Infrastructure for RFID ILT Vikram Shankar, Jeff Pettinato Intel Corporation ILT Workshop Smart Labels USA February 21, 2008
Presentation Outline Situation Analysis Infrastructure Areas of Interest Infrastructure Attributes of Interest Security Areas to address for promoting RFID usage Emerging trends Recommendations Discussion 2
Infrastructure Areas of Interest 1 Combination of readers, antennas, tags, PLCs, and data networking gear. Enables timely and secure sharing of information with business partners 4 Enables delivery of relevant data from the readers to the data analytics system. 2 3 Applications/databases to process combination of RFID/non-RFID information. 3
Infrastructure Attributes of Interest 1. Ease of installation and maintenance Remote configuration of devices, antenna set up 2. Task execution Complexity of tasks that can be executed automatically 3. Security Skimming, data integrity, vulnerability to viruses and worms 5. Exception detection and resolution Robustness to missing or incorrect data due to non-reads and extended reads 4. Modularity & Standardization Ability to mix and match features and capabilities to an organization s needs 4
Security is a key focus area for RFID Systems Security issues are similar to most other IT deployments, but: Greater amount of data shared provides more opportunity for mischief Over-the-air communication with minimal encryption provides fairly easy access to a larger system Security Focus Areas: RFID Hardware: Over the air communication is susceptible to snooping and jamming Limited computing capability of tags supports only minimal encryption Reader-Middleware Communication: Similar to IT Middleware-Data Analytics Communication: Similar to IT B2B Communication: Greater exposure to threats such as viruses and worms Impact to operations when partner organizations networks are breached but security issues are similar to most other IT deployments! 5
Critical Technology Needs Security Reduce vulnerability to attacks Reduce impact of infrastructure outages at partner organizations Easier ways to deploy and manage the RFID infrastructure Should not need highly specialized worker Automatic health monitoring Inter-company data exchange Better compatibility through standards Out-of-the-box solutions for fast and low cost deployment 6
Emerging Trends Open Source software development efforts * Lower cost due to reusable libraries and typically less restricting licensing * Quicker time-to-market, again because of reuse * More secure and robust due to a larger community of developers and testers Cost of deploying readers expected to reduce * Integrated circuits will replace discrete components * Smaller readers with lower space requirements (installation issues) Wider use of multi-protocol readers * Global supply chain Importance of middleware expected to reduce * Enterprise applications assume some functionality * Readers become smarter Emerging Trends are in the Right Direction and will accelerate RFID adoption 7
Near Term Recommendations (2008 12) Near Term Need (2008-12) Availability of open source software and middleware Adoption of standards University & Research Consortia Provide test beds to validate open source Identify and help close implementation gaps Validate open source ROI and deploy in products Consolidate projects and realign talent and effort to bring projects to fruition faster Validate and help refine Standards based on lessons learned Adopt standards in products Develop multiprotocol readers Recommended Action Industry Funding Agencies (NSF, MITI, 5th Framework, etc.) Fund test beds N/A Standards Bodies Enable a portfolio of open source software closely linked to standards. Participate in test beds to validate both standards and software Enable interoperability of products by harmonizing standards across all geographies Using Industry Standards and Open Source Are Critical to Accelerating RFID Cost Reduction and Adoption Rates 8
Long Term Recommendations (2012+) Long Term Needs (2012+): Low cost technology solutions for ILT Tunable antennas Deployment complexity University & Research Consortia Create Centers of Excellence (CoE) Develop low complexity/cost encryption algorithms Create Centers of Excellence (CoE) for tunable antennas Train RFID-savvy students for both engineering and advanced research Industry Participate in CoE Commercialize and produce low cost ILT technologies Develop antennas that can be configured on-the-fly for any of a broad range of frequencies Deliver standard, easy-to-use and configurable solutions; Adopt global standards Databases and business applications that are tolerant of incomplete or incorrect data Recommended Action Fund centers of excellence to enable the inemi ILT roadmap Fund centers of excellence to enable the inemi ILT roadmap N/A Funding Agencies Standards Bodies Tailor standards to low cost price points by intelligently reducing requirements Encourage technologies that will use white space frequencies Encourage plug-andplay philosophy and build into the standards There is a Huge Opportunity for Consortia and Universities to Do Highly Applicable Research and Create Centers of Excellence 9
Discussion For comments and feedback please email: Vikram.a.Shankar@intel.com jmcelroy@inemi.org 10
Backup 11
Infrastructure Technology Needs (1) State of the Art Mid-term (2012) Long-Term (2017) Features Attributes Attributes Tech. Needs Attributes Tech. Needs Infrastructur e Health Monitoring Remote deviceby-device diagnostics and limited reconfiguration Centralized equipment failure prediction and preemptive maintenance Equipment performance and health analytics Failure prediction algorithms Autonomic infrastructure management and failure recovery Self-aware devices and infrastructure Infrastructur e features and capability Conduit for data collection and exchange Databases and information systems to detect missing or incorrect data and to take corrective action Data analysis and outlier recognition algorithms Dynamic quickchange information systems Technologies that enable easy and rapid process changes without the need for extensive software reimplementatio n Infrastructur e set-up Requires highly trained RFID professionals Human interfaces for set-up and maintenance made easy enough for regular IT staff Read range selfconfiguration based on input criteria Plug and play RFID devices Automatic channel state comprehension 12
Infrastructure Technology Needs (2) State of the Art Mid-term (2012) Long-Term (2017) Features Attributes Attributes Tech. Needs Attributes Tech. Needs Security Proprietary encryption algorithms for tag-reader communica-tion that depend on secrecy of algorithm More secure tag-reader comm. (when needed) Open encryption algorithms for multi-vendor compatibility Open, standardized mechanisms that do not depend on algorithm secrecy Prevent breach of security and privacy through inference Inference engines to aggregate shared data to check if information can be inferred from shared data Intercompany Data exchange and compatibility Limited or caseby-case compatibility Compatibility between immediate trade partners information exchange standards Out-of-the-box compatibility between partners in the entire supply chain Global information exchange standards 13
Open Source Efforts 1. RadioActive Foundation is currently working on three projects: Neutrino, Fusion, and Graviton. Fusion is a middleware that gathers data from tags and readers and delivers that data to enterprise information systems; Neutrino is a software suite that enables the exchange of EPC data between business partners; and Graviton is a simulator for RFID hardware from various manufacturers. 2. LogicAlloy is developing a middleware that implements the Application Level Events (ALE) interface. ALE is an interface standard from EPC Global that provides a layer of abstraction between the data providers such as RFID readers and the data subscribers such as enterprise information systems (e.g. Warehouse Management software). 3. FirstOpen is developing a middleware called Singularity Middleware and is also working on EPC-IS. 4. Pramari is developing a reader emulator called Rifidi. The emulator will enable rapid development of RFID applications by allowing developers to test their applications against emulated scenarios and hardware rather than real hardware. 5. The University of Arkansas is developing a middleware called TagCentric that collects data from a network of RFID readers and sends to a database. 6. Open Source Innovation has received a grant from the UK government to develop open source RFID solutions. 7. Several RFID vendors have joined together to develop the LLRP Toolkit a set of open source libraries for the implementation of the Low Level Reader Protocol based applications. 8. Accada is a rapid prototyping platform that implements the EPC Network specifications. 14
Open Source Needs Gaps Development Needs Timeline EPC architecture Discovery services Object naming services Pedigree Short to medium term (1-5 years) Business-to-business information exchange Lack of open source production-ready business logic software Software must be improved to meet production grade requirements of reliability, maintainability and security Short to medium term (1-5 years) Tag protocols Lack of standards for 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz Development and implementation of microwave air interface protocols Short term (1-3 years) 15
Information Technology Needs Data Filtering Data Mining Exception Detection and Resolution Task Execution Modularity Disconnected Operation 16