Skip to main content

German companies collaborate on electronic vehicle identification

German internet of things (IoT) provider Kathrein has agreed a global collaboration on electronic vehicle identification with Tönnjes EAST, a German licence plate manufacturer. Both companies have been working together on the development of new technologies using Kathrein’s expertise in RFID technology combined with Tönnjes EAST’s experience in the integration of transponders into vehicle licence plates or windscreens. Their joint portfolio includes Kathrein’s latest RFID reader, the RRU4500, which h
September 13, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
German internet of things (IoT) provider Kathrein has agreed a global collaboration on electronic vehicle identification with Tönnjes EAST, a German licence plate manufacturer.


Both companies have been working together on the development of new technologies using Kathrein’s expertise in RFID technology combined with Tönnjes EAST’s experience in the integration of transponders into vehicle licence plates or windscreens.

Their joint portfolio includes Kathrein’s latest RFID reader, the RRU4500, which has a read range of up to 20 metres and enables the reliable identification of vehicles in free-flow motorway traffic up to a maximum speed of 250 km/h.

Tönnjes uses RFID technology in two systems, the IDePLATE, a vehicle licence plate with an integrated RFID chip and the IDeSTIX, a windscreen sticker containing a data chip with an encrypted ID number.

In order to ensure the IT security of the transponder data, the two companies use UCODE DNA, the latest generation of high security transponders from NXP Semiconductors. The decryption takes place directly between the transponders and the Kathrein readers. These are a new kind of combined RFID reader-writer and IoT gateway, which means that the data can be loaded directly into a Cloud and used from there.

The partners offer a turn-key solution, which includes implementing the technology on motorways, in low emission zones and toll roads, as well as establishing and operating central database solutions for authorities and providers.

Related Content

  • Dynniq’s FlowSense gives green light for city mobility
    March 19, 2019
    Putting an end to traffic jams – including those involving freight - and improving the air people breathe are major goals for city authorities everywhere. With FlowSense, Dynniq thinks it may have some answers. Adam Hill asks how Sitting in traffic is top of the list of many commuters’ pet hates: a necessary evil, perhaps. But at least it doesn’t kill you - the same can’t be said of toxins in the air. Indeed, the World Health Organisation estimates that 4.2 million deaths worldwide are due to outdoor pol
  • AWS finds new solutions
    December 8, 2021
    Forward-thinking public agencies are turning to a new breed of solutions provider to address current traveller needs. They work with system integrators, independent software vendors, and consultants to innovate using Amazon Web Services (AWS) to improve traffic safety, construction project management, analytics and reporting, and secure identification. Phil Silver, a state and local government transportation leader at AWS, provides examples of how builders on AWS are transforming transport using technology
  • C-ITS in the EU: ‘It has got a little tribal recently’
    April 16, 2019
    As the C-ITS Delegated Act begins its journey through the European policy maze, Adam Hill looks at who is expecting what from this proposed framework for connected vehicles – and why some people are insisting that the lawmakers are already getting things wrong
  • Options abound for road weather sensing
    September 6, 2017
    Meteorological organisations invest millions in super-computers to crunch data for ever-more accurate forecasts but inherent unpredictability means that other methods of alerting drivers and road authorities to fast-changing weather and highway conditions are essential. For years, static weather sensors to measure factors such as surface water, ice or high roadway temperatures have been embedded in highways to provide such data. But that is changing.