RFID and Sensor Networks, From SensorActuator to Business Application”.URL http www.m-lab..pdfVIP

RFID Workshop, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Sept. 27, 2004 RFID and Sensor Networks From Sensor/Actuator to Business Application Rolf Clauberg IBM Research, Zurich Research Laboratory 8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland Introduction In the past years a significant change for computer networks occurred: the rise of direct device-to-device or machine-to-machine communication within general computer networks. The most visible and publicly discussed example is the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for improved supply chain management [1,2]. Several large retail chains as well as the US Department of Defense demand support of RFID technology from their suppliers within the next years. Delta Airlines together with the US Transportation Security Administration successfully performed a pilot project for using RFID tags for baggage handling at the airport of Jacksonville, Florida [3,4]. Another example, which reached some publicity, is the use of wireless sensor networks for environmental and military monitoring [5-7]. Started some years ago as the so-called “smart dust” project by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), wireless sensor networks using large numbers of tiny sensor units are now used in first commercial applications for agriculture and vineyard monitoring [7]. Other examples of sensor networks are condition-based maintenance systems for early recognition of tank-refill or component-replacement requirements as well as real-time process-control systems for industrial automation. The latter systems existed already in the past, but were isolated from enterprise communication networks. Today’s demand for real-time status information about all business processes requires integration of these networks into the general enterprise computer network and, in connection