On the Usage of Wireless Sensor Networks to Facilitate Composition/Decomposition of Physical Internet Containers

Expected to replace current logistic systems, the Physical Internet (PI) motivates to redesign its suitable logistic facilities in which the information system to manage all operations is also changed. In this context, the PI-containers and their encapsulation process (composition/decomposition) are key elements for an open global logistic infrastructure. Although the constitution of a composite container is assumed perfectly known when it was set up, the large variety of manual or automated handling, storage and routing operations in Physical Internet can introduce de synchronization between the real composition of a PI-container and the management information system. The reliance on active objects is a way to overcome this problem. Current RFID technology can serve to identify each container within radio range, but cannot pinpoint its exact location. Fine-grained RFID localization has recently received much attention but these approaches are mainly based on received signals’ parameters such as the signal strength (RSSI), time of flight (ToA/TDoA) or angle of arrival. The scope of this paper is to exploit the power of combining spontaneous networking offered by Wireless Sensor Networks with virtual representation. The proposed approach doesn’t depend on the quality of received signals that is important in harsh environment. The authors demonstrate that an instantaneous consolidated view of a composite container can be obtained and serve to synchronize both physical and informational flows providing new value-added services.