Auto-ID technology is a product identification system based on low-cost smart tags and readers and a unique object identification scheme. Auto-ID technology will replace the UPC barcode labels in use today with inexpensive Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags.

With Auto-ID, objects with RFID tags can be identified by computers so the objects can be tracked and monitored. RFID tags are based on tiny slivers of silicon and can be embedded into the object (product packaging) or into the products themselves.

Auto-ID Infrastructure

As many products are tracked, the data created will require a new kind of infrastructure consisting of computing, networking and storage hardware and software that will help the enterprise make sense of, and act on the data.

Sun's expertise in developing mission-critical infrastructure software and its leadership in server, storage and networking hardware makes Sun ideally suited to deliver the market leading solution to help enterprises with their Auto-ID deployments. There are four basic technologies which make up the Auto-ID infrastructure:

• eTags: Electronic Tags, these are very small and inexpensive multi-frequency RFID tags

• Savant: Savant servers filter and store the EPC data coming from readers

• ONS: Object Naming System, is a global system for rapidly converting EPC's into addresses of PML servers

• PML: Physical Mark-up Language, is XML vocabulary for describing the physical characteristics of manufactured products, used to store comprehensive data about manufacturers' products

An Auto-ID infrastructure will include products with RFID tags on them, one or more RFID readers, and one or more Savant servers.

Savants are connected to the RFID readers and act as a data-smoothing and event-reporting engine which reports only significant product movement events to either higher level Savants or to other enterprise applications. A RFID tag is made up of a microchip attached to an antenna.

When a reader picks up an EPC code, it sends the number to a computer running a Savant, the distributed software servers that manages data. The Savant software at the edge of the network -- those attached to readers -- will smooth data.

Not every tag is read every time, and sometimes a tag is read incorrectly. By using algorithms, the Savant system is able to correct these errors. Savant servers filter and store the EPC data coming from readers. There will be a standard between the Savant and readers, between Savant and applications that want to access EPC data, and finally an interface for various filters.

The EPC is matched to the information associated with that item via the ONS. The system can identify which plant produced the product. This data can be helpful if a recall of a product were necessary.

Auto-ID technology can be applied to give enterprises an unprecedented real-time view of their assets and inventories throughout the supply chain, enabling significant gains in operational efficiencies. For a list of FAQs on Auto-ID, see:

http://wwws.sun.com/software/solutions/auto_id/faq.html

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