A Multi-Agent-based RFID Framework for Smart-object Applications

Coupled with software agent technology, RFID can transform everyday objects into smart objects. Currently, in most applications, agent definitions are not encoded directly on the tags due to tag memory limitations, and RFID technology is used purely for identification. Such approaches cannot provide the benefits of flexibility and modularization supplied by smart object systems. In this paper, we present a system called A-FRED for effectively encoding smart object data and agent definitions onto RFID tags. An XML-based memory-efficient encoding method is implemented and a behavior-based encoding scheme is adopted. The system provides an alternative framework for representing smart objects on passive RFID tags in general, and on memory limited low-cost UHF tags in particular.