Enterprisescale RFID: Architecture

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Enterprise-scale RFIDArchitecture Standards
Mass Software Council May 20, 2004Kenneth R.
TraubCTO, ConnecTerra Inc.
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Agenda

• What problem are we trying to solve?
• Challenges
• Scale
• Rapid Evolution Uncertainty
• Architecture
• Approach
• Interfaces Standards
• Putting it Together

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The Aware Enterprise
epc38000.171.234 epc38000.1571.3987 epc38000.
171.2392 epc38000.171.1342
Suppliers Customers
RFID
1500rpm 1501rpm 1600rpm 1540rpm
Sensors
PoS 1345 Store 7, Aisle 6 Scans
3,495 Transactions 286 Print lines 5,987
Smart Devices
Internal Business Process and Applications
Use real-time data from autonomous devices to
gain visibility, and thereby improve business
processes and results
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Two Innovations EPC RFID

• The Electronic Product Code (EPC)
• Gives a unique identity to individual physical
  objects items, cases, pallets, locations, loads,
  assets, etc
• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
• Cheap sensing of object EPC codes
• The Yin and the Yang
• EPC enables new, value-creating business
  processes
• RFID will make those processes practical

RFID
EPC
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Agenda

• What problem are we trying to solve?
• Challenges
• Scale
• Rapid Evolution Uncertainty
• Architecture
• Approach
• Interfaces Standards
• Putting it Together

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Large Scale RFID Deployment
R
Enterprise Site (1 or more)
R
Warehouse
Exchange with Trading Partners
S
Enterprise Apps- Track Trace- Promotions-
Factory Efficiency- Ship Receiveetc.
Firewall
R
R
R
1,000s
Distribution Ctr
S
Firewall
R
R
R
Satellite
Management/ControlApplications
Stores
RF tag Reader
R
R
10,000s
S
Local compute server
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Scale Big!
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Rapid Evolution Uncertainty
Operational Applications
AnalyticalApplications
Apps
Data Path
Data Models, Interfaces, Processing Models
Control Path
Istruct
Getting tags onto products
Tag reading and processing
Monitoring Management

• Unknown today what the valuable applications are
• ? Infrastructure must be architected primarily in
  anticipation of future needs
• Technology in infrastructure layer is evolving
  rapidly
• ? Interface must insulate applications from
  changes in infrastructure

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Agenda

• What problem are we trying to solve?
• Challenges
• Scale
• Rapid Evolution Uncertainty
• Architecture
• Approach
• Interfaces Standards
• Putting it Together

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Architectural Approaches

• RFID data hard-wired to todays apps
• No insulation of app from infrastructure

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EPCglobal

• Joint venture of Uniform Code Council (UCC) and
  EAN International
• Over 100 end-user and technology provider
  companies
• Sets standards for
• Electronic Product Code
• Passive RFID Systems
• Software Interfaces
• Worldwide EPC network services

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EPCglobal Standards

• Electronic Product Code
• Passive RFID Systems
• RF Protocol
• Reader Protocol
• Software Interfaces
• Application Level Events (ALE) application
  interface to filtered, aggregated tag reads
  (formerly Savant)
• EPC Information Services (EPCIS) recording
  and exchange of business-level EPC data
  (formerly PML)
• EPC Network Services
• Object Name Service (ONS) given a tag
  anywhere in the world, where to find relevant
  EPCIS data
• Assignment of EPC numbers

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Data Path
Reader
Reader
Tag Reads
RFIDMiddleware
ALE Application Level EventsFiltered,
accumulated tag reads What, when, where
ALE
E.g., Unit Tagger, Palletizer, Verification
Portal, Aggregate Tagger, Diverter
LocalApp
EPCIS EPC Information ServicesObject identity,
attributes, associations, observations
EPCIS
EnterpriseApp
X-biz EPCIS
ONS
Object Name Service
PartnerApp
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Example Palletizer
R
R
Reader
Reader
dozens of individual tag read events from
specific readers
Tag Reads
RFIDMiddleware
between the time the case crossed the first beam
and the second beam at location L, the following
tag was read
ALE
LocalApp
at time T, the association of the following case
tags to the following pallet tag was created at
palletizer 3
EPCIS
EnterpriseApp
the following cases are on the pallet
X-biz EPCIS
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Putting it Together
Edge Processing
Local Applications
Enterprise Applications and Services
Exchange
New EPC-enabled App
RFID Reader
WMS
New EPC-enabled App
New EPC-enabled App
RFIDMiddleware Filtering/ Collection Mgmt
ERP
RFID Reader
Integration Services
RFID Printer
EPC Information Services (EPC-IS) Observations Id
entity Attributes Associations Product/Item
Metadata
Trading Partners
ALE
RFID Reader
RFIDMiddleware
EPCIS
X-Enterprise EPCIS
RFID Printer
Management and Monitoring
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Summary

• EPC RFID Greater awareness through visibility
• Infrastructure-centric architecture
• EPC information available to multiple apps
• Protects app investment from technology change
• EPCglobal standards
• Address scale through cascade of interface levels
• Facilitate exchange of data between trading
  partners
• Links partners into worldwide network

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