Better RFID From

Intel and Microsoft

To encourage widespread adoption of RFID technology in the enterprise, Intel and Microsoft
RFID are developing a layered RFID infrastructure platform – one that uses an open building block
TECHNOLOGY
SOLUTIONS
approach to enable scalable, enterprise deployments that integrate hardware and software.

This solution brief describes the benefits of building rich

RFID solutions atop this integrated Intel and Microsoft
platform offering. In addition, it includes a high-level view
of the systems foundation for achieving those benefits
while minimizing financial and technological risks.
Highlights of this solution brief include:
• An overview of Intel’s platform to simplify deployment
and management of large-scale RFID device roll-outs.
• An overview of Microsoft’s host (server) and device
software platform for building rich, scalable applications
and solutions for RFID.
• Insight into the multiple benefits, which the end-to-end
hardware and software offering from Intel and Microsoft
will provide for the RFID market.
When it comes to an integrated RFID solution for busi-
ness, Intel and Microsoft deliver an integrated platform
that enables high-performance, low-total-cost-of-owner-
ship RFID solutions that work across multiple business
segments. We believe this collaboration is game-changing
for RFID, as it mainstreams the hardware and software latest standards including EPCglobal Gen 2*, ISO 18000-6C,
components and enables unique manageability through and full FCC and ETSI regulatory compliance. In short, the
deep integration. The broad reach of this architecture, Intel R1000 dramatically simplifies design and deployment
from mobile device to desktop to server, will speed the of high-performance, standards-compliant reader solutions.
adoption of RFID across both enterprise and consumer
World-class hardware requires world-class software
applications.
to enable it. To that end, Intel provides the Intel RFID
Transceiver Interface, which allows any embedded proces-
The Intel Solution sor a plug & play interface to the Intel R1000 silicon.
Intel has long been a leader in providing high-perform- The Intel RFID Transceiver Interface complements the
ance processor and radio components for enterprise Intel R1000 by abstracting the low-level tag access and
platforms, such as Intel® Centrino® processor technology. radio configuration operations to a level that allows easy
Intel is addressing a new class of enterprise platform, integration with the Microsoft BizTalk* RFID software
UHF RFID readers. platform. At the same time, the Intel interface exposes
the rich set of reader features required to fully support
The Intel® UHF RFID Transceiver R1000 reader chip is a existing and emerging reader interface and management
breakthrough – a highly integrated, high-performance UHF standards. The Intel RFID Transceiver Interface enables:
reader silicon radio that brings unprecedented capabilities
and cost effectiveness to reader designs. The Intel R1000 • Tag access operations while allowing the user full
supports the full 860-960 MHz UHF spectrum for world- control over the air protocol parameters.
wide deployments and enables all reader use cases (mobile, • Configuration of the R1000 for optimal performance
fixed, embedded, etc.) on a single hardware architecture. in its physical environment, for example, control of the
The Intel R1000 firmware provides full support for the antenna output power and antenna sequencing.
• Provisioning of the R1000, including the ability to
upgrade the Intel R1000 firmware.
• Fault detection through the return of numerous health
indicators to the host, for example, per-tag RSSi infor-
mation and antenna impedance match information.
The Microsoft Solution
Microsoft BizTalk RFID is an innovative device management
and event processing platform at the edge of the enterprise.
It is designed to provide a scalable, extensible platform for
development, deployment and management of rich RFID
and sensor solutions.
Core components include a device abstraction framework
and a robust set of tools that enable customers and partners
to build .NET*-based RFID and sensor applications with:
• “Plug & Play” services for a rich set of heterogeneous
RFID devices via a standard embedded provider for the
Intel® platform.
• Web Service (SOA)-based Application Services for
interacting with devices and tag reads including filtering,
transformation, and aggregation of events.
• Management tools to manage devices as well as design
and deploy RFID business processes.
• Extensibility points to implement standards-based
solutions.
The platform also provides customers and partners with
a rich set of primitives to orchestrate and build end-to-
end, “integrated” real-time solutions with the ability to:
• Connect to line-of-business (LOB) applications and
enable business-to-business interactions via the BizTalk
Server platform.
• Leverage SQL Server for data management and BI
(Business Intelligence).
• Create, deploy and morph English-like business rules
via the declarative business rules engine (BRE) to infer,
correlate and execute business decisions based on
incoming events.
• Execute human and system workflow at the edge based
on RFID events via integration with Windows Workflow
Foundation*.
• Use Microsoft Operations Manager* to monitor and
troubleshoot deployments, thus providing a scalable,
fault-tolerant environment for 24x7 “production”-ready
RFID solutions.
• Quickly deploy easy-to-use RFID solutions in the small
and medium business (SMB) space via “out-of-the-box”
integration with Microsoft Dynamics* suite of products.
With the Intel R1000 transceiver and the Microsoft BizTalk
RFID’s provider for devices supporting this platform, the
enterprise customer has an unprecedented choice of RFID
hardware to protect and leverage existing investments
while creating solutions for the future. This integrated
platform enables businesses to easily create, deploy,
manage and integrate their existing business processes
and ERP applications with RFID technology today.
In upcoming releases, Microsoft’s RFID platform will
run on Windows CE* embedded devices and interface
in a seamless manner with the Intel RFID Transceiver
Interface providing an integrated platform for intelligent
edge applications with enterprise-ready support for device
discovery, provisioning, security, patch management and
monitoring, and troubleshooting. This “edge” device plat-
form will also include on-board capabilities for:
• Local storage of tags (offline mode).
• Hardware automation workflow primitives.
• Optimized filter execution and declarative actions
on device.
• Standards-based (WS*) service discovery and invocation.
• Services for creating and deploying rich UI-based
applications onboard the device.
These capabilities provide an end-to-end SOA-based soft-
ware platform for RFID – from device to back-end system
integration – reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO)
and increasing the ROI of vertical RFID solutions.
Together with a powerful ecosystem of global System
Integrators (SIs) and Independent Software Vendors
(ISVs), Microsoft and Intel are working to lower the
TCO for RFID deployments.
Better Together
The most fundamental aspect of an effective enterprise-
class digital supply chain solution is integration of the
right compute infrastructure. As the world’s preeminent
supplier of silicon components, Intel provides the cost-
effective compute platforms that are ideally suited for
the data volumes and demands of RFID-based solutions.
When combined with Microsoft BizTalk RFID and exist-
ing Microsoft platform components, the solution is truly
a ground-breaking offering to the industry. Figure 1
depicts a typical RFID infrastructure based on the Intel-
Microsoft solution – a solution built on state-of-the-art
platform technologies from the leaders in the industry.
Specific value propositions are:
For End Users:
• Common core technology across different reader form
factors and applications.
• Ease of deployment and device management reduce
complexity and TCO.
For Reader Manufacturers:
• Support for the full spectrum of reader form factors,
from short-range mobile readers to long-range dock
door readers, and everything in between, all based on
a single hardware and software architecture.
• Worldwide support for the latest UHF RFID standards
and local radio regulations.
• Virtually seamless integration of the Intel and Microsoft
software interfaces.
• An integrated SOA-based end-to-end platform able to
run UI-based applications on the device.
• Declarative processing of events on the device and
enterprise-ready services for device discovery, configura-
tion, provisioning, security and integration with host
systems and management utilities like SMS and MOM.

Figure 1. Intel/Microsoft end-to-end solution

Database
Enterprise Network

ERP
Microsoft BizTalk RFID

Design Tools and Adaptors

RFID Infrastructure OM/APIs

RFID Event Processing Engine

Device Service Provider Interface

Edge Network Ethernet

Switch RFID
Edge
WHM Server

802.11
Switch

RFID Mobile
Reader Network

RFID Fixed Reader Network

Mobile Reader based on

Intel RFID Technology
Fixed Reader based on
Intel RFID Technology
Microsoft RFID Platform
for Windows CE
Network
Interface Agent Intel Interface Provider
Windows
Host Intel RFID CE Intel RFID
OS Tranceiver Interface Tranceiver Interface
Embedded Processor Embedded Processor

Intel R1000 Firmware Intel R1000 Firmware

Intel UHF RFID Transceiver R1000 Intel UHF RFID Transceiver R1000

18000-6C Tag 18000-6C Tag

For Systems Integrators:
• All hardware and software for end-to-end solutions
offered by Intel and Microsoft promote a single
integrated device-to-host platform for building rich,
scalable, enterprise-class SOA-based RFID solution.
• Capabilities offered by Intel and Microsoft ease design
and deployment through services for discovery, manage-
ment, security, and processing of RFID events at the
device (with hardware automation and execution of
declarative code on the device) and the host.

Intel and Microsoft

Intel and Microsoft are working together to provide seamless RFID solutions for the enterprise today. Together, we
bring complete and robust business infrastructures that can handle tomorrow’s RFID data challenges – along with the
reliability and peace of mind you get from the two leaders in enterprise IT.

Solution provided by:

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Copyright © 2007 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.
Intel, the Intel logo, and Intel Centrino are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.
Microsoft and the Microsoft logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
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