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

  • Making the case for ALPR in enforcement
    February 2, 2012
    Federal Signal's Brian Shockley uses examples from around the world to make the case for the greater use of automatic license plate recognition technology in the US. It is time, he says, to consider the possibilities of a national network and the use of average speed enforcement
  • Welcome to Digital, Free Flow Tolling
    April 17, 2024
    Emovis’ work in the Netherlands demonstrates many benefits of free flow tolling as Benoît Rossi, director of business development at Emovis, an Abertis-owned entity, highlights
  • Kapsch to upgrade Maryland’s toll collection equipment
    April 24, 2018
    Kapsch TrafficCom will replace all of Maryland Transportation Authority’s (MDTA’s) roadside tolling equipment. For the upgrade, valued $67m (£47m), Kapsch will utilise radio-frequency identification (RFID) toll readers, automated number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and scanners in the mixed-mode lanes. The company will also install its stereoscopic vehicle detection and classification sensor (nVDC) in the all-electronic toll lanes.
  • Traffex snapshot reveals enforcement advances
    July 24, 2017
    An indication of just how far beyond spot speed and red light the enforcement sector has progressed was evident in the range of new and improved equipment on display at the recent Traffex event in Birmingham. One of the key trends, particularly in the UK but also evident elsewhere, is the increase in average speed enforcement, according to RedSpeed’s managing director Robert Ryan, who predicts a big increase in installations this year. “The price point has reached a level authorities can afford,” he says, a