BTS RFID “DuplicateTagIdsElimination” has a serious bug.

Hello

In one of our BTS RFID implementations we are using the “DuplicateTagIdsElimination” event handler.

The event handler is part of BizTalk Server Code Samples.

The client was seeing a strange behaviour, the event handler will work properly for a while. but after some time, it would start to flag all RFID tags as duplicates.

I run a script to constantly send tags to the event handler to try to recreate the issue.

After letting it run for 24 hours, I noticed that the event handler was doing good until midnight, but right after midnight it started to mark all tags as dups.

I looked at the code: the event handler is using the current system time to determine when was a specific tag last seen. it then compares the current system time to the time embedded in the RFID tag itself.

If the elapsed time is bigger then a configurable value, the tag is marked as new, otherwise it is marked as dup.

the interesting lines in the code are:

currentTS = EventLog.getTimeStamp(System.DateTime.Now);// get the current system time

int tagTS = (int) entry.VendorSpecificData[TIMESTAMPKEY]; //get the time stamp imbedded in the tag
elapsedTime = currentTS - tagTS;// calculate the elapsed time.

The event handler fails (by marking valid tags a dups) after midnight because it uses “System.DateTime.Now” as a starting point.

“System.DateTime.Now” takes into consideration the current day.

so, a tag that was introduced at 05/22/20011 11:59:59PM will fail dup check at 05/23/2011 00:00:01AM because the day has changed and the elapsedTime values will be 86,400 (one day in seconds) instead of just 2 seconds.

To resolve this, I recommend using the dup elimination logic in BizTalk RFID Better Duplicate Tag Eliminator.

The code in this event handler is similar to the one provided from Microsoft, BUT uses different approach to calculate the elapsedTime value.

Good Luck

Uri

Read Full Post »

BizTalk RFID Azure Event Handlers

Hello

Today, I am proud to release the BizTalk RFID Azure Event Handlers as part of Tellago DevLabs.

 

Cloud RFID Event Handler enables uploading RFID TagReadEvents and TagListEvents to Azure storage.

The current version has 3 separate event handlers, one for each storage type, to support uploading RFID events to all 3 types of Azure storage: Blobs, Queues and Tables.

The basic concept is similar across all 3 event handlers: supply the event handler with a valid Azure account and the event handler will take care of the rest.

You can choose to use one of the event handlers or any combination of the three to achieve your specific business scenarios.

Once the events are uploaded to Azure storage, they will become available using the REST Storage Services API or custom code.

It is very important to note that all 3 event handlers return “TagReadEvent” so they can be used anywhere within the BizTalk RFID events pipeline. 

Usage Scenarios

The sky (Cloud) is the limit. Bringing the power of RFID with the ultimate visibility provided by the cloud opens the door for endless applications.

Open Supply Chain and Asset Visibility

RFID Journal states that the “EPCglobal Network ” will be used to “enable companies to share data in real time”. According to the article “When Company A ships a pallet full of soft drink, the tags on the cases and pallet are scanned as the shipment leaves, and software is used to automatically let Company B know the shipment has left the warehouse. Company B can look up data associated with the serial numbers on the shipment and learn what’s coming, when it will arrive and so on. When Company B receives the shipment, it scans the tags automatically, and a message can be immediately sent to Company A to let it know the shipment arrived”

The bold lines in the quote above can now be easily achieved by posting the RFID events to the cloud and thus enabling the open supply chain. The article then states that “The potential efficiencies created by this visibility are enormous. Companies would be able to reduce inventories while ensuring product is always in the right place at the right time”.

Security and Access Control

RFID has long been used as an electronic key to control who has access to office buildings or areas within office buildings. Many companies have the need to issue multiple cards to one employee since he needs access to multiple locations. Using the cloud event handles, companies can upload user id information to the cloud and centralize the authorization system.

 

Please see more documentation ,including installation and configuration, here.

 Good luck

 Uri

 

Read Full Post »

Tellago named a Finalist in the 2011 American Business Awards

Hello

I love working for Tellago.

Today we received an official testimony that Tellago is a great place to work for.

 Tellago has been selected as a Finalist in the 2011 American Business Awards  for Best Company of the Year (up to 100 employees) in the Computer Services, Electronics, Software or Telecommunications category.  (http://www.stevieawards.com/pubs/awards/403_2646_21012.cfm).

The American Business Awards are the nation’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.  More than 2,800 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in more than 40 categories, including Most Innovative Company of the Year, Management Team of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year, and Executive of the Year.  Tellago is one of seven finalists in our category. Finalists were chosen by business professionals nationwide during preliminary judging in April and May and winners will be selected from among the Finalists in each category next week by members of 10 specialized final judging committees.  More than 150 executives will have participated in judging and the winners will be announced at a banquet in New York on June 10^th. 

Good Luck

Uri

Read Full Post »

Tellago Technology Updates webinar series

Hello

We are living in very exciting times for the software industry as we are witnessing revolutions in areas such as cloud computing, mobility, NOSQL databases among others that are changing the way we think and implement applications.

Over the last two years, Tellago has developed some internal programs that allow us to keep up to date with the most relevant technologies across a variety of spaces such as enterprise software, open source, cloud computing, mobility and other technology areas that are changing the enterprise software ecosystem. Those programs have allowed us to adopt new technologies really efficiently in our daily work with customers.

Today, we are really pleased to announce the Tellago Technology Updates series. This program is a periodic series of webinar that will explore in detail debate some of the emerging technologies in the software industry as well as some of our implementation experiences. These Technology Updates are targeted to both IT executives trying to adopt these new technologies as well as developers and architects trying to implement them.

The first 2 webinars will be for “NOSQL DATABASES FOR THE .NET DEVELOPER” and “DEVELOPING .NET APPLICATIONS FOR IPHONE AND ANDROID”

You can follow the Technology Updates series at http://tellago.com/what_we_says/tellago-technology-updates

Good Luck

Uri

Read Full Post »