RFID just wants to be free—or at least open
by Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 7/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
Taking pages from the Linux and Apache playbooks, The RadioActive Foundation wants to bring open source to RFID. The brainchild of Canadian RFID systems integrator N4 Systems and supply chain management vendor Refactored Networks, the organization launched in June with the mission to accelerate EPCglobal standards adoption via open-source software, says Refactored Networks' CEO Michael Mealling.
Apache is an open-source Web server technology. Says Mealling, a member of the EPCglobal Software Action Group, "Without open source, there wouldn't be an Internet. Without standards, you don't get ubiquity, and without ubiquity, all this stuff is useless."
Initially, the foundation is focusing on three areas: a system for exchanging RFID data among business partners, middleware for gathering and filtering data from RFID readers, and hardware simulation and tools. The software will be released under an Apache 2.0 license from Apache Software Foundation, allowing developers to use the code as long as they preserve its copyright.
