System and method for use of mobile policy agents and local services, within a geographically distributed service grid, to provide greater security via local intelligence and life-cycle management for RFlD tagged items

• US 20070112574A1
• Filed: 08/05/2004
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: William Greene
• Original Assignee: William Greene
• Inventors: Greene, William
• Application Number:
  US10/913,887
• Publication Number:
  US 20070112574A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/572.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/28 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading, distribution or shipping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/009 specially adapted for networks, e.g. wireless sensor networks, ad-hoc networks, RFID networks or cloud networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/03 Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/084 using delegated authorisation, e.g. open authorisation [OAuth] protocol
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/086 using security domains
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/088 using filters or firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/122 Counter-measures against attacks; Protection against rogue devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/128 Anti-malware arrangements, e.g. protection against SMS fraud or mobile malware
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/37 Managing security policies for mobile devices or for controlling mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/47 using near field communication [NFC] or radio frequency identification [RFID] modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/61 Time-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/65 : Environment-dependent, e.g. using captured environmental data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/66 : Trust-dependent, e.g. using trust scores or trust relationships
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/68 : Gesture-dependent or behaviour-dependent

Abstract

This invention provides a system, method, and software program for providing software intelligence to Radio Frequency Identity (RFID) tags. Utilizing the unique characteristics of the Service Grid, mobile software agents can relocate in close proximity to RFID tagged items. Once associated with the tag, these RFID agents migrate near where items are identified to provide local control, environmentally responsive policy, and ongoing permanent data capture & history. These RFID agents respond to events as circumstances require. They transport data and policy between supply-chain partners when the partners participate in a secure extranet. Enhanced service grids composed of distributed agents, comprising numerous services, facilitates supply-chain security and integration as virtual software service agents, including virtual RFID tags, are directed from one computer to another computer in response to changing conditions.

Claims

1. Claim method of Microservices in a distributed computer grid for provision of distributed computing. Such Microservice to consist of

a small, re-locatable agent-service that may act as a resource for other services

a modification of the mobile agent software template with the removal of any internal itinerary:

in effect, the removal of self generated mobility and the replacement of this with 3^rd party authentication and deployment control thru a management agent

the inclusion of advertisement and discovery functions to find other Microservices

simple enough business functionality to support Rapid Application Development

support for one functional business interface and required administrative interfaces

such internals as to include XRI naming, Code facilitating deployment into a container, Smart reconnect proxy for remote service communication, service interface, security interface, accounting interface, management interface, expression of internal data as XML, Standard management information (via API and XML), Extensible management information as XML.

2. Further claim the item in 1 above, wherein Policy Agents are created by including data and ECA statements in a Microservice.

3. Further claim the item in 2 above augmented with the provision of virtual intelligence including history and policy for RFID tagged items including one or more of:

data including one or more of type of item, family classification of item and uses, serial number, manufacturing lot numbers, creation place and date, composition, assignment or ownership;

contains event, condition, action (ECA) statements that embody policy for the item including but not limited to one or more;

liability polices, environmental policies, handling instructions, RMA treatment, disposal instructions;

contain links to service level agreements that cover the item;

facility to add information as the item moves through its life cycle, including one or more of;

location-time history, environmental factors history, damages and repairs, ownership or responsible body transfers.

4. Further claim the item in 3 above with use of mobility with policy agents and services for providing utility for RFID life-cycle management by:

allowing software agents to ‘

follow’

an item through the supply chain;

link with a local system to provide data capture;

provide business process automation;

provide security.

5. Further claim item in 4 above to replace of Auto-Id protocols and other value chain protocols with mobile services.

6. Further claim item 2 above providing mobile, distributed intelligence for RFID and other value-chain physical components including:

Id-agent, RFID-agent, RFID-Super-agent.

7. Claim the method of a Service Grid by the deployment of Microservices on a generalized network of computers (Compute Grid) and network of data repositories (Data Grid).

8. Further claim item in 7 above where the use of policy agents in a grid provides for Adaptive computing.

9. Further claim the item in 1 above as a representation of a Component (both business and framework component types) with a contract/interface service fronting a community of interacting Microservices.

10. Claim the method of use a service grid for providing utility for RFID life-cycle management including use as RFID middleware, data collection, data processing and business processes implementation &

control.

11. Further claim the item in 10 with forward deployment (that is into close proximity with location of business processes) of software services to provide business process automation near RFID readers and tagged items.

12. Further claim the item in 11 used to create a system (named Ellipsis) being a group of components including:

RFID agents, local policy agents, HIJAS-MS and HIJAS.

13. Further claim in 11 the specific functions, services, components, and other component parts for HIJAS Manager Subsystem (HIJAS-MS) including:

The use to deploy and manage one or more individual HIJAS throughout its life-cycle, by launching participating services as identified by a template in the Registry and launched by a dedicated Life-cycle Manager;

When, on demand, a specific bit of logic or task is needed;

a software factory manufactures the micro service instance that then launches to a local HIJAS and connects to the Javaspace therein

Providing all of some of the functions for;

remote launching HIJAS, remote launching Javaspaces or other tuple-space, proxy registration of services, group integrity and survivability, remote Notification interfaces (JMS), cloning and synchronization of javaspace and other services, state and data replication services;

Utility services including;

Agent Factories &

Group Watcher.

14. Further claim the item in 11 used to create a system (named HIJAS) being all components, and component parts for HIJAS, that is, the functions, services and mix of agent types including a Javaspace and zero, one or more of:

Adapter, Aggregator, Policy Agent, Translator Agent for non EID tags, Remote Notification Agent, Entry Replication Agent, Entry Find and Fetch Agent, Persistence Agents (by Business Object class), Logging Agent, Automation/Reaction agent, Ego-agent, Super-ego proxy connectors, Grouping proxy connectors, Auto-id mimic services.

15. Further claim the item in 14 for providing the specific deployed functionality of RFID life-cycle management subsystem including use as RFID middleware, data collection, data processing and business processes implementation &

control.

16. Further claim the item in 14 for use as a Gateway component &

aggregate component interface to the grid, fronting for the foreign (non service grid) heritage (different architecture) application while providing integration with foreign, heritage applications.