RFID Traceability - Overview
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a low-cost technology that allows to sense objects over short and medium distances without intervisibility. The ability to unobtrusively track the movement of objects has lead to numerous applications in fields like retail, health care or food safety.
Our Research is focused on the question how to unleash the full potential of RFID technology while ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the information that is collected.
Our work focuses on enabling Data Traceability in a distributed RFID network, which has resulted in the development of Theseos technology. It provides a query engine that enables information retrieval for objects whose information is distributed across RFID repositories of independent organizations. This includes recursive queries across multiple RFID nodes.
The new standard for defining RFID nodes is embodied in the EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information System) specification documents commissioned by EPCglobal. We have implemented two techniques to track object movement through an RFID network. The "centralized" approach is similar to the architecture proposed by EPCglobal, where an external authority contains information about the creator and other organizations an object has passed through. We also developed an approach where each organization stores additional information about where it received objects from and where it sent objects to. This approach is not dependent on any central tracing service.
To demonstrate the feasibility of the technology, we have set up the data repository and application server infrastructure for a drug pedigree document generation and a targeted product recall application. We have demonstrated that data confidentiality concerns can be addressed using Hipprocatic Database technology.
In the course of our research, we have developed an RFID Traceability Data Generator, which can be used to construct an RFID network for research and testing purposes. Data for an EPCglobal-style tracing service as well as for our distributed approach or for a data warehouse can be generated.
RFID Traceability - Links
(If you use the data generator, please cite papers 1 and 3 below).
RFID Traceability - Publications
Our Research is focused on the question how to unleash the full potential of RFID technology while ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of the information that is collected.
Our work focuses on enabling Data Traceability in a distributed RFID network, which has resulted in the development of Theseos technology. It provides a query engine that enables information retrieval for objects whose information is distributed across RFID repositories of independent organizations. This includes recursive queries across multiple RFID nodes.
The new standard for defining RFID nodes is embodied in the EPCIS (Electronic Product Code Information System) specification documents commissioned by EPCglobal. We have implemented two techniques to track object movement through an RFID network. The "centralized" approach is similar to the architecture proposed by EPCglobal, where an external authority contains information about the creator and other organizations an object has passed through. We also developed an approach where each organization stores additional information about where it received objects from and where it sent objects to. This approach is not dependent on any central tracing service.
To demonstrate the feasibility of the technology, we have set up the data repository and application server infrastructure for a drug pedigree document generation and a targeted product recall application. We have demonstrated that data confidentiality concerns can be addressed using Hipprocatic Database technology.
In the course of our research, we have developed an RFID Traceability Data Generator, which can be used to construct an RFID network for research and testing purposes. Data for an EPCglobal-style tracing service as well as for our distributed approach or for a data warehouse can be generated.
RFID Traceability - Links
(If you use the data generator, please cite papers 1 and 3 below).
RFID Traceability - Publications
- Karin Murthy, Christine Robson. "A model-based comparative study of traceability systems". The Proc. of the International Conference on Information Systems, Logistics and Supply Chain (ILS). Madison, Wisconsin. May 2008.
- Karin Kailing, Alvin Cheung, Stefan Schönauer, "Theseos: A Query Engine for Traceability across Sovereign, Distributed RFID Databases", Proc. of the 23rd International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE). Istanbul, Turkey. April 2007.
- Ralf Rantzau, Karin Kailing, Steve Beier, Tyrone Grandison, "Discovery Services Enabling RFID Traceability in EPCglobal Networks", Proc. of the 13th International Conference on Management of Data (COMAD) 2006, Delhi, India. December 2006.
- Rakesh Agrawal, Alvin Cheung, Karin Kailing, Stefan Schönauer, "Towards Traceability across Sovereign, Distributed RFID Databases", Proc. of the 10th International Database Engineering & Applications Symposium (IDEAS '06), Delhi, India, December 2006.