ISO/IEC 24791-1:2010

Overview

ISO/IEC 24791-1:2010 - Information technology - RFID for item management - Software system infrastructure - Part 1: Architecture - defines the architectural framework that connects business applications to RFID interrogators. It describes the logical components, interfaces and relationships needed to support RFID system operations, including tag and sensor data exchange, control of air-interface operations, and health/performance management of interrogators. This part gives an overview of the Software System Infrastructure (SSI), component descriptions, UML modelling guidance and illustrative deployment models.

Key topics and requirements

• Software System Infrastructure (SSI): separation of standardized interfaces from implementations to enable interoperable deployments.
• Functional decomposition: clear distinction between data, control, and device management functions to support modular design and standardization.
• Core components: definitions of Data Management, Device Interface and Device Management components (detailed interface and conformance rules are provided in other parts of ISO/IEC 24791).
• Interrogator controller concept: role of a controller that can exercise data, control and management over interrogators.
• Tag and sensor data handling: architecture supports both traditional tag memory reads/writes and sensor information conveyed via air protocols or memory-mapped reads.
• UML modelling guidance: component and deployment diagrams, interfaces and usage patterns are illustrated to support consistent implementations.
• Security considerations: prescribes how interfaces should address authentication, authorization and data privacy appropriate to each function and interface.
• Deployment examples: informative annexes show typical implementation and deployment topologies (e.g., controllers, interrogator endpoints, data management placements).

Practical applications and users

This architecture standard is useful for:

• RFID solution architects and system integrators designing interoperable RFID infrastructures.
• Software developers implementing Data Management, Device Interface or Device Management endpoints for RFID systems.
• Hardware vendors building RFID interrogators that must interoperate with enterprise software.
• IT and operations teams planning large-scale item management, inventory, supply chain, retail or asset-tracking systems that rely on RFID. Practical benefits include improved interoperability between tags, interrogators and enterprise applications, clearer separation of concerns, and guidance on secure, scalable deployments.

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 24791 (other parts): Part 2 - Data management; Part 5 - Device interface; Part 3 (under preparation) - Device management.
• ISO/IEC 15961 / ISO/IEC 15962 and ISO/IEC 24753 referenced for relationships to existing RFID data and encoding standards.
• EPCglobal standards are acknowledged as related ecosystem specifications.

Keywords: ISO/IEC 24791-1, RFID architecture, software system infrastructure, RFID interrogator, data management, device interface, device management, item management.