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Hacking the RFID Network

Posted by michael on from the ubiquitous-tracking dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The world's largest retailers are developing the EPC Network as the infrastructure for a global rollout of item-level RFID. In many ways this 'Internet of Things' resembles the ISBN system or CueCat's codes-to-content. But the network built for tracking consumer goods could also be used for intangible items: airline seats, music tracks or service calls."

2 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. Since the article summary is cryptic... by GillBates0 · · Score: 5, Informative
    this is what I learnt about the system from a cursory read of the article:

    What they're saying is that RFID can be applied to intangible information - content rather than the physical media - just like ISBN/Library_of_Congress system uses an identifier for a book rather than an instance of it.

    In other words: RFID can be extended to apply to an entire class, rather than instances of it, as is usually done.

    Bet somebody'll mention how this is great for pr0n in the next 5 minutes.

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    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  2. Re:Sounds like they're working by Big+Smirk · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well, there is 96bits on info on the tag (the 64bit tags are already just about dead). The reprogrammable tags (unsecure) will have something like 196 bits of scratch space. Secure tags are laser programmed. Of those 96bits, some are dedicated to the same functions as the old UPC codes. But you can imagine 48 bits as a serial number. There are various EPC standards proposed that will dictate how many bits are dedicated to each data type.

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