A PoV on the IIC Industrial Internet Reference Architecture
Security and Privacy and Performance and Scalability. These perspectives correspond to the
General System Characteristics of the IIRA.
4.4
The EPCGlobal Architecture Framework
The EPCGlobal Architecture Framework (EAF), developed by a consortium of end users,
technology companies and universities and led by GS1 Global, consists of a family of architecture
standards related to the interoperability of IT systems used in RFID-based global supply chains
(Felice Armenio, 2007).
RFID-based supply chains can be considered as an example of an IIS. This framework, specifically
designed for this domain, is neither a generic IIS Reference Architecture in the true sense nor an
instantiated architecture of an actual system. It can be considered a combination of a reference
architecture and standards family for a very specific domain. The major focus of the EPCGlobal
standards is interoperability and integration across multiple supply chain participants. Providing
unique identities to supply chain assets, decentralized infrastructure for data processing and
creating layered data exchange standards fall within the scope of the EAF.
As a reference architecture, its focus is limited to the Implementation Viewpoint.
The EAF consists of three major categories of standards:
Object Exchange – consisting of ways of providing unique identities (Electronic Product
Codes or EPC), encoding the same in RFID chips and the air interface radio and data link
specifications
Infrastructure Standards – consisting of RFID tag-to-reader interface specifications,
management of RFID readers, edge processing of RFID events, interface standards for
capture and storage of RFID events
Data Exchange Standards – consisting of data query interface standards, discovery of
services and naming services for resolving EPC to information service endpoints
The most important point to note is that, unlike the IIRA and the IoT-A ARM, the EAF is an
established standard and compliance with these standard can be tested and certified.
4.5
Other Standards and Guidelines Related to IIS Architectures
Several organization have published or are in the process of publishing technical specifications
and guidelines for designers and architects of IIS. A detailed discussion of these specification and
guidelines is beyond the scope of this article. We list the following as examples of important work
done in the area of architecture, design and operations guidelines
ETSI M2M Communication Functional Architecture Technical Specification – This is a technical
specification with normative references to several communication and network protocol
IIC Journal of Innovation
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