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RFID and Sensing in the Supply Chain: Challenges and Opportunities
Pradhan, Salil; Lyon, Geoff; Robertson, Ian; Erickson, Len; Repellin, Lucien; Brignone, Cyr
il; Mesarina, Malena; Serra, Bill; Deolalikar, Vinay; Connors, Tim; Jam, Mehrban; Recker, John; Goug
uenheim, Christophe; Robinson, Ian; Sayers, Craig; Gualdi, Giovanni
HPL-2005-16
Keyword(s): supply chain; RFID; sensors; overlay network; services
Abstract: Radio Frequency identification (RFID) is a mature technology, but for reasons
of cost and size, its use has been restricted to a closed set of applications. However cost reductio
ns and efforts by EPC Global and industry giants, such as Wal-Mart, are causing the supply chain ind
ustry to shift towards broad adoption of RFID technology, based on emerging open standards. This is
creating a large business opportunity for HP. At present, the Electronic Product Code (EPC) framewor
k is focused on inventory and distribution management. This paper describes a HP initiative to enhance the framework to provide safe, secure and adaptive supply chain solutions. Such solutions
require knowledge of the 4Ws -Who, What, When and
Where. RFID provides the Who (ID), and research
activities within HP Laboratories are investigating an
adaptive sensing infrastructure approach to providing
the What, When and Where. An environment adhering to
this approach can develop sentient capabilities;
becoming responsive and conscious of its state, to
ensure that goods are not only in specific locations,
but also determine their actual conditions. Current
market solutions are often based on reader
infrastructure, where the intelligence is at the edge
of the network. As the density of sensing (in space
and time) increases, the information collected will
potentially overwhelm the network. Our Sentient
infrastructure pushes the intelligence to the end
points -close to the readers and other sensors -where
the information can be filtered and aggregated in
situ, reducing the [shared] wireless network traffic.
The components create a self-configuring system,
resulting in lower deployment and testing costs. Due
to the adaptive nature of the infrastructure, the
environment is resilient to sensor failures and
tolerant of malicious attacks.
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