MIDDLEWARE FOR QUERY PROCESSING ACROSS A NETWORK OF RFID DATABASES

• US 20080129452A1
• Filed: 12/05/2006
• Published: 06/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: KAILING, KARIN, SCHOENAUER, STEFAN, CHEUNG, ALVIN K., AGRAWAL, RAKESH
• Granted Patent: US 8,244,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24534 Query rewriting; Transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/25 Integrating or interfacing systems involving database management systems

Abstract

An implementation wherein RFID data is shared across independent organizations has been addressed. RFID data is usually spread across different parties, e.g. enterprises in a supply chain and thus, efficient query processing across all parties is required. Traceability is emerging as one of the key applications of RFID technology. A generic data model is introduced for querying RFID data across a network of independently operated data sources. The model can be used to facilitate traceability query processing and give a set of representative traceability queries. A newly designed process-and-forward approach is implemented for executing traceability queries.

Claims

1. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, each node comprising:

(a) a local RFID repository; and

(b) a query engine, said query engine

receiving a query,

retrieving data related to said query from said local RFID repository,

analyzing, executing, and optionally rewriting said query based on retrieved data, and

forwarding said rewritten query to another of said independently operated node,

wherein said query is efficiently processed by combining results of query executions across a plurality of independent nodes.

2. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 1, wherein said query engine is implemented as middleware.

3. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 1, wherein said local RFID repository stores at least entity type and event type data.

4. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 3, wherein said entity type is any of the following:

a uniquely identifiable object, a uniquely identifiable location, or a uniquely identifiable organization.

5. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 4, wherein said event type is any of the following:

observed event type identifying a ternary relationship between an object, location and a timestamp,

assembled event type identifying a start of a parent-child relationship between two objects, or

disassembled event type identifying when a parent-child relationship ends between two objects.

6. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 3, wherein said event type or entity type further identifies at least one property as a name, value pair.

7. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 6, wherein said property is related to a taxonomy comprising a hierarchy of terms.

8. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 1, wherein each node independently enforces a restriction policy limiting data disclosure.

9. A network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 1, wherein said combined results are used for any of the following:

pedigree generation, targeted recall of a product, detection of unusual patterns, or counterfeit detection.

10. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, said method implemented as middleware in a node among said network of independently operated nodes comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a query;

(b) retrieving data related to said query from a local RFID repository;

(c) analyzing, executing and, optionally, rewriting said query based on retrieved data; and

(d) forwarding said rewritten query to another of said independently operated node,

wherein said query is efficiently processed by combining results of query executions across a plurality of independent nodes.

11. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 10, wherein said local RFID repository stores at least an entity type and an event type data.

12. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 11, wherein said entity type is any of the following:

a uniquely identifiable object, a uniquely identifiable location, or a uniquely identifiable organization.

13. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 12, wherein said event type is any of the following:

observed event type identifying a ternary relationship between an object, location and a timestamp,

assembled event type identifying a start of a parent-child relationship between two objects, or

disassembled event type identifying when a parent-child relationship ends between two objects.

14. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 11, wherein said entity type or said event type further identifies at least one property as a name, value pair.

15. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 14, wherein said property is related to a taxonomy comprising a hierarchy of terms.

16. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 10, wherein each node independently enforces a restriction policy limiting data disclosure.

17. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 10, wherein said combined results are used for any of the following:

pedigree generation, targeted recall of a product, detection of unusual patterns, or counterfeit detection.

18. An article of manufacture comprising a computer user medium having computer readable program code embodied therein implementing a middleware to query RFID data across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, wherein said middleware comprises:

(a) computer readable program code aiding in receiving a query;

(b) computer readable program code aiding in retrieving data related to said query from a local RFID repository;

(c) computer readable program code analyzing, executing and, optionally, rewriting said query based on retrieved data; and

(d) computer readable program code aiding in forwarding said rewritten query to another of said independently operated node,

wherein said query is efficiently processed by combining results of query executions across a plurality of independent nodes.

19. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a query;

(b) analyzing and rewriting said query;

(c) retrieving data related to said rewritten query from a local RFID repository and evaluating local results;

(d) identifying additional nodes for forwarding said rewritten query;

(e) forwarding said rewritten query to said identified nodes, where said rewritten query is evaluated using data in corresponding local RFID repositories to produce remote results;

(f) obtaining results of evaluated query from said identified nodes; and

(g) combining said evaluated local results with said remote results,

wherein said query is efficiently processed by combining results of query executions across a plurality of independent nodes.

20. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 19, wherein said local RFID repository stores at least an entity type and an event type data.

21. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 20, wherein said entity type is any of the following:

a uniquely identifiable object, a uniquely identifiable location, or a uniquely identifiable organization.

22. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 21, wherein said event type is any of the following:

observed event type identifying a ternary relationship between an object, location and a timestamp,

assembled event type identifying a start of a parent-child relationship between two objects, or

disassembled event type identifying when a parent-child relationship ends between two objects.

23. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 20, wherein said entity type or said event type further identifies at least one property as a name, value pair.

24. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 23, wherein said property is related to a taxonomy comprising a hierarchy of terms.

25. A method implemented across a network of independently operated nodes sharing RFID data, as per claim 19, wherein each node independently enforces a restriction policy limiting data disclosure.