Printed RFID chips successful in field testing

Within the scope of the PRISMA research project, Bundesdruckerei and its partners have tested a future-orientated option for data storage

Berlin, 22 April 2009 - Admission tickets, travel tickets and security documents, such as the passport booklet or driving licence: All of these areas are promising fields of application for printed radio-frequency ID chips, so-called "Printed Smart RFID Labels". This was the outcome of the PRISMA research project in which Bundesdruckerei participated over the past three years.

"What's new is that fully-printed RFID chips can be produced thanks to polymer electronics," explains Dr. Oliver Muth from Bundesdruckerei's project team. "These chips provide us with extremely thin, flexible and low-cost storage media which can be used in a vast number of ways." This makes printed RFID chips an interesting option for areas where the use of conventional radio-frequency ID chips was up to now either too expensive or not feasible for material reasons.

Within the scope of PRISMA, the project partners, backed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), developed complete systems to test the new memory medium: from the adaptation of the chip to the respective requirements to reading devices and testing in different everyday scenarios, such as ticketing, municipal public transport and security. The largest field test was carried out at Media-Tech Expo 2008 in Frankfurt am Main where more than 4,000 tickets were fitted with printed RFID chips.

Bundesdruckerei also used this new process, for instance, for admission tickets to "The Long Night of the Sciences 2008" in Berlin. As a specialist for ID security, the company, however, focused its activities strongly on security documents. The project team was able to print high security cards, similar to the EU driving licence card, with RFID chips. Using this new technology, the team paid particular attention to the advantages offered by the new technology in terms of improved production times and higher security standards.

"We are proud that within the scope of PRISMA we managed to integrate fully printed RFID chips for the first time into security documents," explains Dr. Oliver Muth. "Both the chips as well as the required materials and processes must be developed further before they can be fully integrated into optimised access control or demanding ID security systems."

Bundesdruckerei believes that printed electronics has an enormous future potential and the company will therefore continue to participate in projects like PRISMA and to contribute its expertise as an ID systems supplier.

Facts and figures of the PRISMA research project:
Sponsored: within the scope of the "microsystems" framework programme of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH
Project co-ordinator: PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG
Project partners: PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG; Leonhard Kurz GmbH; Siemens AG; Bundesdruckerei GmbH; Bartsch GmbH; Höft & Wessel AG, Technische Universität München  

Information about Bundesdruckerei
Bundesdruckerei GmbH Berlin is one of the world's leading companies engaged in developing and supplying systems solutions and services for secure identification. In addition to passport and ID-card systems, the company offers ID documents, high-security cards, document checking devices, security software along with trust center services to national and international customers. Bundesdruckerei GmbH also produces banknotes, postage and revenue stamps as well as electronic publications. With its subsidiaries BIS Bundesdruckerei International Services GmbH, D-TRUST GmbH and iNCO Sp. z o.o., Bundesdruckerei employs a staff of around 1, 500 worldwide. The company generated revenue of EUR 303 million in the 2007 financial year.
For further details, please visit our website at www.bundesdruckerei.de.

Contact:
Jessica Behrens
Bundesdruckerei GmbH
Oranienstraße 91
10969 Berlin
Tel: + 49 (0) 30-25 98-28 10
Fax: + 49 (0) 30-25 98-28 08
Email: jessica.behrens@bdr.de