RFID Information Value Chain and ETRI RFID Ecosystem: Value-added Environment Linking Physical and Virtual Worlds
Taesu Cheong, Yongjun Lee · 2009
One of major issues in RFID software platform is how to (i) handle vast amount of RFID data efficiently and (ii) transform raw RFID tags to more valuable forms so that RFID-driven business applications can create value and achieve their ideal goals – automated business execution and integration. In this chapter, we introduce the concept of RFID Information Value Chain (RFID IVC), sequential activities for RFID data semantics evolution and value creation, and then discuss the several architectural considerations when we developed our RFID software platform called ‘ETRI RFID Ecosystem ’, whose middleware has features of component-oriented architecture, distributed and reliable operations, support of various types of RFID devices including external sensors, compatibility with existing RFID standards and business applications integration. We believe that we address the majority of the RFID software implementation concerns which other products should regard. In addition, we demonstrate the RFID software platform with the internal service component architecture and the dependencies among components. It is presented how the discussed architectural considerations have been applied in order to construct such the RFID middleware. In fact, this artifact was tested in the field of several RFID pilot projects in South Korea including yard management project in harbour (Kim et al., 2006) and it showed the competitive advantages of ETRI RFID Ecosystem in the sense of the improvement in operational efficiency rather than partial deployment as desired.