1. CASAGRAS and The Internet of Things
Prof Anthony Furness
European Centre of Excellence for AIDC

2. Summary

3. CASAGRAS (Coordination And Support Action for Global RFID-related Activities and Standardisation ) aim:
To provide an incisive framework of foundation studies that can assist in influencing and accommodating international issues and developments concerning radio frequency identification (RFID) and the emerging Internet of Things, particularly with respect to standards and regulations

4. CASAGRAS General Objectives:
To provide:
A platform for international collaboration on all aspects of standards and regulations relating to RFID and The Internet of Things
A framework and supporting documentation for incisive and analytical review of international RFID standards
Recommendations with respect to international standardisation and regulatory developments for RFID
Recommendations with respect to applications methodologies and positioning
Recommendations for future research and development and international collaboration
Recommendations to encourage participation of SMEs
An on-going collaborative research platform for RFID

5. CASAGRAS Work packages:
Standards and Procedures for International Standardisation in relation to RFID, including applications and conformance standards
Regulatory issues in respect of RFID standards
Global coding systems in relation to RFID standards
RFID in relation to Ubiquitous Computing and Networks
Functional, including sensory, developments in RFID and Associated Standards
Areas of Application, existing and future, and associated Standards
Socio-economic components of RFID Usage

6. CASAGRAS (Coordination And Support Action for Global RFID-related Activities and Standardisation ) working with…
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
Supply Chain Innovation Centre (Hong Kong, China)
YRP Ubiquitous Networking Laboratory (Japan)
Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI, Korea)
QED (USA – company specialising in international standardisation)
AIM (UK) and European Centre for AIDC
Also collaborating with GRIFS (Global RFID Interoperability Forum for Standards, EPoSS (European Technology Platform on Smart Systems Integration and a number of sub-contractors)

7. CASAGRAS and The Internet of Things- Interim Report
Justifying the Inclusive Model
European Union and International Perspective
Physical Real World Awareness
Analysing the Concept of Connected Objects
Influence of Ubiquitous Computing and Networking
Influence of Mobile and Fixed Communications
The Internet and the Internet of Things
Global Inclusion
The Role of RFID in the Internet of Things
Standards and Regulations for Spectrum Allocation
CASAGRAS Reference Point Target

8. The Internet of Things

9. “… all about physical items talking to each other..”
‘The Internet of Things’ is a concept originally coined and introduced by MIT, Auto-ID Center and intimately linked to RFID and electronic product code (EPC)
“… all about physical items talking to each other..”
Like RFID it is a concept that has attracted much rhetoric, misconception and confusion as to what it means and its implications in a social context

10. The concept of the Internet of Things is now being influenced strongly by developments in computing and network ubiquity and developments in the next generation Internet - and considered at all levels including United Nations
“We are heading into a new era of ubiquity, where the users of the Internet will be counted in billions, and where humans may become the minority as generators and receivers of traffic. Changes brought about by the Internet will be dwarfed by those prompted by the networking of everyday objects “ – UN report

11. The concept is also central to Commission thinking on RFID and associated research funding in Europe
“… a new phase of the Information Society – the Internet of Things in which the web will not only link computers but potentially every object created by mankind.” – Viviane Reding – On RFID: The next step to The Internet of Things – Lisbon Conference 2007
Even in concept some thought has to be given to the implications of such statements in respect of population-partitioning of identifiable objects and connectivity dynamics – Analysis of the Concept!

12. The Internet of Things* (2007 Commission view):
The Internet of Things viewed as a network for communicating devices and based upon four degrees of sophistication, involving:
Purely passive devices (RFID) that yield fixed data output when queried
Devices with moderate processing power to format carrier messages, with the capability to vary content with respect to time and place
Sensing devices that are capable of generating and communicating information about environment or item status when queried
Devices with enhanced processing capability that facilitate decisions to communicate between devices without human intervention – introducing a degree of intelligence into networked systems
* European Commission (2007) From RFID to the Internet of Things – Pervasive networked systems

13. The EPCglobal dimension
The EPCglobal Network Architecture draws further attention to these needs, and to additional requirements for achieving an Internet of Things including:
Readers and Reader Protocol Interface – to deliver raw tag data from readers to supporting middleware
Middleware – to accumulate and filter raw tag data reads
Application Layer Events (ALE) Interface – to deliver consolidated, filtered tag read data from middleware to a local application.
EPC Capturing Application – to recognise the occurrence of EPC-related business events, and deliver them as EPC Information Service (EPCIS) data.
EPCIS Capture interface – to provide a path for communicating EPC events
EPCIS Repository – to record EPCIS-level events
EPCIS Query Interface – to provide a means whereby an EPCIS accessing application can request EPCIS data from an EPCIS repository or an EPCIS capturing application and the means whereby the result is returned.

14. The EPCglobal dimension
EPCIS-Accessing Application – software to facilitate overall enterprise business processes, such as warehouse management, shipping, and receiving and so forth aided by EPC-related data.
Local ONS – to fulfil ONS lookup requests for EPCs within the control of the enterprise that operates the local ONS, ie EPCs for which the enterprise is the EPC manager.
EPCIS Accessing Application – an EPCIS-enabled application of a trading partner.
Tag Data Translation Schema – to provide a machine-readable file that defines how to translate between EPC encodings defined by the EPC Tag Data Specification.
Manager Number Assignment – to ensure global uniqueness of EPCs by maintaining uniqueness of EPC Manager Numbers assigned to EPCglobal Subscribers.
Object Name Service Root – a service that, given an EPC, can return a list of network accessible service endpoints that relate to the EPC concerned.
EPC Discovery Service(s) – a search engine for EPC related data.
Subscriber Authentication – to be determined.
The EPC Namespace adds further dimension to this and the prospect of accommodating other numbering systems and the identification of other types of data carrier than RFID.

15. Mega Trends in Information & Communications Technology (ICT)
SAP Research International Research Forum 2006 – 27 academics, technologists, policymakers, entrepreneurs and associated intellectuals – to question, discuss, debate and frame the future of information and communication technologies (ICT) – Outcome:
Megatrend 1: Web 2.0 and the semantic web
Megatrend 2: IT Security
Megatrend 3: Real World Awareness (RWA) – “great promise of RWA agreed to be automation – systems will be able to collect data without human intervention or errors and use it to react to events more quickly and effectively”
Megatrend 4:IT as a Tool for Growth and Development
Relevant to the “Internet of Things” – Architecture must accommodate the connectivity of the Internet and next generation developments (addressing in the process the inherent limitations)

16. The Internet and the Internet of Things
The BLED Declaration1 and other supporting statements, assert that the Internet of Things is expected to be an integral part of the next or future generation Internet
Service-oriented architecture (SOE), exploiting integration with Internet and interfacing with wide ranging edge technologies and associated networks is a key objective.
1. Revision 1.1 of the BLED Future Internet Manifesto ( )

17. Principal challenges: Disconnect between logical and physical worlds
Lack of interoperability – structural and semantic heterogeneity
Limitations of Enterprise application integration (EAI) for enterprise-wide and inter-enterprise integration
Developments in information integration – schema integration, semantic mediation and ontology merging – more intelligent search engines

18. CASAGRAS (Coordination And Support Action for Global RFID-related Activities and Standardisation ) adopting a fully inclusive model for the Internet of Things:
Embracing a fully inclusive range of ‘edge’ technologies, including RFID for interfacing with the physical world
Exploiting evolving object-connected data capture technologies and networking capabilities – sensory, location, local communication and security
Exploiting existing and evolving communications and mobility structures
Integration with the evolving Internet

19. Ontology for Identification
Entity
May be
Influenced or attended by
Animate
Inanimate
Location
Environment
Application
Associated ID Factors
Consideration of State Characteristic
Representation of Identity
Acceptable stable feature set
Uneconomic or no stable feature set
Primary Natural Feature Identifier
Secondary Data Carrier Identifier
Associated Attributes based on State Characteristic
When derived:
Reference
When asserted:
Authentication
Derivation of electronic ‘Digital Signature’
Link to associated data and application information
Self Assigned
Assigned or registered
Authenticators or credentials
Attributes
Registered
Certificate or token
Numeric or Alpha-numeric strings
Captured
Self-issued
Authority-issued
Associated data
Optional Bindings
Ontology for Identification
Activities:
Does Animate, inanimate and location cover all possibilities ? If not what other categories can be distinguished?
Name some examples of factors that can influence the entity to be identified and the means of identification?
Name some examples of assigned secondary identification schemes
Name examples of certificates or tokens used for authentication
Name examples of optional binders
Explain the difference between reference and assertion for authentication 19

20. Internet of Things - at its most basic level…
Interrogator / Gate way device
Host Information Management System
Actuators
Wider area communications and Networks
Application commands and responses
Physical interface zone
Internet +
Passive RFID data carriers and UID

21. Interrogator / Gate way device Host Information Management System
Internet of Things – including RFID carrier variants
Interrogator / Gate way device
Host Information Management System
Actuators
Wider area communications and Networks
Physical interface zone
ID + Additional Item-attendant data
Sensory data carriers*
Networked data carriers
Internet +

22. Interrogator / Gate way device Host Information Management System
Internet of Things – including other edge technologies
Interrogator / Gate way device
Host Information Management System
Actuators
Wider area communications and Networks
Physical interface zone
ID + Additional Item-attendant data
Sensory data carriers
Networked data carriers
Further layers of Data Capture Technology
Internet +

23. CASAGRAS (Coordination And Support Action for Global RFID-related Activities and Standardisation ) adopting a fully inclusive model for the Internet of Things, embracing:
Exploiting Web service and Grid service concepts
Exploiting the Service Oriented Architecture (SOE)
Exploiting Unique Item Identifier (UII) concepts and namespace resolver to accommodate legacy coding schemes for identification (incl. EPC, URL..)
Viewing the needs for governance, quality of services, security, privacy and other socio-economic issues

24. Identification and Namespace resolvers
Web Domain
Object Space Identifiers
URL
EPC
Unique Item Identifier
(UII)
Namespace Resolver
Discovery Services
OID
Data carrier ID + data payload and cost considerations

25. Understanding the Concept
The Physical World
Understanding the Concept
New Internet of Things Infrastructure?
Wired and wireless communications
Item
Data Carrier
Data Carrier and other identification and edge technologies?
- State, Location and time

26. Internet of Things – defining the layers
Network – supported services
Edge-technology data capture and Networks
Applications layer
Middleware layer
Internet layer
Access Gateway layer
Edge Technology layer
Access Networks
Internet of Things – defining the layers
Fixed and mobile communication protocols

27. CASAGRAS considerations of layered structure and need for associated standards:
Object space analysis, network structures and applications
Identification and ‘edge’ technologies for automatic data capture and UDAP – hardware bus
Emerging web services model and SOE in respect of the Internet of Things – software bus
Discovery Services model based upon universal description, discovery and integration (UDDI) registry model
Grid service open architecture for collaborative computing and one-to-many services model

28. Time - line Data Carrier Principles – Object-attendant ICT
Item-attendant Data Carrier
dc1
Item
Nodal Data Capture Appliance – Host h1
Nodal Information Management System and Database
Rh1 (dc1; id + ; t)
Inter-nodal data communication, t - x
x time units

29. CASAGRAS considerations of layered structure and need for associated standards:
RFID and ‘communications-based’ RFID standards and regulations
Fixed and mobile network standards and regulations
RFID Sensory and sensor network standards
Integration standards

30. Global identification coding and namespace considerations to accommodate legacy systems are key, as are governance and data exchange structures, security, privacy and associated standards
Wherein RFID?

31. European Commission and RFID Expectations
RFID seen as a precursor to the “Internet of Things”
RFID seen as a potential platform for linking “world of production with the “world of service”
RFID seen a means of making items “smart”, capable of being networked together and able to communicate with their environment – far reaching and requiring qualification
RFID seen as a vehicle for creating opportunities for new business models that will take advantage of a global network in which any object can be linked to any context
RFID seen as a vehicle for a wide range of applications

32. Data Transfer and Communications
Internet & Internet of Things
Data Capture Appliance
Information Management System (MIS) – Enterprise Software
Communications Network
– Business Interchange of Data
Data transfer from Capture Appliance
Data transfer from MIS
Item-attendant Data Carrier
Expanding Domain for xML Solutions
Data transfer from Data Carrier
Interrogation zone

33. ISO/IEC Standards developments – courtesy Praxis Consultants

34. Realising the Internet of Things at its most engaging level is clearly a complex and challenging goal but with the prospect of offering a substantial platform for applications, innovation and wealth creation – Providing the concept is better defined
CASAGRAS in collaboration with GRIFS is helping to define the structure and standards for a truly international network
CERP can have a significant input into the standards considerations

35. CASAGRAS Work packages:
Standards and Procedures for International Standardisation in relation to RFID, including applications and conformance standards
Regulatory issues in respect of RFID standards
Global coding systems in relation to RFID standards
RFID in relation to Ubiquitous Computing and Networks
Functional, including sensory, developments in RFID and Associated Standards
Areas of Application, existing and future, and associated Standards
Socio-economic components of RFID Usage

36. Discussion