RFID Pointer Access to Distributed Databases
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the RFID manufacturing environment, managing distributed and inter-related information across various physical locations poses logistical difficulties, particularly in accessing and tracing product information efficiently due to its geographic distribution and legacy systems, leading to an information explosion that requires sophisticated data management methodologies.
Innovation Solution
A data management scheme combining distributed and hierarchical data management structures, where RFID tags store pointers that allow direct access to relevant data in standardized hierarchical databases across the supply chain, enabling traceability and efficient decision-making through backward and forward pointers, and incorporating machine learning for automated decision-making.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If information is stored in distributed databases at various physical locations, then information completeness is improved, but information access complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized database system that acts as an intermediary between RFID tags and distributed data stores. This centralized system maintains a unified database containing pointers to information located across multiple distributed databases, allowing single-point access to scattered information without requiring applications to directly navigate the distributed architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the distributed information structure in a centralized database. The centralized database contains pointer information that replicates the relationships and locations of data in the distributed system, enabling access through a single interface while preserving the benefits of distributed storage.
2Reliability
If RFID tracking is implemented at item level throughout the supply chain, then traceability is improved, but data management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized database serves as a mediator between RFID tracking systems at various supply chain locations. It consolidates pointer information from multiple distributed databases into a single access point, maintaining traceability across the entire supply chain while simplifying data management through centralized coordination.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized database provides universal access to traceability information from multiple distributed sources through a single interface. It handles queries from any point in the supply chain, coordinating access to data stored at different locations while presenting a unified view to users.
3Adaptability or versatility
If data is stored in legacy systems at automation and enterprise levels, then system compatibility is improved, but information integration difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized database acts as an intermediary layer between legacy systems at different levels (automation and enterprise). It maintains compatibility with existing distributed databases while providing simplified access, allowing integration of information from legacy systems without requiring changes to the legacy systems themselves.
Data Source
AI summary
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in a data management scheme that combines both distributed as well as a hierarchical (object-oriented) data management structure. The hierarchical databases will store data records such that each or selected entities of the record will be associated with a pointer that can be written into an RFID tag of an item as the item progresses through manufacturing, production, transportation, and consumer user, for example. Thereafter, once the RFID tag is read, the pointer information can be processed to directly access the data in the database associated with the pointer.