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Editors: Frdric Thiesse frederic [email protected] Florian Michahelles [email protected]
Technology, Standards, and Real-World Deployments of the EPC Network
The EPC Network is a global RFID data sharing infrastructure based on standards that are built around the Electronic Product Code (EPC), an unambiguous numbering scheme for the designation of physical goods. The authors present the fundamental concepts and applications of the EPC Network, its integration with enterprise systems, and its functionality for data exchange between organizations in the supply chain.
Frdric Thiesse
University of St. Gallen
Christian Floerkemeier
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mark Harrison
University of Cambridge
Florian Michahelles
ETH Zurich
Christof Roduner
ETH Zurich
In recent years, the Electronic Product Code (EPC) a worldwide, unambiguous code for the designation of physical goods has become the subject of enormous interest, not only in research but also in several industries and society in general. The rapid and escalating diffusion of the EPC was particularly driven by the Auto-ID Center, a project to develop RFID standards founded in 1999 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with cooperation from numerous industrial sponsors.1 The Auto-ID Center created the EPC to ensure RFID interoperability in supply-chain-wide applications. An important feature is its capability to serve as a meta-scheme that integrates with existing
numbering schemes, such as the serialized Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) standard used in retail. However, the Centers long-term objective wasnt only standardizing numbering formats but also developing an entire family of open standards, including air interface protocols, software interfaces, and directory services, to bridge the gap between the physical and virtual worlds.2 In October 2003, the Auto-ID Center was transformed into an international research network known as Auto-ID Labs, which concentrates on technology as well as application- oriented research, and EPCglobal, a nonprot organization responsible for commercializing, standardizing, and managing EPC standards.
36 Published by the IEEE Computer Society 1089-7801/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE IEEE INTERNET COMPUTING
Technology, Standards, and Real-World Deployments
North America, 748
Asia Pacic, 271
Solution providers, 421
Middle East and Afri
End us
Latin America, 32
Europe, 359
(a) (b)
encies,
academia, and associations), 22
Figure 1. Member companies of EPCglobal by (a) region and (b) industry sector (as of November 2008).
1.1 ObjectEvent: Items are tagged after manufacturing1.2 ObjectEvent: Case...