Passive transponder labels are available in a variety of types mainly for logistic purposes which require higher functionality and/or higher reliability than the conventional barcodes allow.

Smart labels for textiles either for production, logistics or professional laundry have to meet different requirements from these applications. They have to be ultrathin and very reliable under conditions unusual for electronics (washing, high pressure,…). Therefore the realization of textile transponders has become possible only recently with the development of thin silicon chips. Such chips are flexible and can overcome high mechanical load. They can be easily encapsulated and can resist the extreme conditions of a washing process. In order to achieve high readout distances (0.5… 2 m) the antennas have to enclose an area of> 6 cm2. The reliability of flexible substrates in this size during washing procedures is not sufficient. Therefore textile based antennas have to be produced. The transponder ICs have to be assembled to conductive yarn. The module also needs encapsulation to protect the IC from humidity, chemicals etc.. This requires new technologies especially as the dimensions and tolerances between microelectronic components and textiles differ by orders of magnitude. The development of these technologies will be the basis for the realization of textile based wearable electronic assistants which will be a key component of future ubiquitous computing.