Modul 1b: Fallstudie RFID

Prof. Dietmar Harhoff, Ph.D.

Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
Munich Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Research (MCIER)

Prof. Dr. Marc Gruber

Chair of Entrepreneurship and Technology
Commercialization
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
 RFID

R adio

F requency

ID entification

© Gruber & Harhoff 2015

RFID – What is it?
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is an automatic identification method,
relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or
transponders.

An RFID tag is an object that can be applied to or incorporated into a product,

animal, or person for the purpose of identification using radio waves.
Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line
of sight of the reader.

Most RFID tags contain at least two parts. One is an integrated circuit for
storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a (RF) signal,
and other specialized functions. The second is an antenna for receiving and
transmitting the signal. A technology called chipless RFID allows for discrete
identification of tags without an integrated circuit, thereby allowing tags to
be printed directly onto assets at a lower cost than traditional tags.

Today, a significant thrust in RFID use is in enterprise supply chain management,

improving the efficiency of inventory tracking and management. However, a threat is
looming that the current growth and adoption in enterprise supply chain market will not
be sustainable without linking the indoor tracking to the overall end-to-end supply
chain visibility.
Source: Wikipedia © Gruber & Harhoff 2015
RFID - Setup

© Gruber & Harhoff 2015

RFID

© Gruber & Harhoff 2015

RFID – Examples
RFID – Examples

© Gruber & Harhoff 2015

 Assignment
 Groups of max. 4 people

 Task:
 Identify at least two novel RFID applications (creativity!)
 Evaluate and select the most promising one (show eval. criteria)
 Develop a short business case for the selected application
 Short presentation of the case
 Presentation: 5 minutes

 Core questions to be addressed:

 Who are the target customers?
 What is the customer benefit?
 Size of the target market?
 Which competitive advantage?

© Gruber & Harhoff 2015

Definitions:

Term Description
Trans- A transponder is a wireless communications, monitoring, or control device that picks up and automatically
ponder responds to an incoming signal. The term is a contraction of the words transmitter and responder.
Transponders can be either passive or active.

A passive transponder allows a computer or robot to identify an object. Magnetic labels, such as those on credit
cards and store items, are common examples. A passive transponder must be used with an active sensor that
decodes and transcribes the data the transponder contains. The transponder unit can be physically tiny, and its
information can be sensed up to several feet away.

Simple active transponders are employed in location, identification, and navigation systems for commercial and
private aircraft. An example is an RFID (radio-frequency identification) device that transmits a coded signal
when it receives a request from a monitoring or control point. The transponder output signal is tracked, so the
position of the transponder can be constantly monitored. The input (receiver) and output (transmitter)
frequencies are preassigned. Transponders of this type can operate over distances of thousands of miles.

Sophisticated active transponders are used in communications satellites and on board space vehicles. They
receive incoming signals over a range, or band, of frequencies, and retransmit the signals on a different band at
the same time. The device is similar to a repeater of the sort used in land-based cellular telephone networks.
The incoming signal, usually originating from a point on the earth's surface, is called the uplink. The outgoing
signal, usually sent to a point or region on the surface, is the downlink. These transponders sometimes operate
on an interplanetary scale.
(Source: TechTarget)

Radio Radio frequency (abbreviated RF, rf, or r.f.) is a term that refers to alternating current (AC) having
freque characteristics such that, if the current is input to an antenna, an electromagnetic (EM) field is generated
ncy suitable for wireless broadcasting and/or communications. These frequencies cover a significant portion of the
electromagnetic radiation spectrum, extending from nine kilohertz (9 kHz), the lowest allocated wireless
communications frequency (it's within the range of human hearing), to thousands of gigahertz (GHz).
(Source: TechTarget)

© Gruber & Harhoff 2015