Distributed Digital Product Memories
SemProM: Foundations of Semantic Product Memories for the Internet of Things, Springer, Heidelberg, (2013)DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-37377-0_13
Abstract
Auto ID technologies based on RFID, 2D matrix codes, and barcodes allow identification not only of product types but also objects at item level. Information acquired along the product lifecycle can consequently be associated to items. The acquired data can be stored either at the item itself on product-embedded storage or remotely, for example, on a server. As current RFID tags cannot store all relevant data due to the limited space, a solution is required to store product information remotely, providing access for all relevant lifecycle actors. This chapter provides an overview of selected approaches to related distributed information management for that purpose. The focus is on managing information on products throughout the entire product lifecycle. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks are identified to be a promising solution. So P2P networks become a scalable option to flexibly store and distribute product information and are particularly considered. A second challenge for the storage, organization, and retrieval of Digital Product Memories (DPMs) are composite products that contain subcomponents with their own DPMs, e.g., cars and manufacturing plants. We present a simple and general model for the structure of products with several DPMs that is independent of the considered product, domain, application, and company. It provides a standardized basis to distribute and query the data of subcomponents. The model also supports composite DPMs, where a DPM can store the information of its subcomponents.