Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems
In the area of wireless and transponder systems, Fraunhofer IMS has built up a broad know-how base in the field of UHF and SHF RFID technologies over many years and numerous research and development projects, and we continue to keep this up-to-date.
UHF and SHF RFID technologies - especially with integrated sensor technology - offer an excellent technological basis for the acquisition of physical, chemical, biological and especially medical parameters wherever wired solutions quickly reach their limits for technical, economic or medical reasons.
Fraunhofer IMS offers both active and passive (sensor) UHF and SHF RFID technologies in all common frequency ranges up to 60 GHz and adapts with its solutions also special challenges, such as in the context of RFID in/on metal transponder applications.
Due to their small size and high read range, passive SHF RFID systems in the 60 GHz band open up new areas of applications that go far beyond the state of the art. For example, the shortcomings of data matrix code applications can be completely overcome in the protection of pharmaceutical products against counterfeiting. An RFID transponder inside pharmaceutical packaging is less easily tampered compared to a data matrix code printed on the packaging.
UHF and SHF RFID technologies are a prerequisite for the implementation of Industry 4.0, making it possible to realize the vision of the digital twin even in places where harsh environmental conditions have previously been an obstacle. In particular, SHF RFID systems allow the identification of tools for machining even under such conditions and form the basis for Industry 4.0-compliant tool management.
The combination of SHF RFID technologies and RFID in Metal Transponder Technologies opens up the possibility of transferring applications from the field of Industry 4.0 to other areas, such as process monitoring in clinical applications. Here, for example, surgical instruments are addressed with the aim of establishing a sterile goods management system that uniquely assigns a digital twin to each surgical instrument. The particular challenges of such an application of SHF RFID systems include robustness and reliability, the necessary miniaturization of the SHF RFID transponder, and the use of biocompatible materials for integrating the transponder into a surgical instrument.