The Physical Internet paradigm opens a new way to describe and design how logistics organizations can work, with many managerial, engineering, and economical implications on supply chain performance, including sustainability and resilience. The Physical Internet, as its name suggests, builds on a metaphor from the network of computers networks: the (Digital) Internet. Described in several papers and book chapters (Montreuil 2011; Sarraj et al. 2012; Montreuil et al., 2013; Ballot et al. 2014), its core concept is the universal interconnection of logistics services and networks. To provide an introduction to this special topic forum, we first discuss the origin of the term Physical Internet. Second, we assess the current status of research and provide a literature review. Third, we showcase key PI issues and research challenges and we finish with a brief introduction of the papers that were selected for this special forum. The Physical Internet is inspired by the principles of the Digital Internet, so it is not a mere copy-and-paste of its constituents such as the transmission control and Internet protocols (TCP/IP). This is crucial as there are major differences between data packets on the digital side and parcels and freight on the physical side, and also major differences at the organization levels. The Physical Internet is also by definition different from the Internet of Things (IoT) defined by the connection of physical objects to the Digital Internet. This said, the IoT can be an enabler of the Physical Internet by increasing visibility and control of objects beyond a company’s information systems. The Physical Internet is about interconnecting the world’s logistic networks and is thus defining a new opportunity for supply chain design and operations, enabling seamless open asset sharing and flow consolidation, fulfilling society’s demand for physical objects with an order-of-magnitude better efficiency and sustainability, thanks to improved economies of scale and scope. Physical Internet success stems from interconnecting logistics actors on multiple layers, such as physical, digital, operational, transactional, and legal. Ultimately, the Physical Internet will enable universal interconnectivity with any organization, anytime and anywhere. This is a disruption of the mostly service or customer dedicated logistic networks. At supply chain design and management levels, the Physical Internet opens the way to completely new interconnected operations and business models with a clear goal to improve sustainability in a broad sense. For example, PI implies a redesign of freight transportation, with gradual shift to interconnected transportation. At the basic level, the PI interface will simplify switching between transport carriers (e.g., trailers, railcars) and transport containers. The containers will be moving in a quasi-continuous flow, without driving time limitations or vehicle recharging constraints, and with a continuous tracking of performance and liability to ensure the highest level of service and trust. The impact of the use of PI interfaces for transport containerization on handling and efficiency is well described (Levison, 2016). At a secondary level, PI redesign will improve shipment confidentiality and modular handling containers will improve intercarrier exchanges performed at multiparty sorting and crossdocking hubs, enabling a higher critical mass of flows between hubs, and therefore offer higher transport frequency and higher levels of services (Montreuil et al., 2016). Based on actual data from the consumer goods supply chain, an early simulation-based assessment study of the Physical Internet potential revealed that interconnected transportation enabled decrease of 15% in traveled km, an increase of 33% fill rate, and a decrease of 60% CO2 emissions (Sarraj et. al 2014). A similar transformational shift toward interconnected distribution is achievable by applying Physical Internet concepts to the dynamic smart deployment of goods in an open network of warehouses, distribution centers, and fulfillment centers. Early optimization and simulation-based assessment studies of interconnected distribution revealed significant improvement in efficiency (30% order of magnitude), responsiveness, resilience, and security, through a dynamic network approach securing supplies without duplication of safety stocks and fast fulfillment in line with market expectations (Sohrabi et al. 2016; Yang et al. 2017). The impact of COVID-19 has put a spotlight on such works for all sectors and not limited at the company level like previous analyses (Simchi-Levi et al., 2014). As a new paradigm, the Physical Internet induces changes in logistics organizations and in supply chain applications, but it is also evolving based on trends and supported by new and future research. The Digital Internet was also quite an original paradigm in organizations. Based on a set of protocols, not ISO standards, it was mainly developed by researchers with an associative, thus private governance and gradually adopted by the industry at large, toward its current extensive use across all societal and economic realms. The Digital Internet burst was a disruption compared with the classical interconnection rules already in place between telecom companies in charge of communication in a highly regulated environment. In general companies, and especially the services providers and network infrastructure operators, found in digital Internet concepts, principles, and protocols, notably TCP/IP, the technical solutions needed to settle new businesses with models such as transit contracts and peering bilateral agreements. In short, the Digital Internet brought three main components: a set of protocols independent of technologies, a business framework, and a mostly state-independent governance body. Logistics organizations have different origins. Among these, one is very similar to telecom: the postal services already interconnected under the Universal Postal Union regulations since the end of the nineteen century (https://www.upu.int/en/Home/). This organization still operates but is highly dependent on state-owned operators, sometimes hostage to political stakes, and it has offered few innovations in the last few decades. The other activities remain in the hands of logistics service providers with limited regulations and a continuous flow of innovations in services. To illustrate what PI can provide to the logistic sector, it is useful to consider the same three main interconnection components as previously discussed. From a technical point of view, standardization of tools and processes are not well adopted in the logistics sector. Notable exceptions are the maritime containers on the physical level and incoterms on the transactional level. There is a set of standardized dimensions for cardboard boxes [ISO 3394:2012] yet major players use their own designs. Even for pallets, there exist many standardized sizes, not to mention materials and strengths. The same goes for electronic data exchange (EDI), as messages are standardized but all companies use them in different ways, with minimal intercompany compatibility. The lack of universally adopted tools and processes is a strong barrier against shared solutions and a more efficient logistics process. From a business point of view, a classical approach to develop a logistics business is the expansion of a company by acquiring or integrating competitors in other territories or with specific complementary services. This approach is still at play between logisticians (Carbone and Stone, 2005) and also in the e-commerce sector with companies seeking the integration of logistics companies to maximize their value chain. With the integration, the working methods, the tools, and the codes are defined for the integrating company’s organization which can thus potentially achieve a high degree of consistency, but which remains limited to each such company. Despite the advantages of integration provided by economies of scale and scope, it is limited by investment capacity and antitrust regulations. The second classical approach to develop a logistics business is through the market. Contracting or subcontracting is important in logistics markets, notably for storage, trucking, and last-mile delivery. In most cases, each contract specifies its own set of terms, conditions, tools, and processes. This approach is also very dynamic with the proliferation of marketplaces to ease subcontracting at a larger scale. Between market and integration, a third approach has grown in the last few years, based on collaborative solutions such as alliances, traffic exchange agreements, and pooling (Cruijssen et al. 2007). This approach is the most similar to the Physical Internet paradigm. It seeks to improve the performance beyond the classical boundaries of firms by sharing resources and operations, but with less uncertainties associated with pure market transactions. However, such collaborative organizations, despite some merits, are limited to a few participants and are quite hard to generalize so far. To avoid any misunderstanding, the interconnected approach should not be positioned between the classical organizational approaches to improve logistics performance. It is not a new collaborative organization that would fall between market and integration in a transaction cost framework (Coase 1937). It is a set of protocols, interfaces, and tools, enabling interconnectivity on massive scale and scope that could drastically change business relations in the logistic sector. From a governance point of view, the goal is making the universal interconnection between logistics networks not only technically feasible and economically profitable, but also acceptable by society and industry. One way to make this all acceptable is to demonstrate that the Physical Internet can work, first at a limited scale with experimentations and businesses, so as to build trust and consensus about its design. If collaboration is needed, it is at the design stage of Physical Internet protocols, interfaces, and tools, when researchers and industry innovators can propose solutions and a roadmap, like the EU SENSE project led by ALICE European Technology Platform [https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/769967]. Concept proofing, pilot testing, experimentations, and improvements are leading the way toward wide scale adoption. At that point, governance of PI solutions will need to take place to define validated Physical Internet solutions and guide their implementation, adoption and evolution. Physical Internet research is enhancing and extending the scientific foundations; assessing the performance improvement potentiality; bridging the capability gaps, notably through new models, protocols, and designs; and validating feasibility and implementation hurdles, particularly through monitoring pilot projects and analyzing case studies (Pan et al. 2017). Research and innovation in packaging, handling, and transport containerization (Landschützer et al. 2015; Montreuil et al. 2016; Sallez et al. 2016) are gradually leading the way toward designed-for-logistics, smart, connected, and ecofriendly Physical Internet containers (e.g., aeler.com, livingpackets.com, poneragroup.com), notably with high-impact industry and trade agreements facilitating their development and deployment (e.g., Leblanc, 2020). Business model innovations in line with Physical Internet concepts are making headway in the market and prospering, as expected from Montreuil et al. (2013b). Examples abound, such as on-demand warehousing (e.g., flexe.com), open-access fulfillment network services (darkstore.com, sell.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon), open access delivery platforms (e.g., roadie.com), as well as freight and logistics marketplaces and apps (coyote.com, freightera.com, colivri, mixmove.io, uber.com/freight). Several large logistic players are currently investigating whether and how to evolve stepwise toward the Physical Internet for themselves. For example, logistics and delivery service providers such as Americold, SF Express, and UPS have engaged in major PI research projects with Georgia Tech’s Physical Internet Center. With multinational corporations, the first steps are usually started by aiming toward a Physical Intranet interconnecting their multiple internal networks and activities, and then gradually consider more open multiparty approaches. As an example, UPS has invested in Ware2Go, a technology company and platform to match merchant needs with flexible fulfillment, recruiting and certifying warehouses in strategic locations, enabling merchants to position products closer to their customers, leveraging the scope and scale of UPS’s network to provide an integrated delivery solution to improve management of the order-to-delivery experience (UPS, 2018). The growing piecemeal PI exploration and adoption by industry, from startups to established corporations, highlights why research and innovation projects with collaboration between industry and academia are so important in the current context. There have been several articles that provided a good systematic literature review of the latest published research in the Physical Internet such as Pan, Ballot, Huang, and Montreuil (2017), Sternberg and Norrman (2017), Matusiewicz et al. (2020) and Treiblmaier, Mirkovski, Lowry, and Zacharia (2020). The following review of recently published PI research provides an update and brief overview of the articles published in 2019 and 2020 that have not been previously reviewed. They also help to position the PI paradigm, identity enablers, and propose implementations with tools or in specific areas. The positioning of the Physical Internet as a new paradigm is still an active scientific debate with several new contributions since last year. Through their literature review, Fergani et al. 2019 propose a general taxonomy for PI, distinguishing between research areas that are not as well covered and providing avenues for further research. Two other papers chose to position PI in comparison with actual approaches. Cornejo et al. (2020) provide an overview of both PI and Lean to show the relationship between both paradigms, and they highlight the potential benefit of value stream mapping for contrasting current and Physical Internet solutions in terms of PI goals. Ambra et al. (2019) exposed the relationships between the concepts of synchromodal transport systems and the Physical Internet, as both were developed to improve socioeconomic conditions and environmental sustainability. Their research identifies potential synergies, future research directions, and critical questions to be considered. Another set of papers focuses on enablers such as the one proposed by Meyer et al. (2019). It develops a Blockchain-based 4-layered framework to overcome some of the barriers within PI associated with the exchange of value and physical assets in decentralized logistics networks. Betti et al. (2019a, 2019b) investigate the exploitation of Blockchain distributed ledgers and smart contracts in interconnected logistics and validate the potential by coupling an agent-oriented discrete-events simulation with a Blockchain platform. In the same vein, Tran-Dang et al. (2020) investigate the application of Internet of Things technologies, building blocks, and a service-oriented architecture to accelerate the implementation of PI. Propose an open network-model approach for providing infrastructural data sovereignty that will enable the sharing of sensitive operational data as required for realizing PI. From another perspective, Lafkihi et al. (2019) use gamification methodology to compare a centralized approach, based on a central authority that optimizes transport plans for all carriers, versus a decentralized approach where carriers optimize their own transport plans, as found in simple PI implementations. Results indicate centralization outperforms in terms of global efficiency and effectiveness; while decentralization is better for individual incentives. The last proposed set of papers focuses on solutions for existing problems or new problems raised by new types of operations. Osmólski et al. (2019) present dedicated PI solutions to logistic processes such as modular transport units and real-time planning and information exchange, as well as properly communication et al. (2019) the use of interconnected and systems for an existing freight in a PI leading to a dynamic real-time for et al. (2019) a optimization model that can be for dynamic and within the industry. et al. (2019) focuses on operations in a They the as a model with and validated through an et al. (2019) a simulation that multiple in a flexible dynamic can a shift toward transport that are useful in PI. et al. (2019) a key of the Physical Internet is the need for interconnected that a and they that a model better for high vehicle and a model better for vehicle From a perspective, et al. 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There is a need for more operational of PI, both on a larger scale and more open to in the research some companies use concepts to the Physical Internet, in Physical Intranet the limited communication on this the of still The open-access sharing of resources and flow consolidation, in the broad between logistic companies should therefore to be the of research to better the associated with their performance and the conditions for their The of operations is such that to and will also be to the for each of the operators, as by Lafkihi et al. (2020). 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The demands for the fairness, security, and efficiency of the supply chain have grown significantly due to the rise of globalization. However, some problems of the information flow, logistics, and capital flow in the supply chain remain a challenge, such as the information asymmetry between upstream and downstream, substandard quality of goods, difficulty in traceability, and default of payment. Therefore, this paper proposes a blockchain-based supply chain framework (SESCF), which solves the supply chain problems securely and efficiently. First, the use of blockchain and smart contracts ensures the information symmetry in the supply chain system. Second, the radio frequency identification (RFID) provides a unique identity of goods, which helps in real-time quality monitoring. Additionally, the immutability and distributed storage of the blockchain play an important role in tracking the origin of goods. Third, the efficient payment channel is used to solve the problem of payment defaults. Furthermore, simulations of smart contracts along with the security analyses are presented in this paper. We also implement a blockchain-based supply chain system (SescfDapp), which is built upon a Consortium blockchain. Large-scale experiments and detailed analysis prove the feasibility and efficiency of our proposed system.
In tracing the (robotically automated) logistics of large quantities of goods, inexpensive passive RFID tags are preferred for cost reasons. Accordingly, security between such tags and readers have primarily been studied among many issues of RFID. However, the authenticity of data cannot be guaranteed if logistics services can give false information. Although the use of blockchain is often discussed, it is simply a recording system, so there is a risk that false records may be written to it. As a solution, we propose a design in which a digitally signing, location-constrained and tamper-evident reader atomically writes an evidence to blockchain along with its reading and writing a tag. By semi-formal modeling, we confirmed that the confidentiality and integrity of the information can be maintained throughout the system, and digitally signed data can be verified later despite possible compromise of private keys or signature algorithms, or expiration of public key certificates. We also introduce a prototype design to show that our proposal is viable. This makes it possible to trace authentic logistics information using inexpensive passive RFID tags. Furthermore, by abstracting the reader/writer as a sensor/actuator, this model can be extended to IoT in general.
Product serialization aims to allocate unique serial numbers to products in a supply chain. The security challenges to product serialization are: • Valid serial numbers can be stolen and used to label fake products. Thus uniqueness of a serial number should be verifiable at any stage of its lifecycle in a supply chain. • A planned change of custody of a product in distribution can be corrupted by a few intimidatory nodes. Compliance with the planned change of custody should be verifiable. • The manufacturer and the consumer should be able to verify that perishable food products with expired shelf life are discarded. In this paper, we use blockchains to develop a product serialization method that solves the above security issues in a multi-party perishable good supply chain. Blockchains can revolutionize security and transparency in supply chains by providing a secure data-sharing platform in a multi-party environment. Although blockchains can provide a secure data storage of change of custody events of products in a supply chain, a high volume of such events poses scalability problems for blockchains. In this paper, we solve the product serialization problem using blockchain offline channels. Our solution significantly reduces the number of transactions needed to be recorded in the blockchain. We propose a secure serialization protocol to verify the authenticity of serial numbers despite not frequently engaging with the blockchain.
A key communication technology in smart cities and smart buildings for automation is RFID. Proving the simultaneous presence of a group of RFID-tagged objects is a practical need in many application areas within this domain. Some examples of this include vehicle fleets, smart parking, safety in public places (smart cities), security and access control (smart buildings), and asset location (supply chain system, health care industry). Security, privacy, and efficiency are central issues when designing such a grouping-proof protocol. This work is motivated by Sundaresan et al.'s grouping-proof protocol, which applies zero-knowledge techniques. In this paper, we propose a lightweight, offline, serial-dependency grouping-proof protocol. Compared to existing grouping-proof protocols, our scheme improves on efficiency, scalability, security, and communication cost. It resists well-known attacks on grouping-proofs including tag/reader impersonation, tracking, replay, desynchronization, and message integrity.
La technologie des registres distribués blockchain a perturbé et révolutionné le monde en introduisant un système transactionnel décentralisé traditionnel permettant l'échange de devises et de données de manière sécurisée. Le suivi de la chaîne d'approvisionnement est un domaine qui pourrait grandement bénéficier de cette avancée. Actuellement, les chaînes d'approvisionnement centralisées souffrent d'un manque de transparence et de contrôle des stocks pour vérifier la qualité des produits traités et éviter des problèmes tels que la contrefaçon. Le processus de gestion de la chaîne d'approvisionnement traditionnel insuffisant pour localiser un produit tout au long du processus de développement et de transport et conduit à la nécessité de réorganiser la manière de gérer la traçabilité des biens de consommation. Cette thèse tente d'évaluer la faisabilité de l'utilisation d'une chaîne d'approvisionnement avec un système de registres distributés IOTA pour des applications IoT. Pour valider le concept, une chaîne logistique pharmaceutique est mise en œuvre pour obtenir des données de capteurs de température, d'humidité et GNSS à partir d'un microprocesseur à faible puissance et à faible coût pour stocker et envoyer de manière fiable et sécurisée des données et les envoyer à une nouvelle structure de chaîne de blocs. Nous en faisons la démonstration avec un CC2650 SensorTag en tant que dispositif de systèmes intégrés, le X-NUCLEO-GNSS1A1 pour le module de positionnement et un Raspberry Pi 3, proxy IOTA, pour mesurer le temps, l’énergie et l’efficacité de la création de transactions et le calcul du \guillemotleft proof of work \guillemotright. Nous analysons également les résultats de l'expérience et discutons des avantages et des inconvénients de la mise en œuvre
Purpose There is great interest in blockchain in the supply chain yet there is little empirical research to support the consideration of the technology. Ferdows (2018) calls for research aimed at learning from pioneers in the field and Gartner points out that the interest in blockchain holds similarities to the interest surrounding RFID 15 years ago. As a result, there may be opportunities to leverage insights from RFID research to inform the consideration of blockchain. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the Reyes et al. (2016) framework for the implementation of RFID may inform the consideration of blockchain in the supply chain. Design/methodology/approach A two-stage approach is used to explore RFID implementation considerations from the Reyes et al. (2016) RFID implementation framework, using an initial exploration of managers interested in blockchain using a focus group and a survey and to more in depth explore three case companies pioneering blockchain. Findings Several RFID implementation considerations can inform the consideration of blockchain but there are also differences in considering blockchain. A framework is developed that details considerations found to be relevant by implementation stage. Originality/value This paper adds to the limited amount of empirical research on blockchain in the supply chain and advances research beyond the consideration of use cases into the exploration of actual implementation of blockchain in the supply chain. The decision framework developed both leverages and nuances findings from RFID research and can inform managerial decision making. It also adds to research a multi-stage approach to implementation and uncovers rich opportunity to further learn from pioneers.
Srinivas Jangirala, Ashok Kumar Das, Athanasios V. Vasilakos
Secure real-time data about goods in transit in supply chains needs bandwidth having capacity that is not fulfilled with the current infrastructure. Hence, 5G-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) in mobile edge computing is intended to substantially increase this capacity. To deal with this issue, in this article, we design a new efficient lightweight blockchain-enabled radio frequency identification (RFID)-based authentication protocol for supply chains in 5G mobile edge computing environment, called lightweight blockchain-enabled RFID-based authentication protocol (LBRAPS). LBRAPS is based on bitwise exclusive-or (XOR), one-way cryptographic hash and bitwise rotation operations only. LBRAPS is shown to be secure against various attacks. Moreover, the simulation-based formal security verification using the broadly-accepted Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool assures that LBRAPS is secure. Finally, it is shown that LBRAPS has better trade-off among its security and functionality features, communication and computation costs as compared to those for existing protocols.
Nicholas Kolokotronis, Konstantinos Limniotis, Stavros Shiaeles, Romain Griffiths
Blockchain is a disruptive technology that has been characterised to be the next big thing and has already gained a broad recognition by experts in diverse fields. In this paper, we consider possible use cases and applications of the blockchain for the consumer electronics (CE) industry and its interplay with the Internet of things. Instead of discussing how the blockchain can revolutionise the supply chain, we focus on how it could be employed for enhancing the security of networked CE devices. This work is motivated by the large number of recent attacks that use easily hackable devices as a weaponry. Towards this direction, privacy and data protection aspects of blockchain solutions are also presented and are linked to regulatory framework provisions. Information on existing blockchain solutions is also provided.
Open access
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cs.CR
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) and Hardware Security
BACKGROUND: An efficient inventory control system would help optimize the use of resources and eventually help improve patient care. OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to find out the surgical consumables using always, better, and control (ABC) and vital, essential, and desirable (VED) technique as well as calculating the lead time of specific category A and vital surgical consumables. METHODS: This was a descriptive, record-based study conducted from January to March 2016 in the surgical stores of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. The study comprised all the surgical consumables which were procured during the financial year 2014-2015. Stores ledger containing details of the consumption of the items, supply orders, and procurement files of the items were studied for performing ABC analysis and calculating the lead time. A list of surgical consumables was distributed to the doctors, nursing staff, technical staff, and hospital stores personnel to categorize them into VED categories after explaining them the basis for the classification. RESULTS: ABC analysis revealed that 35 items (14%), 52 items (21%), and 171 items (69%) were categorized into A (70% annual consumption value [ACV]), B (20% ACV), and C (10% ACV) category, respectively. In the current study, vital items comprised the majority of the items, i.e., 73% of the total items and essential (E) category of items comprised 26% of all the items. The average internal, external, and total lead time was 17 days (range 3-30 days), 25 days (range 5-38) and 44 days (range 18-98 days), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals stores need to implement inventory management techniques to reduce the number of stock-outs and internal lead time.
Previous research studies mostly focused on enhancing the security of radio frequency identification (RFID) protocols for various RFID applications that rely on a centralized database. However, blockchain technology is quickly emerging as a novel distributed and decentralized alternative that provides higher data protection, reliability, immutability, transparency, and lower management costs compared with a conventional centralized database. These properties make it extremely suitable for integration in a supply chain management system. In order to successfully fuse RFID and blockchain technologies together, a secure method of communication is required between the RFID tagged goods and the blockchain nodes. Therefore, this paper proposes a robust ultra-lightweight mutual authentication RFID protocol that works together with a decentralized database to create a secure blockchain-enabled supply chain management system. Detailed security analysis is performed to prove that the proposed protocol is secure from key disclosure, replay, man-in-the-middle, de-synchronization, and tracking attacks. In addition to that, a formal analysis is conducted using Gong, Needham, and Yahalom logic and automated validation of internet security protocols and applications tool to verify the security of the proposed protocol. The protocol is proven to be efficient with respect to storage, computational, and communication costs. In addition to that, a further step is taken to ensure the robustness of the protocol by analyzing the probability of data collision written to the blockchain.
The paper discusses the possibility of combining RFID and Blockchain technology to more effectively prevent counterfeiting of products or raw materials, and to solve problems related to production, logistics and storage. Linking these technologies can lead to better planning by increasing the transparency and traceability of industrial or logistical processes or such as efficient detection of critical chain sites.
Michael D. Santonino, Constantine M. Koursaris, Michael Williams
Radio Frequency Identification, or RFID, has been gaining momentum within the aviation industry for improving efficiencies in the supply chain. RFID technology is not new, with many manufacturers outside of aviation being more responsive as early adopters to the technology. Currently, many of the full-scale implementation organizations from late adopters, have strategically integrated RFID technology into the manufacturing supply chain to tag parts and for airports/airlines to track baggage and passengers throughout their airport journey. Literature remains rather sparse in the implementation and success factors within the aviation supply chain as a number of businesses have kept much of the details discreet to differentiate themselves from the competitors. In this case study, we have examined the state of the early adopters in aviation to implement RFID technology into their supply chain for tracking parts, identifying information, logistics media, and other process improvements in component maintenance management. Airbus, who was the first in the aviation industry to adopt RFID will be examined. The paper examines the increasing numbers of airports/airlines use of RFID to track baggage and passengers with technology. Using information from published secondary data, we review the early adopters of RFID in aircraft manufacturing who are employing RFID to the improve supply chain and how airports/airlines usage of RFID has transcend to passenger tracking to improve airport operational efficiency and to increase passenger satisfaction. By identifying key trends in the aviation supply chain and the value-added in manufacturing and passenger experiences, this paper presents areas in need of further empirical research in order to understand the key success factors with RFID implementation in aviation.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been expanded to be used in different fields that need automatic identifying and verifying of tagged objects without human intervention. RFID technology offers a great advantage in comparison with barcodes by providing accurate information, ease of use and reducing of labour cost. These advantages have been utilised by using passive RFID tags. Although RFID technology can enhance the efficiency of different RFID applications systems, researchers have reported issues regarding the use of RFID technology. These issues are making the technology vulnerable to many threats in terms of security and privacy. Different RFID solutions, based on different cryptography primitives, have been developed. Most of these protocols focus on the use of passive RFID tags. However, due to the computation feasibility in passive RFID tags, these tags might be vulnerable to some of the security and privacy threats. , e.g. unauthorised reader can read the information inside tags, illegitimate tags or cloned tags can be accessed by a reader. Moreover, most consideration of reserchers is focus on single tag authentication and mostly do not consider scenarios that need multi-tag such as supply chain management and healthcare management. Secret sharing schemes have been also proposed to overcome the key management problem in supply chain management. However, secret sharing schemes have some scalability limitations when applied with high numbers of RFID tags. This work is mainly focused on solving the problem of the security and privacy in multi-tag RFID based system. In this work firstly, we studied different RFID protocols such as symmetric key authentication protocols, authentication protocols based on elliptic curve cryptography, secret sharing schemes and multi-tag authentication protocols. Secondly, we consider the significant research into the mutual authentication of passive RFID tags. Therefore, a mutual authentication scheme that is based on zero-knowledge proof have been proposed . The main object of this work is to develop an ECC- RFID based system that enables multi-RFID tags to be authenticated with one reader by using different versions of ECC public key encryption schemes. The protocol are relied on using threshold cryptosystems that operate ECC to generate secret keys then distribute and stored secret keys among multi RFID tags. Finally, we provide performance measurement for the implementation of the proposed protocols.
John Dixon, Stefano Penazzi, Amar Ramudhin, Ken Hawick
Blockchain technologies have been shown to be able to successfully underpin secure online financial services (e.g. Bitcoin), and have since developed a reputation as a fix-all solution for transparency, accountability and security issues in storing data and transactions in both public and private settings. However, cross-business consortiums with obvious use-cases, such as those evident in the logistics supply chain, are not yet regularly adopting a common blockchain for transaction storage and accountability because of a lack of understanding and trust. Furthermore, because blockchains are commonly designed to send raw data, visible to every connected node, the potential for competitors or unauthorized parties to analyze the common ledger and discover business secrets is a clear cause for apprehension. In this paper, we analyze the problems facing the uptake of blockchain technologies in supply chain management, inspect a relevant supply chain scenario with reference to the place of the blockchain within real-world logistics data management, and describe a technical and architectural approach which allows scalable, private sharing of business data whilst retaining the accountability and integrity of the blockchain.
Kentaroh Toyoda, P. Takis Mathiopoulos, Iwao Sasase, Tomoaki Ohtsuki
For more than a decade now, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been quite effective in providing anti-counterfeits measures in the supply chain. However, the genuineness of RFID tags cannot be guaranteed in the post supply chain, since these tags can be rather easily cloned in the public space. In this paper, we propose a novel product ownership management system (POMS) of RFID-attached products for anti-counterfeits that can be used in the post supply chain. For this purpose, we leverage the idea of Bitcoin's blockchain that anyone can check the proof of possession of balance. With the proposed POMS, a customer can reject the purchase of counterfeits even with genuine RFID tag information, if the seller does not possess their ownership. We have implemented a proof-of-concept experimental system employing a blockchain-based decentralized application platform, Ethereum, and evaluated its cost performance. Results have shown that, typically, the cost of managing the ownership of a product with up to six transfers is less than U.S. $1.
Juan José Echevarria, Jon Legarda, Janire Larrañaga, Jonathan Ruiz-de-Garibay
Device-to-Device (D2D) communication enables devices in proximity to establish a wireless direct link. However, these devices may be severely constrained in terms of memory, CPU, and processing resources. Hence, a D2D communication with a constrained device implies new challenges as it does not have the resources required to be secured with standard cryptography. We propose lwAKE for class 0 devices (RFC 7228), which uses one-way cryptographic functions and zero-knowledge proofs to provide mutual authentication and a secure key establishment. We specify the protocol using the High Level Protocol Specification Language and then verify the security properties using the model checkers OFMC and CL-AtSe. The significance of the protocol stands in a key reuse for any successive authentication. Experimental results show that this shortened authentication mode reduces the computational load greatly.
In this paper, we propose a novel zero knowledge grouping proof protocol for RFID Systems. Over the years, several protocols have been proposed in this area but they are either found to be vulnerable to certain attacks or do not comply with the EPC Class 1 Gen 2 (C1G2) standard because they use hash functions or other complex encryption schemes. Also, the unique design requirements of grouping proofs have not been fully addressed by many. Our protocol addresses these important security and design gaps in grouping proofs. We present a novel approach based on pseudo random squares and quadratic residuosity to realize a zero knowledge system. Tag operations are limited to functions such as modulo (MOD), exclusive-or (XOR) and 128 bit Pseudo Random Number Generators (PRNG). These can be easily implemented on passive tags and hence achieves compliance with the EPC Global standard while meeting the security requirements.
In this paper, we propose a secure yoking proof protocol for RFID passive tags based on Zero Knowledge. The protocols that have been proposed earlier are either found to be vulnerable to certain attacks or do not comply with EPC standard for passive tags because they use complex encryption schemes. Also, the unique design requirements of yoking/grouping proofs have not been fully addressed by many. Our protocol addresses these important security and design gaps in yoking proofs. The proposed protocol uses pseudo random squares and quadratic residuosity to realize the zero knowledge property. Tag operations are limited to functions such as modulo (MOD), exclusive-or (XOR) and 128-bit Pseudo Random Number Generators (PRNG). Passive tags are capable of these operations and hence the protocol achieves EPC compliance and also meets the necessary security requirements.
The main goal of this work is the design and analysis of passive components employing metamaterial structures and in particular the wire medium metamaterial. Although there has been a lot of research interest in the physics of such metamaterial structures, there are not many resources available describing the behaviour of classical components, such as waveguides and cavity resonators, that are formed by metamaterials. Therefore, the aforementioned widely used devices, are realized with the deployment of the "Fakirs bed of nails" and their performance is analyzed. Our motivation is to expand existing analytical models and their applications to commonly used passive electromagnetic components, with a view to explore potentially new applications. As a means of study analytical techniques together with numerical simulations and measurements were used. This thesis is structured in the following chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the basic principles of electromagnetics and their use on the framework of metamaterials; as illustrations some state of the art applications are presented. The next chapter is a literature review covering the work that has been done in the area of our main research interest (i.e., the Fakir's bed of nails as a metamaterial). An overview of the mathematics describing its behaviour is given as well as applications of the proposed structure. Attention has been paid on the latest studies because they provide complete physical insight. Some results from this chapter are used later as background knowledge for the analysis of passive components. This chapter is intended to lay the foundations for the reader to continue reading the rest of this work without the need to look in the literature. Chapter three investigates the dispersion effects in parallel-plate waveguides with both plates being realized by the Fakir's bed of nails. This chapter serves as an example as to how the Fakir's bed of nails can be used to form components. An analytical solution describing the behaviour of the waveguide is presented and compared against full wave numerical simulations. Chapter four presents a theoretical study of the resonant behaviour of metallic nanorods. A clear analogy between the coupled rods and the split rings/split squares is shown. The decline in the resonant frequency as the gap decreases, previously described in terms of self-capacitance, is interpreted by surface plasmons coupled across the gap. Chapter five presents a new enabling technology for implementing tunable rectangular waveguide components and circuits with the use of 2D and 3D metamaterials; a holey metal surface and wire media, respectively. As proof of concepts, results for tunable rectangular waveguide filters are presented with the use of pin block inductive irises and capacitive posts. Furthermore, by adapting the traditional metal-pipe rectangular waveguide for tunability, regions of the solid metal walls are replaced by holey metasurfaces. Prototype tunable structures were measured for verification and good agreement is achieved between full-wave numerical simulations and measurements. Chapter six analyzes a radically new design of waveguide verification device, suitable for measuring instruments such as Vector Network Analyzers. The device is designed to enable its roperties to be changed, by known amounts, after the device has been connected to the system that requires verification. The performance of the device is based on introducing relative changes in the transmitted and reflected signals and so is insensitive to errors introduced by waveguide flange imperfections. This makes the technique, in principle, ideally suited for waveguide VNAs operating at millimeter- and submillimeter-wave frequencies where these flange errors can dominate the measurements. A verification device is designed, simulated and tested in WR-15 waveguide (50-75 GHz). The last part of this thesis presents a rigorous analysis of lossy spherical cavity resonators starting from first principles. The electromagnetic field inside the spherical cavity is expanded in normal waveguide modes and the eigenfrequencies of the cavity resonator are obtained analytically by enforcing the appropriate boundary conditions at the cavity wall. Unlike perturbation techniques, used when low losses are present, there are no inherent limitations in the presented analysis and, therefore, its applicability range is much broader. Exact analytical results, acting as a benchmark reference standard, are compared to those generated independently by two commercial full-wave simulation software packages (HFSS and COMSOL). When the wall transforms from being a perfect electrical conductor to free space, as its intrinsic conductivity decreases from infinity to zero, it is found that the eigenmode solvers with both software packages increasingly fail. With both software packages, all possible modeling strategies have been investigated and their associated limitations identified. Moreover, a plane-wave approximation model is proposed that accurately predicts the numerical simulation results.
Counterfeit products, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, have plagued the international community for decades. To combat this problem, many anti-counterfeiting approaches have been proposed. They use either Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Near Field Communication (NFC) physical tags affixed to the products. Current anti-counterfeiting approaches detect two counterfeiting attacks: (1) modifications to a product's tag details, such as changing the expiration date; and (2) cloning of a genuine product's details to reuse on counterfeit products. In addition, these anti-counterfeiting approaches track-and-trace the physical locations of products as the products flow through supply chains. Existing approaches suffer from two main drawbacks. They cannot detect tag reapplication attacks, wherein a counterfeiter removes a legitimate tag from a genuine product and reapplies it to a counterfeit or expired product. Second, most existing approaches typically rely on a central server to authenticate products. This is not scalable and creates tremendous processing burden on the server, since significant volumes of products flood through the supply chain's nodes. In addition, centralized supply chains require substantial data storage to store authentication records for all products. Moreover, as with centralized systems, traditional supply chains inherently have the problem of a single-point of failure. The thesis of this dissertation is that a robust, scalable, counterfeiting-resistant supply chain that addresses the above drawbacks and can be simultaneously achieved by (i) using a combination of NFC tags on products and a distributed ledger such as blockchain for reapplication-proof, decentralized, and transparent product authentication (ii) a novel game-theoretical consensus protocol for enforcing true decentralization, and enhancing the protocol's security and performance. In this dissertation, we first propose a new Tag Reapplication Detection (TRD) system to detect reapplication attacks using low-cost NFC tags and public key cryptography. To detect reapplication attacks, TRD tracks the number of times a tag has been read in the supply chain using a 'central' authentication server. Second, leveraging the blockchain technology, we propose the Block-Supply Chain, a transformation of TRD into a decentralized supply chain. In this chain, each node maintains a blockchain (distributed public ledger) per product. This blockchain comprises chained blocks, where each is an authentication event. The Block-Supply Chain can detect tag reapplication attacks and can replace the centralized supply chain design, thus overcoming the centralization issues. One of the fundamental characteristics of blockchain technology is the consensus protocol. Consensus protocols ensure that all nodes in the blockchain network agree on the validity of a