# Product Overview

# RFID Terminology

Key terms and acronyms that you will encounter throughout the RFID documentation include the following:

#### action

Classifies an EPCIS event as one that creates a new entity (ADD), removes a previous entity (DELETE), or merely observes the state of existing entities without changing them.

#### Application Level Events (ALE)

Application programming interface (API) through which clients may obtain filtered, consolidated EPC data from a variety of sources. The ALE API is defined by an EPCglobal standard.

#### Application Level Events Programming Cycle (ALEPC)

Main interface for programming tags. See also tag programming.

#### asynchronous notification mechanism

Method by which the RFID Edge Server pushes data to an application based on a prior subscription. Asynchronous notification mechanisms include HTTP, JMS, and File I/O. Applications may define events of interest (through specifications such as ECSpec, PCSpec, and EPCCacheSpec) and later subscribe to asynchronous delivery of corresponding reports (ECReports, PCWriteReport, EPCCacheReport). All notification delivery mechanisms encode reports.

#### check operation

A read carried out to verify that exactly one tag is in the field. A check operation is part of a pattern within a programming cycle whereby one or more check operations is followed by one or more verification cycles. See also verification cycle.

#### composite reader

Logical reader that combines a set of other logical readers as one group. A composite reader is used within an ECSpec to identify a group of readers based on a composite name, thereby providing the flexibility of adding physical readers to the group without having to change the ECSpec itself. See also logical reader.

#### ECSpec

See Event Cycle Specification (ECSpec).

#### ECSpec Report or ECReport

Set of reports for an ECSpec.

#### Electronic Product Code (EPC)

Next generation method of product identification that uniquely identifies objects (items, cases, pallets, locations, and so on) in the supply chain and can be used to track them. EPCs are often written to RFID labels.

#### EPC

See Electronic Product Code (EPC).

#### EPC Information Service (EPCIS)

Refers to both a standard definition of business-level EPC data and a standard set of services and interfaces for capturing and querying that data. EPCIS is defined by an EPCglobal standard. In WebLogic RFID Enterprise Server, the EPCIS is a component responsible for capturing EPCIS event information, storing it, and providing access to the stored data. See also EPCIS event.

#### EPC cache

Ordered list of EPC values used in sequence to program tags. An EPC cache allows a series of tags to be programmed without tag-by-tag application intervention to supply new EPC codes. See also EPC pattern.

#### EPCIS event

Observation of EPC-related activity, expressed at the business level. EPCIS events typically have four informational aspects: what (which EPCs or other entities participated in the event), when (the date and time of the event), where (the location where the event took place and where the entities are expected to be afterward), and why (what business transaction was taking place and what is the business condition of the entities afterward).

#### EPC pattern

URI-formatted string that denotes a single EPC or a set of similar EPCs.

#### event cycle

An interval of time over which data is accumulated for reporting through the ALE API. Filtered, aggregated data collected during an event cycle is delivered to an application in an ECReport. See also ECSpec, ECSpec Report or ECReport.

#### Event Cycle Specification (ECSpec)

A data object in the ALE API that specifies the time boundaries for a series of event cycles, the readers from which data is to be collected, and the filtering and reporting options for delivering the data.

#### logical reader

Abstract name that an application uses to refer to one or more physical readers or antennas that have a single logical purpose; for example, readers positioned around a door might be called DockDoor42. Logical readers can be considered equivalent to "locations."

#### physical reader

See reader.

#### portal

Doorway or other physical structure equipped with one or more RFID readers to read EPC information from tagged objects that pass through it.

#### portal workflow

Software used to capture data generated when an RFID tagged object goes from one place to another. The software is capable of detecting tags, providing user feedback, and sending messages to enterprise applications (including location, directionality, and tag data).

#### programming cycle

Interval during which a single tag is written and verified.

#### Programming Cycle Specification (PCSpec)

A data object in the ALEPC API that specifies the time boundaries for a series of programming cycles, the readers or printers through which the tags are to be written, an optional EPC Cache to provide unique EPC codes, and reporting options for delivering the results.

#### Radio frequency identification (RFID)

Method of identifying unique items by using radio waves. Typically, a reader communicates with a tag, which holds digital information in a microchip.

#### read cycle

Single complete scan of all tags in a single reader antenna's field. A read cycle typically occurs several times a second.

#### reader

Generic term for a hardware device, also referred to as a physical reader, which reads EPC values from or writes EPC values to RFID labels. The reader has one or more antennas, which emit radio waves and receive signals back from the tag. Occasionally used to refer to devices with no RFID capabilities, such as bar code readers.

#### reader simulator

Software that simulates a reader.

#### RFID

See Radio frequency identification (RFID).

#### RFID device

Generic term for an RFID reader or an RFID-enabled printer.

#### RFID Edge Server

Software deployed at remote sites where there are RFID readers, such as warehouses, distribution centers, and retail stores, for monitoring and filtering incoming tag data, for device management (such as configuring and monitoring RFID readers and printers), and enabling local workflows.

#### subscriber

Destination for ECSpec report information.

#### stack light

Set of lights used to signal the status of a process or hardware device. Stack lights usually appear in one or more of the following colors: white, blue, green, amber, or red.

#### tag programming

Associating an EPC value with a physical entity, such as an RFID tag or a printed label. The process of writing a serial number to a tag for the first time is sometimes called commissioning a tag.

#### telemetry

Transmission of data captured by instrumentation and measuring devices to a remote station where it is recorded and analyzed.

#### trigger

External event that signals the beginning or end of an event or programming cycle. See event cycle and programming cycle.

#### Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)

Unique name that represents the address or location of a resource, typically on the Internet. URIs are also used by the RFID Edge Server to specify the destinations for asynchronous notifications.

#### verification cycle

A write attempt followed by one or more read attempts. A verification cycle is part of a pattern within a programming cycle whereby one or more check operations are followed by one or more verification cycles. See also check operation.

#### workflow

Series of actions triggered by an external event. The actions a workflow performs may include sending information about the observation to another system or changing the display on hardware such as LEDs or stack lights.

#### workflow module

User-configurable building blocks used to create workflows in the WebLogic RFID Edge Server. A module takes input messages (event cycle reports or output from other modules), and emits workflow messages according to embedded business logic.

#### Extensible Markup Language (XML)

Markup language used to describe and transmit data across many different systems. See the description available at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml.

#### Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Transformations (XSLT)

A language used to transform XML documents using stylesheets. See the description available at http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt.