RFID chips: Future technology on everyone’s lips

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is considered a technology of the future, but RFID chips have long established themselves in our everyday lives. RFID systems combine the physical world of a product with the virtual world of digital data. Projects based on RFID far transcend simply replacing the bar code, and in fact represent a new all-encompassing structural concept. The RFID market is faced with the conflicting demands for cheap solutions on the one hand and guaranteed high-level security, which is predicated on additional investment, on the other. The retail trade is playing a decisive part in the broad-based roll-out of RFID projects. Beyond deployment in the retail market, though, RFID will soon be considered an indispensable part of the entire value chain in all sectors of the economy.information- and communication technology; ICT; e-business; e-commerce; B2C-e-commerce; internet; retail; supply chain management; tag

ANGELAH: A Framework for Assisting Elders At Home

The ever growing percentage of elderly people within modern societies poses welfare systems under relevant stress. In fact, partial and progressive loss of motor, sensorial, and/or cognitive skills renders elders unable to live autonomously, eventually leading to their hospitalization. This results in both relevant emotional and economic costs. Ubiquitous computing technologies can offer interesting opportunities for in-house safety and autonomy. However, existing systems partially address in-house safety requirements and typically focus on only elder monitoring and emergency detection. The paper presents ANGELAH, a middleware-level solution integrating both ”elder monitoring and emergency detection” solutions and networking solutions. ANGELAH has two main features: i) it enables efficient integration between a variety of sensors and actuators deployed at home for emergency detection and ii) provides a solid framework for creating and managing rescue teams composed of individuals willing to promptly assist elders in case of emergency situations. A prototype of ANGELAH, designed for a case study for helping elders with vision impairments, is developed and interesting results are obtained from both computer simulations and a real-network testbed

A multi-agent based system RFID middleware for data and device management

Published ArticleRadio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology promises to revolutionize business processes. While RFID technology is improving rapidly, a reliable deployment of this technology is still a significant challenge impeding its widespread adoption. In this paper we provide a brief overview of some common fundamental characteristics of RFID data and devices, which pose significant challenges in the design of RFID middleware systems. In addition, the development of a multi-agent RFID middleware solution to address the RFID data and device management challenges is discussed

Integration for innovation: Studying the role of middleware in RFID applications

This paper is based on an interpretative multiple case study of two organization where we examine how different middleware architecture approaches affect the utilization of sensor technology, in particular Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Our study reveals five interesting findings. First, sensor technology is able to digitize and automate previously manual routines but the received value of this process alone is often limited. Second, the possibility of downstream exploitation, and thus innovation, is inhibited when sensor data is too rigidly packaged. Third, organizations should have a clear strategy or vision regarding the desired business benefits when filtering and aggregating sensor data. Fourth, to enable innovative business solutions organizations should combine sensor data with business application data. Fifth, and finally, when utilizing sensor data organizations should prioritize exploitation over exploration since it enables organizations to obtain business innovation