PHP
- Lazarus
- Borland Delphi
- C
- C++ Borland Builder
- C++ WxWidgets
- Microsoft® Visual .NET family: C++.NET, C#.NET,VB.NET
- Python
- Arduino IDE examples.
Besides, our team is ready to develop additional SDK examples in other programming languages on client requests. The request processing time depends on our current project plans and eventual partnership agreement.
Package includes a set of very useful SDK source code software and executable apps. Some of these are:
- MIFARE Classic® (1k, 4k, EV1) cards and tags programming software
- MIFARE® DESFire® (Light, 2k, 4k, 8k, EV1, EV2) cards and tags programming software
- MIFARE PLUS® (2k, 4k) cards and tags programming software
- MIFARE Ultralight® (EV1) cards and tags programming software
- MIFARE Ultralight® C cards and tags programming software
- NTAG® (2xx, DNA, Tag Tamper) cards and tags programming software
- Application for common NDEF messages creating and writing into NFC tags
- Credit cards reding app (public data only)
- Formatter – software tool for card/tag formatting and programming
- uFR2FileSystem and uFR2File Lite – Keyboard simulation app, with a data reading, data parsing into several formats, and sending data to MySQL database via HTTP
- uFR Shell – Shell-like environment for easy testing and automation
- Browser extensions (add-ons) for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera
- Application for reading ePassports (Machine Readable Travel Documents)
- Digital Signing app
- APDU commands sending software
- JCOP cards programming software.
COMMON APPLICATIONS
- Electronic payment systems
- Identification systems
- Access control systems
- Subscription services
- Banking systems
- Digital content system
- Customer loyalty systems
- Vending machines
- Time & attendance
- Machine work attendance
- NFC card and tag programming
- NFC NDEF records management
- Network access control
- Inventory management
- Software login management
- Automatic fare collection
- Public transport terminals
- Cashless payment
- Parking systems
- Reception desk services
- Event visitors attendance
- Authentication and authorization
- Libraries, museums, stadium events
FEATURES
- Identity verification, data exchange & contactless transaction
- Useful for the binding device to software license
- Supporting multiple OS (Win, Linux, Android)
- USB compliant interface
- Operating Frequency: 13.56MHz
- Proximity read/write speed up to 424 kbps
- Built-in antenna for contactless tag access, with a reading distance of up to 60 mm
- Supports MIFARE® and other ISO 14443 Type A/B
- Supports ISO18092 NFC tags
- Built-in anti-collision feature
- RFID Reader locking by passwords and keys
- Application Programming Interface:
- Virtual COM through FTDI
- User controllable LEDs
- Upgradable (3-year or 5-year) warranty
SOFTWARE FEATURES
- NFC cards and tags reading/writing (programming)
- NFC NDEF Record writing: MIME types, URI types, vCard, SMS, Phone, URL
- Card formatting
- Card linear space emulation
- Card block direct access
- Card sectors and blocks indirect access
- Card Keys and Access Bits management
- Block values management (increment/decrement)
- Asynchronously sending of Card UID to COM port (feature programmable)
- DES and 3DES Software Encryption
- Optional APDU structure (application protocol data unit) with examples of the Credit Card use in public data reading
- Shell-like environment for easy testing and automation
- Web browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera
- Digital Signing source code examples: contactless signing of digital documents with PKI (public key infrastructure) certificates
µFR Zero CS NFC RFID Reader Writer Features:
| Product Series | μFR ZERO |
|---|---|
| MODEL | µFR Zero CS |
| Size H x W x D (mm & inches) | 84 x 50 x 5mm 3.31 x 1.97 x 0.20 inches |
| Net Weight (g) | |
| ISO15693 Reading Range (mm & inch) | 170 mm 6.67″ |
| ISO14443 Reading Range (mm & inch) | 130 mm 5.12″ |
| Data & Power Connection Interface | USB (CDC, HID, CCID) TTL UART RS232 – integrated |
| Embedded Signalization | RGB LED, Beeper |
| Advanced Features | Dynamic Power Control Low Power Card Detection Anti-collision |
| Optional Upgrades | |
| Operating Frequency | 13.56 MHz |
| Supported Standards | ISO14443 A & B ISO15693 ISO7816 Extended APDU |
| Communication Speed | 6.62/26.48/106/212/425 kbps |
| Operating Current | 300 mA |
| Sleep Current | <30 µA |
| Operating Voltage | 5 V |
| Operating Temperature | -10 to +70 °C 14 to 158 °F |
| Encryption | Crypto-1, AES128, AES256, AES-GCM, DES/3DES, ECC, ECDH, ECSA, RSA |
| Built-in functions | |
| Supported Tag Type | ICODE® (SLI, SLIX SLIX 2, SLIX-L, SLIX-S, DNA, ILT, ILT-M) MIFARE Mini®, MIFARE Classic® (1K, 4K, EV1), MIFARE Ultralight®, MIFARE Ultralight C®, MIFARE Plus® (2K, 4K, S, X, EV1), MIFARE DESFire® (Light, 2K, 4K, 8K, EV1, EV2, EV3), NXP NTAG® 21x (210, 213, 215, 216, Tag Tamper), NXP NTAG® 4xx DNA (413, 424), NXP JCOP® Java Card (J3A040, J3A081, J3H145, JC30M48CR). |
| Free SDK Projects | Java, Java Applet, JavaScript, Node JS, React, PHP, Lazarus, Delphi, C, C++, Microsoft® Visual .NET package (C#, C++, VB), Python, Arduino IDE |
| Supported OS | Microsoft® Windows™ Linux® macOS Android iOS |
| Supported Platforms | Windows x86/x64 Windows ARM/UWP Linux x86/x64 Linux ARM/ARM64/ARMHF macOS x64 iOS x64 Android ESP32 Raspberry Pi BeagleBoard Arduino MIPS boards PLCs |
| Warranty | 2 years + Extended Warranty |
WARRANTY: 24MONTHS
An extended warranty is available:
- +3 Year Extension (5-year warranty).
Downloads: API Documentation, µFR COM Protocol, Software source code examples with SDK
The documentation contains a detailed explanation of API and communication protocol references with actual byte-level examples for communication protocol implementation. Our API provides a very comfortable way of implementation, and we highly recommend it. When API implementation is not possible, a communication protocol is a very good alternative. We provide regular updates for all libraries, firmware, examples, tools, and documents. Updates are FREE and are available for download from the official Digital Logic GitLab repository.
Our tech support team is available to assist with all inquiries you may have. After submitting a free technical support ticket, you should receive a response within two to fifteen days, depending on the intricacy of your inquiry. Please refer to our premium technical support plans for swift assistance.
We are open to custom development requirements based on specific customer needs. Feel free to contact us for any questions or further assistance regarding your projects and implementation.
