LLRP Toolkit For Java 1.0.0.7 Released

I assume lots of Fosstrak users are also using the LLRP Toolkit for Java that was originally developed by the Fosstrak team and contributed to the LTK project. We just released a new version of the LTK for Java that is now available from sourceforge. The new release features a number of bug fixes. See the changelog for details.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/llrp-toolkit/files/llrp-toolkit/ltkjava/1.0.0.7/

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Simplifying RFID App Development with Cloud Computing and Mashups

Check out this interesting presentation by Dominique Guinard where he illustrates how the Fosstrak components can be virtualized in the cloud and applications can be realized as web mashups.

Cloud Computing, REST and Mashups to Simplify RFID Application Development and Deployment

View more presentations from Dominique Guinard

Fosstrak EPCIS used in Norwegian Food Chain RFID Tracking

The RFIDJournal is reporting today about an RFID deployment in Norway by Hrafn that uses the Fosstrak EPCIS:

NLP was established in 2006 as an organization for reducing the environmental footprint of the logistics operations within the Norwegian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) supply chain. The RFID pilot is being managed by Hrafn (the Norse word for raven, symbolizing the two birds of Odin), an RFID consultancy and the pilot’s chief architect. The RFID infrastructure includes fixed readers provided by Impinj, antennas from Intermec and handheld readers supplied by Nordic ID, as well asTag Acquisition Processor (TAP) middleware from Reva Systems. Hrafn is also hosting Electronic Produce Code Information Services (EPCIS) software used to store RFID data and make it available to supply chain participants, employing the open-source EPCIS software known as Fosstrak (seeOpen-Source EPCIS Catching On). Lexit Group is installing and integrating the hardware and providing software that links a user’s back-end information, such as the order number and ship-to-location Global Location Number (GLN) code, with the pallets’ tag ID numbers, while Telenor Ojects‘ Shepherd platform links data from read events to the EPCIS software, while also providing hardware monitoring by detecting errors such as connectivity problems with a reader or antennas out of service.

Read full article on RFIDJournal.

SQL Database Integration in Fosstrak LLRP Commander/ALE Middleware

In a previous blog post, I already mentioned a new feature of Fosstrak that allows users to log tag reads reported in LLRP RO_ACCESS_REPORTS to a SQL DB. Here are a few screenshots that illustrate this functionality.

LTKJava – the (hidden) Fosstrak module

I was checking the other day the download numbers of LTKJava, the Java implementation of a Codec for the LLRP protocol which the Fosstrak team contributed to the LLRP toolkit project. The Java implementation has been downloaded more than 600 times since we released the latest version at the end of July. The usage of LTKJava by major reader vendors and reader middleware such as Intermec and OatSystems underlines the contribution open source software can make to the field of RFID and the adoption of standardized protocols.

At Fosstrak, we are using LTKJava in our Fosstrak LLRP Commander, a tool to control and manage RFID readers via LLRP.

Mark Roberti of the RFIDJournal writes about Fosstrak

Mark Roberti, editor of the RFIDJournal, writes about Fosstrak and the adoption of open source EPCIS on his blog.

New Feature of Fosstrak LLRP Commander: Log LLRP tag reads to SQL database

This is a quick post about a really cool feature Samuel, the Fosstrak lead on the LLRP Commander, added in the last release that allows users to specify the database to which LLRP messages are logged. Previously, we used a database that was built-in into the LLRP Commander. With the new feature, users can specify a (remote) SQL database server of their choice to which they want the data to be logged. This makes data analysis really trivial. Setup an open source database such MySQL or PostgresQL, install the Fosstrak LLRP Commander, connect to your reader or readers of choice and then analysis your data via SQL. The Fosstrak LLRP Commander logs all messages, but also parses the individual RO_ACCESS_REPORTs for TAG_REPORT_DATA on each tag read and lists each TAG_REPORT_DATA parameter as a new row in the SQL table.

This is great for data analysis purposes. No need to write any code to get RFID data such as IDs or RSSI values from one or more readers. At the MIT Auto-ID Lab, we are now using Matlab to query the database and visualize the data captured.