The Auto-ID infrastructure provides the foundation upon which reliable, real-time information can be gathered from the physical world and distributed in a globally standard way. As powerful as this system is, however, it lacks a fundamental component needed to fully take advantage of the data – understanding. In other words, the data collected is not placed into a context in which it may be filtered, analyzed and extrapolated for the purposes of insightful reporting, efficient production or optimal distribution. We propose a fundamentally new architecture intended to interpret and predict based on a series of open standards. The technologies and standards will enable widespread, general purpose modeling and simulation that provides context and meaning to real-time data streams. This paper presents the vision and goals for this proposed effort and lays the foundation for a new Intelligent Data Network.
After a trademark dispute, the EPC Prototyping Platform is now called "Fosstrak" (previously Accada). Fosstrak stands for "free and open source software for track and trace".