One may use wired Ethernet wired links or wireless links to set up RFID networks.. • Most of the nodes have both wireless and Ethernet connectivity, while the remaining nodes communicate
Trang 1984
the refrigerator, these events possibly triggering
a refrigerator replenishment RFID transaction
For more information on RFID transactions and
RFID tag reader designs, the reader is referred to
Chalasani and Sounderpandian (2004) and
Cha-lasani, Boppana, and Sounderpandian (2005) In
each of the facilities (manufacturing facility, the
distributor’s warehouse, the retail store, and the
consumer’s home) the tag readers are
intercon-nected, as shown in Figure 13 Given the current
advances and adaptation trends, the Wi-Fi is likely
to be the dominating and economical wireless
technology for intertag reader communication
Though there are no commercial implementations,
intertag reader network will alleviate
communi-FDWLRQDQGSHUIRUPDQFHORDGRQWKHEDFNRI¿FH
computer system In this section, we explore
two representative designs of RFID tag reader
networks (or simply RFID networks) (Passmore,
2004; RFID.com, 2006)
One may use wired Ethernet (wired) links or
wireless links to set up RFID networks Instead,
using only wired or wireless links, mixing both
technologies may be advantageous Combining
wired and wireless network technologies to
in-terconnect tag readers (denoted, nodes) provides
WKHEHQH¿WVRIZLUHGQHWZRUNUREXVWQHVVDQGORZ
PDLQWHQDQFHFRVWVZLWKWKHÀH[LELOLW\RIZLUHOHVV
network for adapting to changing needs In this type of network, all nodes have wireless capability
to communicate among themselves In addition, some of the nodes have Ethernet connections There are two possible scenarios
• Most of the nodes have both wireless and Ethernet connectivity, while the remaining nodes communicate via wireless links only This scenario models the situation where most of the tag readers are stationary and interconnected by Ethernet There are a few temporary tag readers that connect to the tag reader network via wireless links only
• Most of the nodes have wireless capability only and the other nodes have both wireless and Ethernet connectivity This scenario models the situation where most of the tag readers have only wireless capability and a few of the nodes are interconnected by a dif-ferent technology and link type to improve connection reliability and performance
We simulated both types of networks using the Glomosim simulator We used 81 nodes arranged
in a 9 u JULGLQDVT.P¿HOGDVVKRZQLQ Figure 14 The distance between adjacent nodes was 100 meters, and wireless radio transmission
Figure 13 An RFID ad hoc tag reader network; ovals represent tag readers, while squares indicate the RFID tags on items, cases or pallets
Tag Reader
Tag Reader
Tag Reader
Tag Reader
Tag Reader
Tag Reader
Trang 2byte packets generated at constant bit rate (CBR)
All nodes were stationary for the duration of the
simulation (600 seconds) All wired connections
were in a near neighbor mesh pattern, in which
each node was connected to its adjacent nodes in
the grid The maximum link speed was 2 Mbps
(million bits/second) for both wired and wireless
links Though these rates are not representative of
what is currently available, the simulation results
will be helpful in understanding performance
degradation with wireless links in Scenario A
and performance improvement with wired links
LQ6FHQDULR%:HXVHGXQLIRUPWUDI¿FSDWWHUQLQ
which each node sends data to all the other nodes
with equal probability We varied the offered
load to the network by varying the time between
consecutive packets generated by nodes
For Scenario A, we compared the performance
of two networks: one with all wired connections,
and another with 9 of the nodes (indicated in
black in Figure 14) spaced evenly in the grid
pattern with only wireless connectivity Static routes are used since most of the nodes are wired and mobility is not a practical option Figure 15 gives the performance impact of wireless vs wired connections Up to certain loads, the 9 nodes with only wireless links do as well as they would with wired connections Beyond that, the wireless transmission interference (interference range is 2-3 times that of valid reception range) limits achievable throughput For the data we present, loads up to 4 packets/second/node (20 Kbps/node) can be handled by the nodes with wireless links
For Scenario B, we simulated three different QHWZRUNFRQ¿JXUDWLRQV QRZLUHGOLQNV GHQRWHG 0f), wired links among 4 nodes (denoted in blue in Figure 14) that form an equidistant 2x2 grid (4f), and wired links among 9 nodes (black nodes in Figure 14) that form a 3x3 grid (9f) Though the nodes are stationary during the simulation, the primary reason for using an all-wireless or mostly ZLUHOHVVQHWZRUNLVWKHÀH[LELOLW\RIUHORFDWLQJWDJ
Figure 14 Layout of RFID tag reader network Adjacent nodes are separated by 100 m The size of the
¿HOGLV.Pu 1 Km Black (dark shade) nodes are the 9 wireless nodes in Scenario A and 9 nodes with wired connections among them in Scenario B Light shade nodes are the 4 nodes with wired connections among them in the Scenario B.
Trang 3readers as needed; to adapt to such network
topol-ogy changes, a dynamic ad hoc routing protocol
PXVW EH XVHG ,Q WKH WZR FRQ¿JXUDWLRQV ZLWK
static links, 4 or 12 wired links with 2-Mb/s data
rate are used Figure 16 shows the throughputs
of these three networks While adding 4 wired
links to an all wireless network provides about 20% improvement in peak throughput, 12 wired links provide as much as 67% improvement Since most of the nodes are wireless only, the network LVYHU\ÀH[LEOH
Figure 15 Impact of wireless links in an all-wired network; throughputs of nine nodes placed in a 3 u3 grid pattern are examined
Figure 16 Impact of wired links in an all-wireless network
Trang 4It is noteworthy that the results for Scenario B
are not directly comparable to those for Scenario
A since we used static routes in the latter case
For comparison purposes, we simulated the two,
wired networks with no static routes and ADV
as the dynamic routing protocol While the
all-wired network is not affected, the performance
of 9-wireless nodes case is reduced to about 12
Kbps/node, about 140% higher than that of the 9f
case in Scenario B But this performance comes
at a cost of wiring 72 nodes vs only 9
Using WiFi technology for warehouse
net-ZRUNVLVLQHYLWDEOHDQGEHQH¿FLDO5),'QHWZRUNV
represent good examples of using the technology,
initially considered suitable for military and
emergency civil applications, to improve
busi-ness productivity
VEHICULAR AD HOC NETWORKS
Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are exciting
and rapidly growing examples of ad hoc
network-ing in practice (ACM Sigmobile, 2005; IEEE
CCNC, 2005) The US FCC allocated 75 MHz
of spectrum in the 5.8-GHz band for dedicated
short-range communication (DSRC) in VANETs
(FCC, 2003) A new wireless standard, wireless
access for vehicular environments (WAVE),
de-noted IEEE 802.11p and based on WiFi, is being
developed Compared to the ad hoc networks
GHVFULEHGHDUOLHUWKHUHDUHVLJQL¿FDQWGLIIHUHQFHV
in the use and demands placed on VANETs
Two types of networking concepts will be used
to network moving vehicles: (a) One-hop wireless
connectivity from a vehicle to a roadside wireless
access point (V2R) and (b) multihop
connectiv-ity among vehicles (V2V) V2R connectivconnectiv-ity
is similar to Internet connectivity using WiFi
hotspots with mobility added V2V connectivity
will use ad hoc networking concepts similar to
mixed networks described earlier Since vehicular
movement is predictable, VANETs can be
de-VLJQHGWRSHUIRUPUHOLDEO\DQGHI¿FLHQWO\XQGHU network overload
VANETs will be used to improve driver safety
in addition to providing Internet connectivity to users Consequently, VANETs will be required
to support two classes of applications: safety and nonsafety applications Emergency road condi-tions, medical facility location, and passage of HPHUJHQF\ YHKLFOHV VXFK DV DPEXODQFHV ¿UH trucks, and police cars, are examples of safety applications Access to Internet, streaming multi-media to consumers in vehicles, road congestion advisory, and information of nearby service facili-ties, such as restaurants and stores, are examples
of nonsafety applications To accommodate both types of applications, multiple channels, with some
of them dedicated for safety applications and the others for applications in the order of priority, will
be used In contrast, WiFi is designed to use one channel for connectivity; multiple radios need to
be used for multichannel operation in MANETs and hotspot networks
VANETs differ from MANETs in terms of energy constraints and security Since the radios will be powered by the batteries and engines in vehicles, there will be few energy constraints On the other hand, security and disruption to network connectivity will be more problematic compared
to MANETs Security is more problematic since hackers with unlimited power and without the need to physical access to a network port can launch the type of attacks currently used on the Internet more easily Also, since VANETs use wireless links, which have less BW than the wired links used for the Internet, denial-of-service at-tacks can be devastating Also, lack of energy constraints mean radios can use high power levels for transmissions (intentionally or inadvertently), which will cause excessive radio interference and reduce V2V network performance
9$1(7V SURYLGH VLJQL¿FDQW QHZ EXVLQHVV opportunities for high-technology companies, service providers, and local businesses There are
Trang 5VLJQL¿FDQWLPSHGLPHQWVDVZHOO,QYROYHPHQWRI
the automobile industry will slow down the
pro-cess of developing and deploying new technologies
for VANETs A good example is the audio system
offered in new automobiles While the audio
play-ers in the consumer market advanced considerably,
most manufacturers continue to offer 20-year-old
technology as standard equipment, and do not
provide any option to connect user equipment
Owing to the intended use of VANETs, there will
EHVLJQL¿FDQWUHJXODWRU\FRQVWUDLQWVE\IHGHUDO
state, and local government agencies
SUMMARY
Multihop wireless networks based on WiFi
tech-QRORJ\RIIHUÀH[LEOHDQGLQH[SHQVLYHQHWZRUNLQJ
possibilities for various purposes ranging from
personal networks within consumer homes to
citywide departmental networks to wide area
vehicular ad hoc networks While the business
sig-QL¿FDQFHRIFLW\ZLGHDGKRFQHWZRUNVPD\QRWEH
clear in developed countries, these networks will
play a crucial role in reaching consumers in rural
areas in developing countries RFID networks
im-SURYHWKHHI¿FLHQF\DQGSURGXFWLYLW\LQWKHDUHDV
of manufacturing and distribution The biggest
DQGPRVWSUR¿WDEOHDUHDIRUEXVLQHVVRSSRUWXQL-ties may very well be vehicular ad hoc networks
Though the potential of wireless networks seems
limitless, the technology available today does not
provide dependable network performance of
reli-ability Extensive research is being conducted on
improving the network software and hardware
The future wireless standards, such as IEEE
802.11n, which uses advanced MIMO antennas
and new routing and transport protocols, will
facilitate designing ad hoc networks that will be
suitable for consumer use
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Rajendra Boppana’s research was partially sup-ported by NSF grants EIA-0117255 and AIA grant F30602-02-1-0001 Suresh Chalasani’s re-search was supported in part by summer rere-search grants awarded by the University of Wisconsin system
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2006, from http://www.cs.utsa.edu/faculty/bop-pana/projects
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Chalasani, S., Boppana, R V., & Sounderpandian,
J (2005) RFID tag reader designs for retail store
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Association for Information Systems
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Desliva, S A (2004) 7HFKQLTXHVWRPLWLJDWHWUDI¿F
RYHUORDGDQGSURWRFROLQHI¿FLHQFLHVLQPRELOHDG
hoc networks PhD dissertation, CS Department,
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hoc networks Presented at the IEEE Wireless
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notes and documentation The VINT Project,
UC Berkeley, LBL, USC/ISI, and Xerox PARC
Retrieved from http://www-mash.cs.berkeley
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Conference 2004-2006 IEEE.
IEEE Computer Society LAN/MAN Standards
Committee (1999) Part 11: Wireless LAN,
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Wireless Access Standards (2004) IEEE 802.16
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ANSI/IEEE 802.16)
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Ad hoc wireless networks: Architectures and
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This work was previously published in E-Business Process Management: Technologies and Solutions, edited by J Sounder-pandan and T Sinha, pp 155-174, copyright 2007 by IGI Publishing (an imprint of IGI Global).
Trang 8Utilization and Application
This section introduces and discusses the ways in which information technology has been used to shape the realm of e-business and proposes new ways in which IT-related innovations can be implemented within organizations and in society as a whole These particular selections highlight, among other topics, e-business for SME development, and factors affecting e-business adoption Contributions included in this section provide excellent coverage of today’s environment and insight into how e-business impacts the fabric of our present-day global village.
Trang 9Copyright © 2009, IGI Global, distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
Chapter 4.1
Small Business Collaboration
Through Electronic
Marketplaces
Yin Leng Tan
The University of Manchester, UK
Linda Macaulay
The University of Manchester, UK
INTRODUCTION
It is widely recognized that small businesses
ZLWK OHVV WKDQ HPSOR\HHV PDNH VLJQL¿FDQW
contributions to the prosperity of local, regional,
and national economies They are a major source
of job creation and a driving force of economic
growth for developed countries like the USA
(Headd, 2005; SBA, 2005), the UK (Dixon,
Thompson, & McAllister, 2002; SBS, 2005),
Europe (European Commission, 2003), and
de-veloping countries such as China (Bo, 2005) The
economic potential is further strengthened when
¿UPVFROODERUDWHZLWKHDFKRWKHU IRUH[DPSOH
formation of a supply chain, strategic alliances,
or sharing of information and resources (Horvath,
2001; O’Donnell, Cilmore, Cummins, & Carson,
2001; MacGregor, 2004; Todeva & Knoke, 2005)
Owing to heterogeneous aspects of small
busi-QHVVHVVXFKDV¿UPVL]HDQGEXVLQHVVVHFWRUD single e-business solution is unlikely to be suitable IRUDOO¿UPV 'L[RQHWDO 7D\ORU 0XUSK\ 2004a); however, collaboration requires individual
¿UPVWRDGRSWVWDQGDUGL]HGVLPSOL¿HGVROXWLRQV based on open architectures and data design (Horvath, 2001) The purpose of this article is to propose a conceptual e-business framework and
a generic e-catalogue, which enables small busi-nesses to collaborate through the creation of an e-marketplace To assist with the task, analysis of data from 6,000 small businesses situated within
a locality of Greater Manchester, England within the context of an e-business portal is incorporated within this study
Trang 10Small businesses are an important driving force
of economic growth and job creation throughout
the world A number of studies (Horvath, 2001;
O’Donnell et al., 2001; MacGregor, 2004; Todeva
.QRNH VKRZWKDWZKHQ¿UPVFROODER-rate or network with each other on a venture, the
SRWHQWLDOHFRQRPLFDQGEXVLQHVVEHQH¿WVFDQEH
enhanced The possible network opportunities
ZLWKRWKHU¿UPVLQFOXGHEXWDUHQRWOLPLWHGWR
1 Collaboration with other businesses to
pur-chase items such as fuel and raw materials,
and hence leverage collective buying power
in order to negotiate a better deal (Wang &
Archer, 2004)
2 Collaboration with other businesses to offer
complementary goods in order to increase
sales or to enter new markets (Wang &
Archer, 2004)
3 Collaboration with other businesses to share
information, such as product information,
customer demand, transaction information,
and inventory information (Ovalle &
Mar-quez, 2003)
4 Liaison with other complementary service
businesses to jointly bid for bigger contracts
and hence enabling small business to
com-pete with larger counterparts (MacGregor,
2004)
5 Liaison with other similar businesses to
jointly bid for a bigger contract than they
DUHDEOHWRIXO¿OE\WKHPVHOYHV
6 Form collaborative buyer-supplier
relation-ships
Despite government initiatives and support to
promote adoption of information collaboration
WHFKQRORJ\ ,&7 LQVPDOO¿UPVHDUOLHUVWXGLHV
show that ICT adoption by small businesses is still
very low with a number of barriers to adoption
EHLQJ LGHQWL¿HG 'L[RQ HW DO (XURSHDQ
Commission, 2002; Weiss, 2002; Fillis &
Wag-ner, 2004; Stockdale & Standing, 2004; Taylor & Murphy, 2004a, 2004b; MacGregor & Vrazalic,
)XUWKHUVPDOO¿UPVDUHKHWHURJHQHRXVLQ nature, therefore a single e-business solution is XQOLNHO\WREHDSSOLFDEOHWRDOO¿UPVDQGWUHDWLQJ e-business as a homogeneous concept is probably
a mistake (Dixon et al., 2002; Taylor & Murphy, 2004a; Fitzgerald, Papazafeiropoulou, Piris, & Serrano, 2005) In addition, supply chains with buyers and suppliers are not homogeneous (Mc-Ivor, Humphreys, & McCurry, 2003) Findings from McIvor et al suggest that the barriers to the adoption of supply chain systems do not lie pri-marily with the technology but with the business processes itself The effective implementation of e-business to support buyer-supplier relationships and to optimize the value chain requires that the e-business application is fully integrated into both the buyer’s and the supplier’s business ar-chitecture and technology infrastructure (McIvor
et al., 2003) It is therefore crucial that collabora-tion technology infrastructure should include the following features: open and low cost connectiv-LW\ODUJHDQGÀH[LEOHGDWDVWRUDJHV\VWHPVDQG channel integration, high security, self-service functionalities based on open architectures, and data schemes (Horvath, 2001)
THE E-BUSINESS FRAMEWORK
Doing business is a chain of collaborative pro-FHVVHV DVLQJOH¿UPFDQEHDEX\HUIRUDEXVLQHVV but also a seller for another business, therefore interactions among buyers, suppliers and trading partners are required (Adams, Koushik, Vasudeva,
& Galambos, 2003) A retail trade can utilize a one-to-many e-business solution to reach more DXGLHQFHVDQGPD[LPL]HSUR¿WVZKLOVWDWWKHVDPH time using a many-to-one e-procurement system
to streamline sourcing processes with its trading partners Firms can also employ a many-to-many e-marketplace to achieve the above However, in HPDUNHWSODFH UHVRXUFHV RI PXOWLSOH ¿UPV FDQ
...VSHFL¿FDWLRQV (Standard ANSI/IEEE802.11)
IEEE 802.16 Working Group on Broadband
Wireless Access Standards (2004) IEEE 802.16
standard: WirelessMAN standard... work was previously published in E-Business Process Management: Technologies and Solutions, edited by J Sounder-pandan and T Sinha, pp 155-174, copyright 2007 by IGI Publishing (an imprint of IGI... data-page="8">
Utilization and Application
This section introduces and discusses the ways in which information technology has been used to shape the realm of e-business and proposes new ways