Giving RFID a REST: Building a Web-Enabled EPCIS

The Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS) is a standard which defines interfaces enabling RFID events to be captured and queried. The query interface, implemented with WS-* Web services, enables business applications to consume and share data within and across companies, to form a global network of independent EPCIS instances. However, the interface limits the application space to the rather powerful platforms which understand WS-* Web services. In this paper we propose seamlessly integrating this network into the Web by designing a RESTful (REpresentational State Transfer) architecture for the EPCIS. Using this approach, each query, tagged object, location or RFID reader gets a unique URL that can be linked to, exchanged in emails, browsed for, bookmarked, etc. Additionally, this paradigm shift allows Web languages like HTML and JavaScript to directly use RFID data to fast-prototype light-weight applications such as mobile applications or Web mashups. We illustrate these benefits with a JavaScript mashup platform that integrates several services on the Web (e.g., Twitter, Wikipedia, etc.) with RFID data to allow managers along the supply chain and customers to get comprehensive data about their products.