Electronic Product Code Research Articles

A Novel Method for Modeling RFID Data

The applications of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Electronic Product Code (EPC) in supply chain management have vast potential in improving effectiveness and efficiencies in solving supply chain problems. RFID data, however, have their own unique characteristics – including aggregation, location, temporal and history-oriented – which have to be fully considered and integrated into the RFID data model which is constructed for RFID application system. In this paper, we use an expressive temporal data model for RFID data. This data model is based on Entity-Relation (ER) model with minimum extension and highlights the state history and temporal semantics of the RFID system business processes. We also show common RFID data tracking and monitoring types, and propose methods to express such queries based on this data model.

Internet of Things for Medication Control: Service Implementation and Testing

RFID technology (Radio Frequency IDentification) enables putting an identification label (e.g. tag) into a certain object and, by means of a reader, get the information related to it without any physical contact. The use of these tags in medical context enables a rapid and precise identification of each patient and, by means of Internet of Things (IoT), enables a ubiquitous and quick access to medical related records. These technologies, RFID and IoT, integrated within a suitable system, promote a better physician-patient interaction. A simple IoT-enabled system can send warnings to any physician, nurse or other health caregiver. Therefore, with a simple IoT architecture one may remotely monitor and control the patient's well being. This paper presents an IoT architecture, using RFID tags, able to easily and remotely establish a medication control system, beginning from physicians prescription to pharmaceutical drug administration. This paper presents the implementation and analysis of a prototype service, with a web interface, allowing for a first evaluation of the proposed service. The prototype service -based on RFID, EPC (Electronic Product Code) and ONS (Object Name Service) -and its web interface are presented and evaluated. Some use cases are presented and evaluated using this prototype service entitled “RFID-based IoT for medication control”.

Survey of RFID and Its Application to International Ocean/Air Container Tracking

“Internet of Things” (IoT) requires information to be collected from “anything”, “anytime”, and “anywhere”. In order to achieve this, wireless devices are required that have (1) automatic data acquisition capability, (2) small size, (3) long life, and (4) long range communication capability. One way to meet these requirements is to adopt active Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems. Active RFID is more advantageous than passive RFID and enables higher data reading performance over longer distances. This paper surveys active RFID systems, the services they currently promise to provide, technical problems common to these services, and the direction in which research should head in the future. It also reports the results of EPCglobal (EPC: Electronic Product Code) pilot tests conducted on global logistics for tracking ocean/air container transportation using active RFID systems for which we developed several new types of active RFID tags. The test results confirm that our active RFID tags have sufficient capability and low power consumption to well support ocean/air transportation and logistics service.

RFID-based information technology and management in agriculture and food supply chains

The methods that support agriculture and food supply chains management through radio frequency identification (RFID) were studied. RFID-based tracking systems can monitor animals, control outbreaks of animal diseases, and monitor the freshness of fruits and vegetables. Based on electronic product code (EPC) and the EPCglobal Network, RFID can perform traceability of products from the beginning to the end of supply chains in agriculture and the food industry, which can be an anti-counterfeit measure for product branding and perform hazards control in food products. Challenges and future work about RFID applications in agriculture and food supply chains were also discussed.

Research on Key Technology and Applications for Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IOT) has been paid more and more attention by the academe, industry, and government all over the world. The concept of IOT and the architecture of IOT are discussed. The key technologies of IOT, including Radio Frequency Identification technology, Electronic Product Code technology, and ZigBee technology are analyzed. The framework of digital agriculture application based on IOT is proposed.

Evaluation of Different Electronic Product Code Discovery Service Models

Electronic Product Code Discovery Service (EPCDS) is an important concept in supply chain processes and in Internet of Things (IOT). It allows supply chain participants to search for their partners, communicate with them and share product information using standardized interfaces securely. Many researchers have been proposing different EPCDS models, considering different requirements. In this paper, we describe existing architecture designs of EPCDS systems, namely Directory Service Model, Query Relay Model and Aggregating Discovery Service Model (ADS). We also briefly mention Secure Discovery Service (SecDS) Model, which is an improved version of Directory Service Model with a secure attribute-based access control mechanism. Then, we analyze the strengths and limitations of these models, by comparing based on non-functional features such as data ownership, confidentiality, business relationship independence, availability, reliability, implementation complexity, visibility, and scalability. From the analysis results, we have a better understanding of which model is more suitable in what kinds of situations or scenarios. Moreover, we suggest possible improvements and identify possible future add-on applications to SecDS model in the paper.

Extended system design for RFID enabled supply chains with non-RFID technologies

Currently, the coordination between supply chain participants is normally organised via a scan packing system and communicated through electronic data interchange technology. However, the scan pack process is costly and time consuming. Using the electronic product code technology defined by EPCglobal, two national demonstrator projects have been developed to explore the suitability of RFID to the fast moving consumer goods supply chain. The projects show that two major issues must be addressed for RFID technology to be used effectively in global supply chains. First, small and medium enterprises using different RFID standards are unable to participate. Second, RFID IT infrastructures are rigid and costly. This paper examines the capability of two new mobile technologies in relation to current RFID system designs and experiences in the national projects. An extended RFID system is proposed to enable these non-RFID technologies to be used in conjunction with EPC-based systems so that links to non-RFID sites can be established and the cost of system implementation can be more affordable.

Facilitating Efficient Object Tracking in Large-Scale Traceability Networks

With recent advances in technologies such as radio-frequency identification and new standards such as the electronic product code, large-scale traceability is emerging as a key differentiator in a wide range of enterprise applications (e.g. counterfeit prevention, product recalls and pilferage reduction). Such traceability applications often need to access data collected by individual enterprises in a distributed environment. Traditional centralized approaches (e.g. data warehousing) are not feasible for these applications due to their unique characteristics such as large volume of data and sovereignty of the participants. In this paper, we describe an approach that enables applications to share traceability data across independent enterprises in a pure peer-to-peer (P2P) fashion. Data are stored in local repositories of participants and indexed in the network based on structured P2P overlays. In particular, we present a generic approach for efficiently indexing and locating individual objects in large, distributed traceable networks, most notably, in the emerging environment of the internet of things. The results from extensive experiments show that our approach scales well in both data volume and network size. A real-world returnable assets management system is also developed using the proposed techniques to demonstrate its feasibility.

The Design of RFID Conveyor Belt Gate Systems Using an Antenna Control Unit

This paper proposes an efficient management system utilizing a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) antenna control unit which is moving along with the path of boxes of materials on the conveyor belt by manipulating a motor. The proposed antenna control unit, which is driven by a motor and is located on top of the gate, has an array structure of two antennas with parallel connection. The array structure helps improve the directivity of antenna beam pattern and the readable RFID distance due to its configuration. In the experiments, as the control unit follows moving materials, the reading time has been improved by almost three-fold compared to an RFID system employing conventional fixed antennas. The proposed system also has a recognition rate of over 99% without additional antennas for detecting the sides of a box of materials. The recognition rate meets the conditions recommended by the Electronic Product Code glbal network (EPC)global for commercializing the system, with three antennas at a 20 dBm power of reader and a conveyor belt speed of 3.17 m/s. This will enable a host of new RFID conveyor belt gate systems with increased performance.

Bayesian Supply Chain Tracking Using Serial-Level Information

Supply chain visibility is one of the main levers for achieving operational efficiency. Modern supply chain tracking systems can deliver serial-level information about the location of items progressing through the chain. However, these systems still fail to meet the managers' visibility requirements in full, since they provide discrete information about product location at specific time instances only. This paper proposes a model that uses the data provided by these tracking systems to deliver enhanced tracking information to the final user. Following a Bayesian approach, the model produces realistic continuous estimates about the current and future locations of products across a supply network, taking into account the characteristics of the product behavior as well as the configuration of the data-collection points. These estimates can then be used to optimize operational decisions that depend on product availability at different locations. This paper demonstrates how the proposed model can enhance tracking information delivered by the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and the electronic product code (EPC) network. The enhancement of tracking information quality is highlighted through an example.

Tamper Detection in the EPC Network Using Digital Watermarking

One of the most relevant problems in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is the lack of security measures in its wireless communication channel between the reader and tag. This article analyzes potential data tampering threats in the electronic product code (EPC) network and proposes solutions using fragile watermarking technologies.

Efficient P2P-based mutual authentication protocol for RFID system security of EPC network using asymmetric encryption algorithm

Internet of Things (IoT) is a new vision of the future technological ubiquity in ubiquitous computing, which becomes the mapping from the real world to the digital one. Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is a key enabler of the future IoT and it has a great economical potential. However, the RFID system uses of Electronic Product Code (EPC) tags can drastically threaten the security of applications. With the widespread use of RFID technology, its security problems become the hot topic in the academic and industrial fields. Aiming at the RFID network's security problems, we propose a novel P2P based RFID network architecture (P2P-RFID), and analyze the security problems in this kind of network. And a feasible and scalable protocol to guarantee P2P-RFID network security is also presented in this paper. The proposed protocol uses P2P storage technology together with the utilizing of asymmetric encryption algorithm (RSA) based authentication. An analysis proves that the presented protocol is secure. Moreover, the protocol authentication does not require a Certificate Authentication (CA) database, which avoids the single-point bottleneck.

An efficient code gateway for RFID seamless applications

This work presents novel design schemes for the code gateway between the electronic product code (EPC) and ubiquitous ID (uID) for radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology solutions. Interfaces of the gateway that are implemented include the system interface, EPC discovery service (DS), uID DS, and the certification card mechanism. Five major operations are also developed, including inquiry of EPC DS, uID DS, code diversion mechanism, PIN-IC interface, and code conversion mechanism. Simulation results indicate that in addition to providing codes diversion and conversion, the proposed code gateway achieves low-order conformity between these two systems. Moreover, the implemented EPC DS and uID DS interface provide immediate commodity news and exchange of historical information. In addition to delivering inevitable processing efficiency, the integrated system between these two systems significantly improves ubiquitous computing environments. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

모델 기반 EPCglobal 네트워크의 성능 분석

The EPCglobal Network is a computer network used to share product data among trading partners. It provides the supply chain with improved visibility and traceability by using Electronic Product Code (EPC), which is stored on an RFID tag. Although this network model is widely accepted as a global standard and the growth of EPCglobal-subscriber base is considerable, the EPC technology adoption process is still in its infancy. This is because some of the critical issues on this model still remain to be verified such as scalability, data management, security, privacy and the economic value of data sharing. In this paper, we focus on scalability issue among the challenges to overcome and we regard performance of the EPCglobal Network only as a track and trace query-processing cost in the network. We developed performance models consisting of three elements of the EPCglobal Network : Discovery Services (DS), EPC Information Services (EPCIS), Object Naming Services (ONS). Then we abstracted out the track and trace query execution model to evaluate performance of the overall EPCglobal Network. Finally using the proposed models, we carried out simulation analysis based on an RFID-based inbound logistics process of automobile parts. This work is an important step towards the EPC technology diffusion and provides guidelines for businesses looking to buy or build the EPCglobal Network-based systems.

EPC Network 기반 RFID 응용 시스템의 성능 향상을 위한 EPCIS 주소별 그룹 질의 기법

오늘날 RFID 응용 시스템은 점차 발전되고 물류, 유통, 항만 그리고 제조 등 다양한 산업분야에서 적용되고 있다. RFID 응용 시스템 개발을 위한 국제 표준으로 EPCglobal 에서는 EPC Network 아키텍처를 제시하고 있다. EPC Network 아키텍처를 통해 개체의 고유정보(master information) 및 이력정보(event information)를 수집해야 한다. 그러나 개체의 고유정보 및 이력정보를 저장하고 있는 EPCIS의 경우는 수집된 EPC와 각 개체가 가지는 이력정보의 수에 의존적으로 통신 횟수가 증가하며, 개별적인 EPC에 대한 처리로 인해 동일한 EPCIS와 여러 번 통신해야 하는 문제점이 존재한다. 이러한 문제점은 EPCIS와의 통신시간의 증가로 인해 RFID 응용 시스템의 성능을 저하 시키게 된다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 EPCIS와의 통신 시간을 감소시키기 위하여 동일한 EPCIS와의 통신을 제거하는 EPCIS 주소별 그룹 질의 기법을 제시한다. 또한, 본 논문에서 제시한 기법을 적용하고 실제 EPC Network 환경을 구축하고 다양한 실험을 통하여 효용성을 검증하였으며 EPCIS의 통신 시간이 최대 99% 감소하는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. These days RFID application has been developed rapidly. It has been applied to many business areas such as logistics and supply chains. The Electronic Product Code (EPC) Network Architecture, an open global standard, is proposed by EPCglobal for developing RFID enabled systems. People who want to obtain the product information which are master information and event information have to apply with EPC Network Architecture. However, EPCIS which has master information and event information has to be accessed base on each EPC. Therefore, there is lots of duplicate accessing to EPCIS because RFID application has to access the same EPCIS over again which makes all performance down in EPC Network. This paper proposes how to reduce access times to EPCIS using EPC grouping based on EPCIS address. We build EPC Network environment to experiment about performance of RFID application system and we prove the improvement of EPC Network. Our result shows the reducing the EPCIS communication time by maximum 99 percentages.

Research and Development on Secure System of EPC Internet of Things Based on RFID and WSN

Electronic Product Code (EPC) system and Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) play an important role in the Internet of things. We analyze the security threats which exist in the communication channel among RFID components, for this reason, an encryption mechanism which is added into it. And, hundreds of sensor nodes can form one Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) successfully, which, to a large extent, owes to the special node architecture. This paper proposes a secure EPC system model to ensure the security of the whole EPC system by implanting the components of RFID into WSN nodes.

A Kind of ONS Parse Method Based on Address Aggregation in Internet of Things

Network services located by Object Name Service (ONS) can associate Electronic Product Code (EPC) of Internet of Things with related Web sites or other Internet resources. Based on depth analysis on ONS parse rules, the paper compared ONS parsing rule based on format string and ONS parsing rule based on Naming Authority Pointer (NAPTR) record and introduced concept of aggregation to improve ONS parsing rules, and then presented a kind of ONS parsing method based on address aggregation. The application example of this method proves its operability.

Multifunctional Reference Cells for Multistandard RFID Transponders

This paper at first illustrates implementation aspects and measurement results of a subcomponent for a multistandard RF identification (RFID) transponder. It is intended to be a common reference cell, both for basic UHF requirements and advanced application fields like local positioning and wireless sensing. Different single circuit topologies shown in previous studies or literature and their applicability for that RFID system are evaluated. After that, measurement results of two final circuit configurations, including a newly designed RC oscillator with metal-metal capacitors, are discussed and compared. Layout aspects for reducing the process variations and low power consumption are demonstrated. Simulation results show border conditions for the power supply of the transponder on chip level. Moreover, distance measurements with our first complete transponder compliant to the electronic product code protocol are shown. It includes the newly presented reference cells and other necessary transponder components. All chips are designed based on a 0.13-μm CMOS technology.

Mobile Business via Cross Layer Approach toward Intelligent RFID Purchasing System

The EPC (Electronic Product Code) Network, advocated by the international organization, EPCglobal Inc., is the standard technology of RFID applications. The EPC network system constructed by Reader, Transponder and Middleware systems forms a new figuration of future production line automation, materials management and logistics. The cross layer design applies an intelligent mobile purchasing system by combining an RFID smart phone at the Physical Layer, transferring the RFID code into the EPC Network at the Media Access Control Layer, gathering the EPC Domain Information at the Application Layer and establishing a secure EPC network framework with a Product of Authority Server (PAS) network environment at the Application Layer. The cross-layer approach allows the user to make purchases through a smart phone with an RFID Reader. Content Web Servers and ODS Servers are responsible for recording commodity information by EPC Code. The commodity is then directly sent to the user's home through the Object Tracing Function of the Secure EPC Network. Simulation results shows that the proposed method increases overall network performance by 45%-50%.

A Practical Implementation Attack on Weak Pseudorandom Number Generator Designs for EPC Gen2 Tags

The Electronic Product Code Generation 2 (EPC Gen2) is an international standard that proposes the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in the supply chain. It is designed to balance cost and functionality. As a consequence, security on board of EPC Gen2 tags is often minimal. It is, indeed, mainly based on the use of on board pseudorandomness, used to obscure the communication between readers and tags; and to acknowledge the proper execution of password-protected operations. In this paper, we present a practical implementation attack on a weak pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) designed specifically for EPC Gen2 tags. We show that it is feasible to eavesdrop a small amount of pseudorandom values by using standard EPC commands and using them to determine the PRNG configuration that allows to predict the complete output sequence.