Development of generic RFID traceability services

• We proposed and developed a novel set of services called traceability services (TS).
• The algorithms embedded in TS allow multiple aggregations of products into containers.
• The TS works efficiently by invoking EPCISs in parallel.
• We expect cost saving in development manpower for implementing traceability systems.

EPCglobal Architecture Framework is a de-facto standard for connecting distributed RFID systems in a supply chain. Thanks to the ‘service orientated’ design of this framework, the core services including ONS, DS, and EPCIS can be easily found and accessed by various information systems. Thereby it is able to achieve full traceability. However, for users to acquire traceability information of a specific product, they have to repeatedly invoke the core services. Hence, it would be beneficial for the system developers to have a set of typical shared services. Each shared service should be able to organize and combine the tedious and repetitive service inquiries in to an abstract and efficient way. We propose and develop a novel set of services called the traceability services (TS). The suggested algorithms embedded in TS allow multiple aggregations of products into containers, and it works efficiently by invoking EPCISs in parallel. The algorithms and the system have been evaluated successfully by using an EPCglobal-certified EPCIS system.