An efficient distributed discovery service for EPCglobal network in nested package scenarios

Today, obtaining and managing all the information about supply chains are key tasks for the improvement and progress of business and commercial strategies. Ubiquitous information technologies, like RFID, can be used for tracking and tracing of materials and items as they move through the supply chain. In this scenario, EPCglobal consortium provides an architecture framework for collecting, sharing and accessing information about EPC-tagged objects. One of the key components of EPCglobal architecture required to implement track and trace capabilities is the discovery service (DS). Although DS is still under development, it is expected that DS will be implemented by a centralized architecture. Another key component is the object name service (ONS), which is used to resolve the Internet addresses of the EPC information services (EPCISs). According to EPCglobal specification, ONS is based on the traditional Internet DNS. In this work, an alternative solution to implement ONS and DS services is presented. Both services are based on a distributed architecture, which eliminates the disadvantages and weaknesses of the centralized implementations of ONS and DS. In addition, the proposed distributed EPCglobal network architecture allows item level track and trace capabilities even if item visibility along the complete supply chain is not possible. In previous works, other authors always assume complete item visibility. However, in many industrial fields where items are packaged to facilitate the transport and distribution, this supposition is not true. Both EPCglobal network solutions are analytically compared, concluding with the benefits of using the distribution solution. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.