cilab Request a demo

Reference equipment

Reference antennas.

The reference equipment your contactless test bench is built on — for ISO 10373-6, EMV® and NFC Forum — designed, built and calibrated by cilab, in-house, under ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.

By standard

Reference antennas for every contactless standard you test against.

Each standards body defines its own reference equipment for analog and RF testing — and we design, build and calibrate it for all three.

cilab ISO 10373-6 reference PCD antenna assemblies

ISO/IEC 10373-6

The full reference set — reference PCD, Class 1 to 6 reference PICCs, calibration coils and our automated AUTO-PICC.

 A row of cilab EMV® TEST-PICC Class 1 reference antenna assemblies on their acrylic stands

EMV®

Reference PICC and test apparatus for EMV® Level 1 contactless qualification and pre-compliance.

 cilab NFC Forum reference antenna family — POLLER-0/3/6 and LISTENER-1 / R-3 / R-6 boards

NFC Forum

Reference poller and listener antennas for NFC Forum analog testing.
cilab ISO 10373-6 reference antenna set: reference PCD assemblies, Class 1 to 6 reference PICCs, calibration coils and AUTO-PICC

The ISO 10373-6 set

The full ISO 10373-6 reference set, from one maker.

ISO/IEC 10373-6 defines the reference equipment used to test contactless cards (PICCs) and readers (PCDs). We build all of it — and because we calibrate it ourselves under ISO/IEC 17025, you get one supplier, one calibration source and one short turnaround.

cilab ISO 10373-6 reference PCD antenna assembly on its calibrated acrylic mount

Reference PCD

The reference reader-antenna assembly, built to the ISO 10373-6 reference PCD geometry. It drives a known, calibrated field to test and characterise PICCs — contactless cards and devices.

cilab ISO 10373-6 reference PICCs, Class 1 to 6, with MOD IN, DC and pickup-coil connectors

Reference PICC — Class 1 to 6

The reference card antennas, in all six ISO 10373-6 antenna classes. Placed in a reader's field, they test and characterise PCDs across every card form factor.

cilab calibration collections

Calibration coils

Calibrate the operating field at the exact device-under-test position, so every analog measurement on the bench is traceable to the standard.

cilab ISO AUTO-PICC

ISO AUTO-PICC

Our automated reference PICC, designed to speed up and standardise PCD test sequences by bringing the reference-PICC steps under software control.

The EMV® set

EMV® Level 1 reference equipment.

For EMV® L1 contactless qualification and pre-compliance: the TEST-PICC and the PICC-side test apparatus, built and calibrated by cilab — and positioned across the full EMV® operating volume on the same bench as the ci230's EMV® L1 test benches.

cilab EMV® Level 1 bench — a Cobotta robot, the ci230 and the EMV® TEST-PICC Class 1/2/3 reference equipment
cilab EMV® TEST-PICC Class 1 reference antenna boards lined up on their calibrated acrylic mounts

EMV® TEST-PICC

The EMV® reference PICC assembly for qualifying the reader (PCD) side — terminals and POS — with calibrated outputs for the L1 analog measurements.

An EMV® TEST-PCD reference reader antenna on the cilab acrylic test rig, robot-positioned and connected to the ci230

EMV® TEST-PCDs

The EMV® reference reader antennas (TEST-PCDs) for qualifying the card and device (PICC) side against the L1 analog and digital requirements.

Robot arm placing the EMV® TEST-PICC at a defined position of the operating volume above a terminal

Operating-volume positioning

Fixtures and robot positioning place the reference equipment at every defined position of the EMV® operating volume — repeatably, run after run.

NFC Forum analog bench: robot carrying the red reference antenna, connected to the ci230

The NFC Forum set

NFC Forum reference antennas for CR15.

The reference poller and listener antennas behind NFC Forum CR15 analog testing — placed across the operating volume and paired with the ci230, an NFC Forum approved test tool.

Red NFC Forum reference listener antenna (LISTENER-1) on the robot arm of a ci230 bench

Reference listener antenna

Tests devices in the poller role: the NFC Forum reference listener presents the defined load and measures what the poller delivers across the operating volume.

cilab NFC Forum reference poller antennas POLLER-0, POLLER-3 and POLLER-6

Reference poller antenna

Tests devices in the listener role: the reference poller generates the defined field and timing of the NFC Forum analog test cases.

cilab calibration socket with the reference unit seated on the acrylic test rig

Calibration socket

A defined, traceable reference position to calibrate the setup before each measurement run.

Calibration

Calibrated in-house, back in days.

A reference antenna is only as good as its calibration — and calibration is recurring. Because we are an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited calibration lab, you don't ship your reference equipment through a chain of third parties: we recalibrate it ourselves, typically in 7 to 10 days and guaranteed within two weeks.

  • ISO/IEC 17025 accredited calibration
  • Typical turnaround 7–10 days, guaranteed within two weeks
  • One supplier for the equipment and its calibration
  • Traceable, documented results
ISO 10373-6 test bench: the ci230 with reference PCD assemblies and calibration coils

In context

Part of a complete test bench.

The reference antennas pair directly with the ci230 to form a full contactless test bench — reference equipment, instrument and calibration from a single source.

Explore the ci230

Need a specific reference configuration?

Tell us which standards, classes and assemblies you need — we'll put together the right reference set and keep it calibrated.

Talk to an expert