Circuitry for use in smart cards and other applications

A smart card for carrying a chip having near field RF communications capability, the smart card comprising:

• a chip connection for connecting a near field RF communications chip;
• and a substrate carrying electrical components in said smart card for connection to said near field RF communications chip;
• wherein the electrical components comprise at least one printed coil inductor arranged for connection to said near field RF communications chip, a near field RF communications chip connected to the chip connection, wherein the printed coil inductor is connected to the chip to complete a power splitter circuit provided in part by components in the chip, wherein the smart card carries an auxiliary circuit connected to the chip connection to be powered by an auxiliary rectifier.

A circuit assembly for integration into a smart card, the assembly comprising:

• a substrate comprising a sheetlike dielectric, wherein a first region of the sheetlike dielectric carries circuitry components and a ground plane conductor separated from the circuitry components by the dielectric to provide a ground plane for the circuitry components in the first region;
• and a second region of the sheetlike dielectric without any ground plane conductor carries a printed coil inductor connected to the circuitry components, which the second region has an area larger than the area of the substrate occupied by the printed coil inductor, wherein the around plane conductor comprises a layer of conductive material integrated with the sheetlike dielectric.