KR100837995B1 - ASP system for registration agenting of RFID information - Google Patents

Abstract

RFID information registration agent ASP system according to the present invention, RFID tag, a product tag language (PML) database including a tag memory for storing the EPC and an RF transceiver for transmitting and receiving an RF signal with the RFID reader and transmitting the EPC to the RFID reader EPC IS that manages and provides inquiry service, collects, controls, and provides data between all components of EPC network.EPC server equipped with RFID middleware, manages EPC related information, reads by RFID reader. ONS server that decodes the EPC data of the entry and provides the information of the relevant EPC vendor. And an ASP operator server that integrally includes EPC information about products provided by each member company, and registers information of products handled by each member in a separate EPC IS when a member requests registration of product information from each member company. It is characterized by.

RFID, EPC, EPC IS, ONS, ASP

Description

ASP system for registration agenting of RFID information}

1A is a view showing the structure of an RFID tag,

1B is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic product code (EPC),

2 is a conceptual diagram of exchanging data between components of an RFID information registration agent ASP system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a block diagram of an RFID information registration agent ASP system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Major Symbols in Drawing>

10. RFID tag 20. EPC

210. Individual EPC IS 220. RFID Reader

240. ONS Server 250. ASP Operator Server

256. Register 258. Search Provider

The present invention relates to a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, and more particularly, to an ASP system for performing registration of RFID information.

RFID service refers to a technology that attaches an RFID tag to a thing and automatically collects and uses information of the thing and surrounding environment information. It is used to provide ubiquitous services by infiltrating and spreading informatization in daily life based on the ubiquitous sensor network (USN) infrastructure.

As one of such techniques, a technique of attaching an RFID tag to a product and applying an Electronic Product Code (EPC) thereto has been studied. The Electronic Product Code includes the EPC Vendor Code designated by the International Organization for Standardization, the Family Code assigned by the EPC Vendor and the unique serial number of the product. However, EPC companies have difficulty in recognizing and using them by assigning codes to products. This means that the EPC value itself, which is the basis for entering different types of information and distinguishing products, is not provided in a consistent form. For example, there is a difficulty in processing data that needs to be switched to the identification system of the company using the recognized EPC. If the related object naming server (ONS) or the server of the corresponding EPC company is abnormal, the data can be processed. There is no problem. Therefore, there is a need for establishing an integrated product information hub.

However, establishing an interface and information system between each product information produced by each company is expensive.

In addition, in the case of using the RFID tag and the accompanying system for manufactured goods, a large company or a company with a financial power can solve itself, but it is not easy for a small and medium-sized business without such a money to build such a system by itself.

On the other hand, an ASP (Application Service Provider) refers to a service provider that rents some or all of a company's business applications through a network to a plurality of companies. ASPs cover the entire spectrum of applications, from personal computing services to enterprise information systems. Companies that use them have the advantage of being able to build an information system environment while greatly reducing the initial investment costs, and have been widely used in recent years.

Therefore, a method of granting EPCs following a common identification system to all companies is required. In particular, many companies that cannot build their own RFID systems are required to implement them using an ASP system.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and to give all companies EPCs following a common identification scheme, in particular, a number of companies that can not build their own RFID system to implement this using the ASP system The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ASP information registration agent ASP system.

An RFID information registration agent ASP system according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises: an RFID tag including an RF transceiver for transmitting and receiving an RF signal with a tag memory and an RFID reader storing an EPC and transmitting the EPC to the RFID reader; A separate EPC server having an EPC IS that manages a Product Markup Language (PML) database and provides lookup services, and an RFID middleware that provides data collection, control, and application services among all components on the EPC network; An ONS server that manages EPC-related information and provides EPC company information by decoding EPC data of items read by the RFID reader; And an ASP that integrates EPC information about products provided by each member company, and registers information of products handled by each member company in the individual EPC IS when a request for registration of product information is received from each member company. Operator server; characterized in that it comprises a.

The ASP operator server, the integrated EPC IS for integrally storing the EPC information about the products provided by the respective member companies, and to authenticate the service related to the product; A registration unit which provides each member company with information necessary for requesting product information registration through a network, and stores and registers information and product information of the member company when requesting device information registration according to the provided information; And a search providing unit that searches for the registered product information and transmits the registered product information to a member company requesting a search service when receiving a product information request from each member company.

The above objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, an RFID information registration agent ASP system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1A is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a structure of an RFID tag 10.

An RFID tag is an apparatus that receives an RF signal sent from an RFID reader 220 (see FIG. 2) and transmits the existence and related information of a tagged product to an RFID reader, which is an essential part of RFID technology.

Conceptually, the RFID tag 10 includes a tag memory 11 that stores related information about a product, and an RF transceiver 12 that transmits / receives information to and from the RFID reader 220 and exchanges information stored in the memory. According to an embodiment, not only the reading of the information but also the writing of the information may be written to the tag memory 11, and the RF transceiver 12 may receive the information from the RFID reader to update the information of the tag memory 11. have. The tag memory 11 may store various kinds of information related to a product. A representative example is an electronic product code (EPC).

1B illustrates an example of an EPC. Referring to FIG. 1B, an example of the electronic product code 20 includes a header 21, an EPC company code 22, a family code 23, and a serial number 24 that is a product unique code. The header 21 includes information about the version of the EPC 20, allowing for embodiments of the EPC having different lengths and contents. The EPC company code 22 is a company code uniquely assigned to an EPC company (also called an EPC manager). In general, EPC companies are manufacturers or sellers of goods to which the EPC 20 is granted. The EPC company code 22 uses the number assigned by the International Organization for Standardization. The product code 23 represents the exact type of product. The product unique code 24 represents the serial number (SN) of the product in the product family.

For example, if the EPC company is "CJ Co., Ltd.", the product line code 23 may indicate "hatban", and the product unique code 24 may indicate the number of products of "hatban". This is different from having the same code value if the existing bar code is the same product.

2 illustrates a concept of exchanging data between components of an RFID information registration agent ASP system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an RFID information registration agent ASP system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows.

2 and 3, the system according to the present invention includes an individual EPC server 210, an RFID reader 220, an application program 230, and an object naming service (ONS) server 240 installed at each business site. , And an ASP operator server 250.

Individual EPC server 210 includes EPC information service 212 and RFID middleware 214. The EPC Information Service (EPC IS) manages Product Markup Language (PML) databases and provides inquiry services. RFID middleware 214 provides data collection, control, and application services among all components on the EPC network.

The RFID reader 220 reads the EPC stored in the RFID tag 10 attached to the product and delivers the EPC to the RFID middleware 214.

The application program 230 executes an application program such as an ERP or SCM, and requests an EPC service from the EPC IS 212 when the application program requires a service using an EPC of a product with an RFID tag.

The Object Naming Service (ONS) server 240 manages EPC item-related information, and decodes EPC data of an item read by the RFID reader 220, such as information of an EPC company, for example, a URL (Uniform). Resource Locator).

The ASP provider server 250 has an integrated EPC IS 252 having integrated EPC information about products provided by the member companies 261, 262, 263, and the respective products are requested by the respective EPC server 210. Authenticate related services. The integrated EPC IS 252 may store product information for each member company. In addition, each member company (261, 262, 263) provides the information necessary to request the product information registration through the network, and if requested to register the device information according to the information provided by the registration unit for storing and registering the information and product information of the member ( 256, and a search providing unit 258 for receiving a product information search request from each member company to search for the registered product information and transmit it to the member company requesting the search service.

The registration unit 256 provides the member companies 261, 262, and 263 with information including a calling method, a notification of a result, and the like necessary for the information registration request service so as to register necessary product information. In addition, it authenticates the member companies requesting registration in a predetermined manner according to the provided information and stores information about the member companies. The product information and member company information are stored and registered.

The search provider 258 searches for the information stored in the register 256 and transmits the search result to the member companies when there is an inquiry requesting the information search for the product from the member companies 261, 262 and 263.

Each member company A, B, C (261, 262, 263) is connected to the ASP operator server 250 on the network, it is possible to request or inquire necessary information or the like.

The operation of the RFID basic information registration agent ASP system having such a structure is as follows. First, the ASP operator builds individual EPC server 210 and ONS server 240. In addition, when there is a registration request from each of the companies A, B, and C (261, 262, 263) to which a member is registered, the register unit 256 of the ASP provider server 250 stores information on the products handled by each member company in an individual EPC IS (212). Register). In addition, when there is a request for inquiry or change of goods from each member company, the search provider 258 provides the information according to the request to each member company.

After the construction of such a system is completed, the EPC service flow is as follows. First, the RFID reader 220 reads the EPC value from the product, and then sends this information to the RFID middleware 214. The RFID middleware 214 checks whether data related to the received EPC is stored in the individual EPC server 210. If the data exists in the individual EPC server 210, the relevant necessary information is stored in the EPC IS 212.

On the other hand, if the data related to the read EPC does not exist in the individual EPC server 210, request the URL of the EPC server of the company to the ONS server 240. When the ONS server 240 transmits the URL, the RFID middleware 214 transmits data to the ASP provider server 250 using the URL, and the ASP provider server 250 searches for the information and provides the information. do.

ASP services provide a standardized application. In general, traditional IT outsourcing has been able to develop a system that reflects the business of a company. However, the ASP service aims to make a standardized system available to a large number of customers, and can only take advantage of ASP when the standardized application is shared by all users.

Therefore, according to the RFID information registration agent ASP system according to the present invention, the ASP operator can register the product codes of the member companies using a standardized system and provide them, thereby preventing confusion of consumers due to the existing inconsistent system. have. In addition, especially in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have the ability to fund, there is an advantage of reducing the fixed cost and the use of professional services by entrusting the cost of the cost of the RFID system introduced to the ASP provider.

As described above, the RFID information registration agent ASP system according to the present invention can provide an integrated product information hub by registering and providing the product codes of member companies using a standardized system when applying the RFID system. In addition, there is an advantage of reducing the fixed costs and enabling the use of professional services by entrusting the cost of the cost of the RFID system introduced to the ASP provider.

Claims (2)

An RFID tag including a tag memory for storing an EPC, an RF transceiver for transmitting and receiving an RF signal to and from the RFID reader, and transmitting the EPC to the RFID reader; A separate EPC server having an EPC IS that manages a Product Markup Language (PML) database and provides lookup services, and an RFID middleware that provides data collection, control, and application services among all components on the EPC network; An ONS server that manages EPC-related information and provides EPC company information by decoding EPC data of items read by the RFID reader; And, And an ASP operator server that integrally has EPC information on a product and provides registration, inquiry and retrieval services of EPC information on products handled by the member companies according to input of member companies connected through a network. RFID information registration agency ASP system. According to claim 1, wherein the ASP provider server, An integrated EPC IS that integrally stores EPC information about products provided by the member companies and authenticates services related to the products; A registration unit which provides each member company with information necessary for requesting product information registration through a network, and stores and registers information and product information of the member company when requesting device information registration according to the provided information; And, And a search providing unit for searching for the registered product information and transmitting the registered product information to a member company requesting a search service when receiving a product information request from each member company.

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