Vision and Challenges for Realising the Internet of Things

T
he ASPIRE project is addressing
RFID deployment paradigm, by
introducing and boosting a shift
towards lightweight, royalty-free programmable,
privacy friendly, standards-compliant,
scalable, integrated
and intelligent RFID middleware. The
ASPIRE middleware is being placed at
heart of RFID infrastructures. This
will be freely offered to end-users (particularly
SMEs).
The ASPIRE Project
ASPIRE is developing an innovative royalty
free middleware platform. This middleware
platform is a primary target of the open
source “AspireRFID”, which has been established
in the scope of the OW2 community.
The open nature of the “AspireRFID”, requires
versatility of the hardware and tools
that will support the RFID solutions being
built based on the ASPIRE middleware platform.
The ASPIRE middleware is vendor- and
frequency independent. The ASPIRE middleware
can also support different tag formats.
Also, it is able to be programmed and
configured so as to “bring it closer” to RFID
systems “illiterate”.
This freedom of choice is perfectly in line
with both the “open” nature of the middleware
and the requirements of Small Medium
Enterprise (SMEs). Avoiding vendor and
technology lock-in and the reconfiguration
ability is a major requirement from the SME
community with respect to RFID solutions.
Project Results
For effectively serving SME needs concerning
turn-key solutions in a suitable price range as
well as to empower suppliers of RFID-based
solutions to serve those needs, the ASPIRE
project elaborated three parts for realising
innovative SME oriented solution:
ASPIRE Middleware Architecture and solution
(http://forge.ow2.org/project/show
files.php?group_id=324): ASPIRE introduces
a new approach to RFID middleware
through a two-tier filtering:
ASPIRE
Advanced Sensors and lightweight
Programmable middleware for Innovative RFID
Enterprise applications
Conventional filtering (e.g., EPC-ALE
paradigm): Open Source Tools
(Stored/Save, Edit, Delete Filters) compliant
to ALE specifications
Filtering of business events (i.e. based
on the paradigm of BEG module):
Combination of filtered data with business
metadata according to declared/
configured processes
Specifications for mapping sensor
reading events into business events
Filtering of many types of sensors other
than RFID, like ZigBee (IEEE 802.15)
and HF sensors.
ASPIRE Low-cost hardware and Tools
ASPIRE Trails: The trails are being performed
in the areas of Logistics, Textiles-
Apparel, Cold Chain Management, Process
Management and Retail to lower SME entry
cost barrier and Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) for RFID technology solutions
Provide efficient inventory and smart services.
Moreover, the ASPIRE Middleware Platform
will be user-friendly especially focusing on
SME demands. To guide the innovation approach
of both the manufacturing SME and
the IT provider, the ASPIRE Methodology
was developed. It provides clear instructions,
guidelines and templates for realising the
successful utilisation of RFID technologies
and ASPIRE Middleware.
Further information:
Partners: AAU, AIT, INRIA, UJF, Melexsis, OSI,
UEAPME, SENSAP, PV and IT.
Contact: Prof. Neeli R. Prasad;
Center for Teleinfrastruktur (CTIF)
Aalborg University
Niels Jernes Vej 12;
DK-9220 Aalborg
Denmark
Tel.: +45-994-09835
E-mail: np@es.aau.dk
Internet: www.fp7-aspire.eu
Duration: 01.01.08 – 31.12.10 - 36 Months
CERP-IoT – Cluster of European Research Projects on the Internet of Things
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