download this standard epc/rfid dci 1

Copyright © 2006-2009 EPCglobal®

, All Rights Reserved. of 26

1

Discovery, Configuration, and Initialization (DCI) 2

for Reader Operations 3

Version: Ratified Standard 1.0 4

June 10, 2009 5

Disclaimer 6

EPCglobal Inc™ is providing this document as a service to interested industries. This 7

document was developed through a consensus process of interested parties. 8

Although efforts have been to assure that the document is correct, reliable, and technically 9

accurate, EPCglobal Inc. makes NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT THIS 10

DOCUMENT IS CORRECT, WILL NOT REQUIRE MODIFICATION AS EXPERIENCE AND 11

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES DICTATE, OR WILL BE SUITABLE FOR ANY PURPOSE OR 12

WORKABLE IN ANY APPLICATION, OR OTHERWISE. Use of this document is with the 13

understanding that EPCglobal Inc has no liability for any claim to the contrary, or for any 14

damage or loss of any kind or nature. 15

16

Please be advised that this DCI Standard references the CAPWAP protocol from IETF. As 17

always your legal counsel should review the standard and protocol for intellectual property 18

issues before implementation. 19

20

Copyright notice 21

© 2006-2009 EPCglobal Inc. 22

All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction, modification, and/or use of this document is not permitted. 23 Requests for permission to reproduce should be addressed to [email protected]. 24 25 EPCglobal Inc.

TM is providing this document as a service to interested industries. This document was 26

developed through a consensus process of interested parties. Although efforts have been to assure that the 27 document is correct, reliable, and technically accurate, EPCglobal Inc. makes NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR 28 IMPLIED, THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS CORRECT, WILL NOT REQUIRE MODIFICATION AS EXPERIENCE 29 AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES DICTATE, OR WILL BE SUITABLE FOR ANY PURPOSE OR 30 WORKABLE IN ANY APPLICATION, OR OTHERWISE. Use of this Document is with the understanding that 31 EPCglobal Inc. has no liability for any claim to the contrary, or for any damage or loss of any kind or nature 32

33

mailto:[email protected]



Abstract 34

This document specifies a new device, called an Access Controller, which performs several DCI 35

functions. This document also specifies several initial configuration requirements that an RFID Reader 36

or Client must satisfy, in order for DCI operations to be successful. The purpose of the protocol 37

specified here is to identify how the Reader is able to discover one or more Clients, the Client to 38

discover one or more Readers, and for the Reader to obtain configuration information, download 39

firmware, and initialize operations to allow other Reader Operation protocols to operate. 40

Audience for this document 41

The target audience for this specification includes: 42

RFID Network Infrastructure vendors 43

Reader vendors 44

EPC Middleware vendors 45

System integrators 46

Status of this document 47

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication within the Working 48

Group, Technical and Business Steering Committees and the EPCglobal Board. This document has 49

completed all the required EPCglobal Standards Development Process steps and it has been fully ratified 50

by the EPCglobal Board on June 10th

, 2009. 51

Comments on this document should be sent to the attention of EPCglobal Software Action Group 52

Reader Operations Working Group using the following email address: [email protected]. 53

54

mailto:[email protected]



Table of Contents 55

Discovery, Configuration, and Initialization (DCI) for Reader Operations ............................................... 1 56

Version: Pending Recommended Specification 1.0 .............................................................................. 1 57

1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 5 58

2 Role within the EPCglobal Network Architecture ............................................................................... 6 59

3 Terminology and Typographical Conventions ..................................................................................... 6 60

4 Overview of DCI .................................................................................................................................. 7 61

5 Initial Conditions for Reader and Access Controller ........................................................................... 8 62

6 Discovery protocol ............................................................................................................................... 8 63

6.1 Discovery protocol operation ........................................................................................................ 8 64

6.2 Reader operation during discovery ................................................................................................ 8 65

6.2.1 Discovery Type ....................................................................................................................... 8 66

6.2.2 WTP Descriptor ...................................................................................................................... 8 67

6.2.3 WTP Frame Tunnel Mode ...................................................................................................... 9 68

6.2.4 WTP MAC Type ..................................................................................................................... 9 69

6.3 Access Controller operation during discovery .............................................................................. 9 70

6.3.1 AC Descriptor ......................................................................................................................... 9 71

6.3.2 AC Name ................................................................................................................................ 9 72

6.3.3 CAPWAP Control IPv4 Address .......................................................................................... 10 73

6.3.4 CAPWAP Control IPV6 Address ......................................................................................... 10 74

7 Device identification and authentication ............................................................................................ 10 75

8 Firmware download............................................................................................................................ 10 76

8.1 Access Controller operation during download ............................................................................ 10 77

8.1.1 Image Data ............................................................................................................................ 10 78

8.1.2 Image Identifier ..................................................................................................................... 11 79

8.2 Reader operation during download .............................................................................................. 11 80

9 Reader Device Configuration ............................................................................................................. 11 81

9.1 Configuration Status message ..................................................................................................... 11 82

9.1.1 Radio Administrative State ................................................................................................... 11 83

9.2 Configuration Status Response message ..................................................................................... 11 84

9.3 Configuration Update Request message ...................................................................................... 11 85



9.4 Configuration Update Response message ................................................................................... 12 86

9.5 EPCglobal binding-specific CAPWAP message elements ......................................................... 12 87

9.5.1 EPCglobal Radio Information............................................................................................... 12 88

9.5.2 EPCglobal Statistics message element.................................................................................. 12 89

9.5.3 Client message element......................................................................................................... 13 90

9.5.4 Reader Configuration message element ................................................................................ 14 91

9.5.5 Reader Role message element .............................................................................................. 15 92

10 Connections..................................................................................................................................... 15 93

10.1 CAPWAP connection ............................................................................................................... 15 94

10.2 Other reader protocol connections and migration scenario ...................................................... 15 95

11 Reader reset operation..................................................................................................................... 16 96

12 (Informative) Message sequence charts .......................................................................................... 16 97

13 (Informative) Glossary .................................................................................................................... 20 98

14 Normative References ..................................................................................................................... 20 99

15 Acknowledgement of Contributors and Companies Opt’d-in during the Creation of this Standard 100

(Informative) ............................................................................................................................................. 20 101

102

103



1 Introduction 104

This document specifies an interface between RFID Readers and Access Controllers and the network on 105

which they operate. The purpose of this document is to specify the necessary and optional operations of 106

a Reader and Client that allow them to utilize the network to which they are connected to communicate 107

with other devices, exchange configuration information, and initialize the operation of each Reader, so 108

that the Reader Operations Protocols can be used to control the operation of the Readers to provide tag 109

and other information to the Client. To facilitate these operations by the Reader, an Access Controller 110

provides several functions, described below. 111

Following are the responsibilities of this interface: 112

Provide a means for the Reader to discover one or more Access Controllers. 113

Provide a means for the Access Controller to discover one or more Readers. 114

Provide a means for the Reader to discover one or more Clients. 115

Provide a means for the Reader and Access Controller to exchange identity information and 116

authenticate that identity information. 117

Provide a means for the Client and Access Controller to authenticate their communications and 118

operations. 119

Provide a means for the Access Controller to configure the Reader, including a means to update 120

the software and/or firmware on the Reader. 121

Provide a means for the Access Controller to initialize the Reader, providing parameters 122

necessary for the Reader to begin operation. 123

Provide a means for the Reader and Access Controller to exchange vendor-specific information. 124

The Access Controller is a function that is described in this specification to separate these functions 125

from those of a Reader or Client. An Access Controller can be coincident with a host running other 126

Reader Operations protocols or it can be in a separate host. The following figure shows the relationships 127

between the Reader, Client, other network services, and Access Controller. 128

129



Access

ControllerRO Client

Reader

Other

Network

Services

Access Controller, RO Client (e.g., LLRP

Client) and other network services can be

implemented in a single IP addressable

host or the individual functions can

be implemented in different hosts.

130

Figure 1-1, DCI network architecture 131

2 Role within the EPCglobal Network Architecture 132

Within the EPCglobal architecture, DCI performs a Reader Management (RM) role, but addresses 133

different requirements than the existing Reader Management specification [RM]. DCI and RM do not 134

depend on each other, so products can choose to implement either, neither, or both of RM and DCI. 135

Specifically, the EPCglobal RM specification defines methods for monitoring the health of Readers and 136

allowing readers to notify management systems of potential issues. The DCI specification provides 137

requirements and protocols that are implemented in both the Reader and an Access Controller device, 138

allowing each to discover the other on the network, allowing the Access Controller to configure the 139

Reader, to download firmware to the Reader, and to initialize the operation of the Reader. The access 140

control function is not described in the current EPCglobal architecture. 141

3 Terminology and Typographical Conventions 142

Within this specification, the terms SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, MAY, NEED 143

NOT, CAN, and CANNOT are to be interpreted as specified in Annex G of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 144

2, 2001, 4th edition [ISODir2]. When used in this way, these terms will always be shown in ALL 145

CAPS; when these words appear in ordinary typeface they are intended to have their ordinary English 146

meaning. However in this document only a subset of the terms listed above SHALL be used. The subset 147

of acceptable terms includes the following: SHALL and MAY. The terms, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, 148

NEED NOT, CAN, and CANNOT, SHALL NOT be used. 149

All sections of this document, with the exception of Section 1 and Section 2, are normative, except 150

where explicitly noted as non-normative. 151



The following typographical conventions are used throughout the document: 152

ALL CAPS type is used for the special terms from [ISODir2] enumerated above. 153

Monospace type is used to denote programming language, UML, and XML identifiers, as well as for 154

the text of XML documents. 155

4 Overview of DCI 156

DCI provides a Reader with the information necessary to establish or accept a connection with a Client 157

across a network. DCI provides initial device configuration to a Reader, sufficient to begin network 158

communication. DCI also provides firmware image management for a Reader. 159

DCI utilizes the Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) protocol [CAPWAP]. 160

CAPWAP must be implemented by both the Reader and the Access Controller. DCI operation 161

comprises the following phases: 162

Device discovery 163

Device authentication and identity exchange 164

Firmware download, if necessary 165

Device configuration 166

Device initialization 167

168

169

170

Access

ControllerRO Client

Reader

Other

Network

Services

Step 1

Step 2Step 4

Step 3

Step 1: Address assignment and determination

of Access Controller address(es)

Step 2: Discovery of RO Clients and Reader

initialization using CAPWAP by the Access

Controller.

Step 3: Indication from Access Controller to

RO Client

Step 4: The RO channel communication

starts.

Communication between RO Client and

Access Controller is out of scope of RO.

171



Figure 4-1, DCI Overview 172

5 Initial Conditions for Reader and Access Controller 173

In order for a Reader and Access Controller to communicate on a network, a proper IP address must be 174

used by each device. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to provide a means for the Reader or 175

Access Controller device to obtain an IP address and other such IP configuration information necessary 176

to operate on the network to which the device is attached. It is beyond the scope of this document to 177

specify how this information is obtained. It is also the responsibility of the Reader manufacturer to 178

provide a means for the Reader to obtain the IP address of at least one Access Controller and for the 179

Access Controller manufacturer to provide a means for the Access Controller to obtain the IP address of 180

at least one Reader. There are several methods that might be used to obtain the IP addresses of a Reader 181

or Access Controller. Specification of these methods is beyond the scope of this document. 182

6 Discovery protocol 183

Using an IP address of an Access Controller device, the Reader exchanges messages with the Access 184

Controller, identifying and authenticating itself to the Access Controller device. 185

6.1 Discovery protocol operation 186

The Reader and Access Controller device SHALL implement the discovery protocol as described in the 187

CAPWAP protocol [CAPWAP]. The Reader device SHALL perform as a wireless termination point 188

(WTP), as described in [CAPWAP]. The Access Controller device SHALL perform as an access 189

controller (AC) as described in [CAPWAP]. Both the WTP and AC SHALL implement the complete 190

CAPWAP protocol, to the extent that any legal CAPWAP frame received is processed as required in 191

[CAPWAP] and a valid response is transmitted when required by the protocol. Should the WTP or AC 192

receive a CAPWAP packet or a message element in a CAPWAP packet that is optional or that is not 193

understood by the implementation, the minimum behavior required of the implementation is that the 194

unknown material is gracefully ignored and any required CAPWAP response is properly transmitted. 195

6.2 Reader operation during discovery 196

The Reader shall begin the discovery process by sending a CAPWAP Discovery Request message to 197

one or more Access Controller addresses determined by manual, DNS, DHCP configuration, or 198

broadcast. If the Reader is configured with a Primary Access Controller, analogous to the Primary AC 199

in [CAPWAP], the Reader shall send the CAPWAP Discovery Request message. The format of the 200

Discovery Request or Primary Discovery Request message shall be as defined in section 5.1 or 5.3 of 201

[CAPWAP], respectively. The content of the individual message elements contained in the Discovery 202

Request shall be as defined below. 203

6.2.1 Discovery Type 204

The value of the Discovery Type field shall indicate the method used to obtain the address of the Access 205

Controller that is addressed by the Discovery Request message. 206

6.2.2 WTP Descriptor 207

The fields of the WTP Descriptor shall contain the information described in 4.6.41 of [CAPWAP]. The 208

value of the Active Software Version field contained within the WTP Descriptor SHALL be encoded 209



with the same format as the value encoded in the Image Identifier such that upon downloading an image 210

referenced by an Image Identifier and activating that image through reboot, the WTP reports as the value 211

in its new Active Software Version field the same image identifier value. The value of the Other 212

Software Version field contained within the WTP Descriptor SHALL be encoded with the same format 213

as the Active Software Version field. 214

6.2.3 WTP Frame Tunnel Mode 215

The value of the Tunnel Mode field of the WTP Frame Tunnel Mode message element shall be 1, 216

indicating local bridging. This field is required for compliance with CAPWAP. It has no significance 217

for DCI. The format of this field is described in 4.6.43 218

of [CAPWAP]. 219

6.2.4 WTP MAC Type 220

The value of the MAC Type field of the WTP MAC Type message element shall be 0, indicating Local 221

MAC. This field is required for compliance with CAPWAP. It has no significance for DCI. The format 222

of this field is described in 4.6.46 of [CAPWAP]. 223

6.3 Access Controller operation during discovery 224

The Access Controller shall respond to all Discovery Request and Primary Discovery Request messages 225

with a Discovery Response or Primary Discovery Response message, as described in section 5.2 and 5.4 226

of [CAPWAP], respectively. The content of both messages is defined below. 227

6.3.1 AC Descriptor 228

The fields of the AC Descriptor message element shall be set as follows. 229

The Stations field shall be 0. This field is required for compliance with CAPWAP. It has no 230

significance for DCI. 231

The Limit field shall be 0. This field is required for compliance with CAPWAP. It has no significance 232

for DCI. 233

The Active WTPs field shall indicate the number of Readers currently joined to the Access Controller. 234

The Max WTPs field shall indicate the maximum number of Readers that the Access Controller is able 235

to support. 236

The Security field shall indicate the credential used by the AC, as defined in section 4.6.1 of 237

[CAPWAP]. 238

The R-MAC and Wireless fields shall be 0. This field is required for compliance with CAPWAP. It has 239

no significance for DCI. 240

The remaining fields shall contain values as specified in section 4.6.1 of [CAPWAP]. 241

6.3.2 AC Name 242

The Name field of the AC Name message element shall contain a UTF-8 string, as defined in 4.6.4 of 243

[CAPWAP]. 244



6.3.3 CAPWAP Control IPv4 Address 245

Both the IP Address and WTP Count fields of this message element shall be 0. This field is required for 246

compliance with CAPWAP. It has no significance for DCI. 247

6.3.4 CAPWAP Control IPV6 Address 248

Both the IP Address and WTP Count fields of this message element shall be 0. This field is required for 249

compliance with CAPWAP. It has no significance for DCI. 250

7 Device identification and authentication 251

The Reader and Access Controller devices SHALL use DTLS [DTLS] to perform the necessary 252

exchange of identity and authentication, as described in [CAPWAP]. Upon successful establishment of 253

the DTLS tunnel, the Reader and Access Controller devices SHALL perform the Join portion of the 254

CAPWAP protocol, as described in [CAPWAP]. 255

8 Firmware download 256

Once the Reader and Access Controller devices have completed the Join portion of the CAPWAP 257

protocol, the Reader has provided the Access Controller with its firmware version information. The 258

Access Controller may implicitly trigger the start of the download by the WTP by sending an image 259

information different than the age currently active on the Reader. The Access Controller and Reader 260

SHALL support the firmware download mechanism described in section 9.1 of [CAPWAP]. It should 261

be noted that, while the operation is called “firmware download”, this mechanism allows the download 262

of arbitrary files, identified by their file desctriptor (it could be name, version number, etc) (see section 263

8.1.2). 264

When operating in the CAPWAP Run state, an AC MAY indicate any file in an Image Identifier. The 265

Reader SHALL commence downloading the image, when the file indicated by the Image Identifier does 266

not match the corresponding local file, even if the local file does not exist. If the image downloaded 267

corresponds to a firmware or software file, the Reader SHALL begin executing the image upon the next 268

hardware or software reset event. If the image downloaded does not correspond to a firmware or 269

software file, DCI makes no requirements on how such a file is handled. 270

271

When operating in the CAPWAP Join state, an AC SHALL indicate only a file corresponding to a 272

firmware or software file in the Image Identifier of the Join Response packet. If the Reader receives an 273

Image Identifier other than one corresponding to a firmware or software file, the Reader SHALL ignore 274

the Image Identifier. After successfully downloading an image in the CAPWAP Image Date state, the 275

Reader SHALL reset and begin executing the newly downloaded image immediately. 276

277

8.1 Access Controller operation during download 278

The Access Controller shall use the Image Data Request message, as described in section 9.1.1 of 279

[CAPWAP]. The content of the Image Data Request message shall be as described below. 280

8.1.1 Image Data 281

The content of this message element shall be as described in section 4.6.27 of [CAPWAP]. 282



8.1.2 Image Identifier 283

This message element shall be sent to the Reader by the Access Controller to begin the download 284

process. The content of the Value field shall be as described in 4.6.28 of [CAPWAP]. The value of the 285

Active Software Version field contained within the WTP Descriptor SHALL be encoded with the same 286

format as the value encoded in the Image Identifier, such that upon downloading an image referenced by 287

an Image Identifier and activating that image through reboot, the WTP reports as the value in its new 288

Active Software Version field the same image identifier value. Similarly, the Other Software Version 289

field contained within the WTP Descriptor SHALL be encoded with the same format as the Active 290

Software Version field. 291

8.2 Reader operation during download 292

The Reader shall respond to each Image Data Request message with an Image Data Response message, 293

as described in section 9.1.2 of [CAPWAP]. 294

9 Reader Device Configuration 295

Using [CAPWAP] control frames, the Reader device SHALL inform the Access Controller of its 296

current configuration. The Access Controller device SHALL use [CAPWAP] control frames to make 297

any changes to the Reader device configuration, including providing the Reader with the information 298

necessary for it to communicate with Clients providing Reader Operations protocols. 299

9.1 Configuration Status message 300

The Reader SHALL send the Configuration Status message to the AC, as described in section 8.2 of 301

[CAPWAP]. The message element that has values specified in DCI is: 302

9.1.1 Radio Administrative State 303

The Radio Administrative State message element SHALL contain the Radio ID and Admin State as 304

defined in 4.6.31 of [CAPWAP]. The values for these fields SHALL be zero when sent by the WTP 305

and ignored by the AC on reception. This element SHALL NOT be used for managing the radio(s) in 306

the WTP. Radio management is the responsibility of the reader protocol. 307

9.2 Configuration Status Response message 308

The AC SHALL send the Configuration Status Response message to the Reader, as described in section 309

8.3 of [CAPWAP]. 310

9.3 Configuration Update Request message 311

The AC SHALL send the Configuration Update Request message to the Reader, as described section 8.4 312

of [CAPWAP]. In addition to the message elements listed in [CAPWAP], the AC MAY send one or 313

more Client message elements (see 9.5.3) or Reader Configuration message elements (see 9.5.4). The 314

AC MAY send a single Reader Role message element. As described in 9.1.3, the Radio Administrative 315

State message element SHALL NOT be used for managing the radio(s) in the WTP. Radio management 316

is the responsibility of the reader protocol. 317



9.4 Configuration Update Response message 318

In response to the receipt of a Configuration Update Request message, the Reader SHALL send a 319

Configuration Update Response message, as described in section 8.5 of [CAPWAP]. 320

9.5 EPCglobal binding-specific CAPWAP message elements 321

This section defines the EPCglobal binding specific CAPWAP protocol message elements. As specified 322

in CAPWAP, each message element uses the TLV (Type, Length, Value) format. The CAPWAP 323

protocol has allocated type values 3072-4095 for EPGglobal message elements (Section 4.6 of 324

[CAPWAP]). Because that number space is intended to be used for RFID-related message element 325

requirements, this specification further divides the EPCglobal number space to allow other RFID 326

standards bodies such as ISO to extend the DCI protocol with message elements specific to their 327

requirements. To that effect, the EPCglobal type value space is further segmented as: 328

EPCglobal Message Elements 3072-3899

ISO Message Elements 3900-3994

RFU 3995-4095

329

9.5.1 EPCglobal Radio Information 330

This is a null message element. The format of the message element is shown in Figure 9-1. 331

332

0 1 2 3 333

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 334

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 335

| Type | Length | 336

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 337

Figure 9-1, EPCglobal Radio Information message element 338

Type: The value of the Type filed SHALL be 3072 (decimal). 339

Length: The value of the Length field SHALL be zero. 340

9.5.2 EPCglobal Statistics message element 341

The definition of this message element is required for compliance with the CAPWAP protocol. This is a 342

null message element. All statistics information is carried in other EPCglobal protocols. The format of 343

the message element is shown in Figure 9-2. 344

345



0 1 2 3 346

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 347

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 348


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 350

Figure 9-2, EPCglobal Statistics message element 351

Type: The value of the Type filed SHALL be 3073 (decimal). 352

Length: The value of the Length field SHALL be zero. 353

9.5.3 Client message element 354

The Client message element is a binding specific message element and SHALL conform to the format 355

for such message elements defined in section 4.6 of [CAPWAP]. The Client message element provides 356

information to the Reader about a single Client device. The format of the message element is shown 357

Figure 9-3. 358

359

0 1 2 3 360

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 361

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 362


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 364

| IP Address | 365

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 366

| Port Number |I|A|T| Protocol | 367

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 368

| Credentials | 369

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 370

Figure 9-3, Client message element 371

Type: The value for the Type field shall be 3074 (decimal). 372

Length: The value of the Length field shall be 12 (decimal). 373

IP Address: The IP Address is the address of the host containing the Client. 374

Port Number: The Port Number is the port at which to contact the Client to open a connection. 375

I: The I flag indicates that the Client supports the Reader performing in the initiator role when 376

contacting the Client. 377

A: The A flag indicates that the Client supports the Reader performing in the Acceptor role. 378

T: The T flag indicates that the Client requires the protocol session to be protected using TLS. 379



Protocol: This field identifies the reader protocol using the indicated Port Number. The field is a 13-bit 380

integer. The values for each supported protocol are given in Table 9-1. 381

382

Value Protocol

0 LLRP 1.x

1-8191 Reserved for future standardization

Table 9-1, Protocol Values 383

384

Credentials: The Credentials field is a bit field indicating the credential types supported by the reader 385

protocol Client for establishment of a TLS session. This field SHALL be transmitted as zero when the T 386

flag is zero. This field SHALL be ignored on receipt when the T flag is zero. The supported credentials 387

are shown in Table 9-2. 388

389

Bit Credential Type

0 X.509 Certificate

1-31 Reserved

Table 9-2, Credential Types 390

9.5.4 Reader Configuration message element 391

The Reader Configuration message element provides information to the Reader on the configuration it is 392

to adopt. The format of the message element is in Figure 9-4. 393

394

0 1 2 3 395

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 396

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 397


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 399

|C| Reserved | 400

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 401

Figure 9-4, Reader Configuration Message Element 402


Length: The value of the Length field shall be 4 (decimal). 404

C bit: The C bit is used to indicate that the Reader is allowed to accept or establish connections using 405

reader protocols independent of the CAPWAP state machine, when the value of the bit is 1. When the 406

value of the bit is zero, the Reader is allowed to accept or establish connections using reader protocols 407

only when the CAPWAP state machine is in the RUN state (see section 2.3 of [CAPWAP]. 408



9.5.5 Reader Role message element 409

The Reader Role message element provides a means to initialize the value for the role of the reader. The 410

format of the message element is in Figure 9-5. 411

412

0 1 2 3 413

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 414

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 415


+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 417

| Role | 418

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 419

Figure 9-5, Reader Role Message Element 420


Length: The value of the Length field shall be equal to the length of the Role field plus 4. 422

Role: The Role field is a UTF-8 string. The string is NOT zero terminated. 423

10 Connections 424

This section describes the requirements for the CAPWAP and other protocols the Reader implements 425

with regard to those protocol connections. 426

10.1 CAPWAP connection 427

After completing CAPWAP discovery, the Reader and Access Controller SHALL maintain the 428

CAPWAP connection using the CAPWAP Echo and Echo Response packets, as described in section 7 429

of [CAPWAP]. The Reader SHALL perform in the role of the CAPWAP WTP. The Access Controller 430

SHALL perform in the role of the CAPWAP AC. Both Reader and Access Controller SHALL 431

implement the CAPWAP Timers message element defined in section 4.6.14 of [CAPWAP]. 432

10.2 Other reader protocol connections and migration scenario 433

It is expected that Readers will be deployed prior to the completion of the DCI protocol and the 434

availability of Access Controllers. This will lead eventually to deployments where there are Readers 435

that do not implement DCI with Readers that do implement DCI on the same network. It is desirable to 436

be able to deploy the Readers that do implement DCI in the same fashion as those already in the network 437

that do not implement DCI. This requires that the DCI-capable Reader be able to operate with DCI 438

disabled, as well as with DCI enabled. 439

In order to support network configurations where Readers have been deployed prior to the availability of 440

certification of the DCI protocol, a Reader SHALL have a mechanism to configure when the Reader is 441

allowed to establish a connection using another reader protocol, e.g., LLRP. This mechanism SHALL 442

provide the following configurations, at a minimum. 443

1. The Reader can establish or accept a connection using another reader protocol at any time. 444



2. The Reader can establish or accept a connection using another reader protocol only after successful 445

completion of DCI, i.e., the CAPWAP protocol state machine is in the Run state (see section 2.3 of 446

[CAPWAP]). 447

11 Reader reset operation 448

After the download of a new firmware image or at other times determined by the Access Controller, the 449

Reader will be reset. To reset the Reader, the Access Controller SHALL send a CAPWAP Reset 450

Request packet to the Reader. Upon receipt of the Reset Request packet, the Reader SHALL respond 451

with a CAPWAP Reset Response packet. 452

12 (Informative) Message sequence charts 453

This section presents several message sequence charts to help understand the protocol operation. 454

Once the Reader has an IP address of its own, the Reader can proceed to use the CAPWAP protocol to 455

discover Access Controllers and to join with one of them. After joining an Access Controller, the 456

Reader is provided with the information necessary to communicate with an LLRP (or other future reader 457

protocol) Client. This is shown in Figure 12-1. 458



459

Reader Client

Discovery Request

(unicast)

Discovery Response

(with list of other Access Controllers)

Discovery Request

(unicast)

Discovery Request

(unicast)

Discovery Response


Discovery Response(with list of other Access Controllers)

DTLS Setup(All further communication is encrypted)

Join

Request

Join

Response

Access Controller

Reader chooses

one Access

Controller to join

Configuration

Status

Configuration Status

Response

Configuration Update Request

(with Client message element(s))

Configuration Update

Response

LLRP (or other future RO protocol)

n 460



Figure 12-1, Unicast Discovery Operation 461

When the Reader and Access Controller are on the same IP subnet, CAPWAP provides a broadcast 462

discovery mechanism. This is shown in Figure 12-2. 463

464

465

Reader Client

Discovery Request

(broadcast)

Discovery Response


Discovery Response


Discovery Response(with list of other Access Controllers)

DTLS Setup(All further communication is encrypted)

Join

Request

Join

Response

Access Controller

Reader chooses

one Access

Controller to join

Configuration

Status

Configuration Status

Response

Configuration Update Request

(with Client message element(s))

Configuration Update

Response

LLRP (or other future RO protocol)

466

Figure 12-2, Broadcast Discovery Operation 467



468

Once a Reader has joined an Access Controller, the Access Controller can download firmware updates 469

to the Reader. The Access Controller can also cause the Reader to reset and begin operation using the 470

new firmware. This operation is shown in Figure 12-3. 471

472

Reader Access Controller

Image Data Response

Image Data Request

Reader has joined with

the Access Controller

Image Data Response

Image Data Request

Image Data Response

Image Data Request

Reset Response

Reset Request

Arbitrary time passes

Download proceeds

until complete

473

Figure 12-3, Firmware Download Operation 474

475



13 (Informative) Glossary 476

This section provides a non-normative summary of terms used within this specification. 477

Term Meaning

478

14 Normative References 479

[ISODir2] ISO, “Rules for the structure and drafting of International Standards (ISO/IEC Directives, 480

Part 2, 2001, 4th

edition),” July 2002. 481

[ARC] EPCglobal Architecture Framework 1.3, 482

http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards/architecture/architecture_1_3-framework-20090319.pdf 483

[RM] EPCglobal Reader Management Standard v1.0.1, 484

http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards/rm/RM_1_0_1-StandardRatified-20070531.pdf 485

[DHCP] rfc1531 - Dynamic host control protocol, http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1531.txt 486

[DNS] rfc1035 - Domain names - implementation and specification, http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1035.txt 487

[CAPWAP] rfc5415 Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP), 488

http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5415.txt 489

[DTLS] rfc4347 - Datagram Transport Layer Security, http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4347.txt 490

15 Acknowledgement of Contributors and Companies Opt’d-in 491

during the Creation of this Standard (Informative) 492

493

Disclaimer 494

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that this document and the information contained 495

herein are correct, EPCglobal and any other party involved in the creation of the document 496

hereby state that the document is provided on an “as is” basis without warranty, either 497

expressed or implied, including but not limited to any warranty that the use of the information 498

herein with not infringe any rights, of accuracy or fitness for purpose, and hereby disclaim any 499

liability, direct or indirect, for damages or loss relating to the use of the document. 500

501

Below is a list of more active participants and contributors in the development of DCI 1.0. This 502

list does not acknowledge those who only monitored the process or those who chose not to 503

have their name listed here. Active participants status was granted to those who generated 504

emails, attended face-to-face meetings and conference calls that were associated with the 505

development of this Standard. 506

507

http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards/architecture/architecture_1_3-framework-20090319.pdf

http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards/rm/RM_1_0_1-StandardRatified-20070531.pdf

http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards/rm/RM_1_0_1-StandardRatified-20070531.pdf

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1531.txt


http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5415.txt




First Name Last Name Company Notable Role

Dave Husak Reva Systems Co-Chair

Rob Buck Intermec Co-Chair

Pattabhiraman Krishna Reva Systems Editor

Mark Frey EPCglobal Inc. Facilitator for WG

Software Team at Impinj Impinj Minutes Recorder

Marc Horowitz BEA Systems

Suresh Bhaskaran Intelleflex

Daniel Paley Tagent Corp.

Bud Biswas Polaris Networks

Bob O'Hara Cisco

Daniel Bowman Kimberly-Clark Corp

Margaret Wasserman ThingMagic, LLC

Arthur Howarth Cisco

Richard Bach GlobeRanger

Rick Schuessler Symbol Tech./Motorola

Howard Kapustein Manhattan Associates

David Missimer Sirit

Darrel Pinson Symbol Technologies, Inc.

Matt Poduska Intermec

Steve Lockhart Sirit

David Lavin IBM

Lynn Hingst Intermec

John Walter Intermec

Soumya Roy chowdhury Polaris Networks

Martin Jackson Wal-Mart

Steve Lin Sirit

Bryan Tracey GlobeRanger

Scott de Deug IBM

Ted Osinski MET Labs

Scott Barvick Reva Systems

Manpreet Singh Symbol Technologies, Inc.

Heena Nandu Intelleflex



Gerhard Gangl 7iD (formerly EOSS GmbH)

Bill Bares Intelleflex

Jim Sykes Savi Networks

Sudhir Hasbe Sirit

Albert Lin WJ Co.

Shigeya Suzuki Auto-ID Labs - Japan

Gay Whitney EPCglobal Inc.

Jim Reed MET Labs

Matthew Harmon Q.E.D. Systems

Ricardo Labiaga Sun Microsystems

Mark Richardson ThingMagic, LLC

David Nesbitt Vue Technology

Roger Stewart Applied Wireless (AWID)

Yukiko Yumoto Auto Id Lab Japan

Abel Sanchez Auto-ID Labs - MIT

John Williams Auto-ID Labs - MIT

Mark Sompel AWID

Ken Traub BEA Systems

Matt Robshaw France Telecom

Wayne Liu Impinj

Tareef Al-Mahdawi Intelleflex

Joe Kubler Intermec

John Walter Intermec

Peter Anderla KCC

John Boulas KCC

John Anderla KCC

Moon Suk Kim Metarights

Chang Yeol Lee Metarights

Jens Kungl Metro

Isao Kimata NEC Corporation

Satoshi Kinoshita NEC Corporation

Hiroki Tagato NEC Corporation

Sergio Lobo NXP Semiconductors

Gregory Grisco Oracle Corporation



Jahangir Nakra Procter & Gamble

Trong Le Psion Teklogix Inc.

Craig Harmon Q.E.D. Systems

Peter Spreadborough Reva Systems

Sudhir Hasbe Samsys

Steve Winkler SAP

Sengu Elango Savi

Neal Herman Savi

Don Ahn Savi Technology

L. Julia Zhu Savi Technology

Pankaj Shukla Symbol

Jong Park Tibco

Keith Rider Tyco / ADT

Bob Sawdye Tyco / ADT

David Harty VeriSign

Richard Campero Vue Technology

508

509

The following list in corporate alphabetical order contains all companies that were opt’d-in to 510

the Reader Operations Working Group and have signed the EPCglobal IP Policy. 511

512

Company

(ETRI) Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute

7iD (formerly EOSS GmbH)

Accenture

Acer Cybercenter Service Inc.

Altria Group, Inc./Kraft Foods

Applied Wireless (AWID)

Ark Tech Ltd

Auto-ID Labs - Cambridge

Auto-ID Labs - Japan

Auto-ID Labs - MIT

BEA Systems

Blackbay Ltd.



CAEN

Cisco

Convergence Sys Ltd

Dai Nippon Printing

Denso Wave Inc

ECO, Inc.

EPCglobal Inc.

FEIG Electronic

France Telecom

Fujitsu Ltd

GlobeRanger

GS1 Australia EAN

GS1 Germany (CCG)

GS1 Hong Kong

GS1 Japan

GS1 South Korea

GS1 Taiwan (EAN)

GS1 US

IBM

Impinj

Infineon Technologies NA Corp

Institute for Information Industry

Intelleflex

Intermec

Internet Initiative Japan, Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

Kimberly-Clark Corp

KL-NET

Korea Computer Servs, Ltd

LIT (Research Ctr for Logistics Info Tech)

Loftware, Inc.

Manhattan Associates

MET Labs

Metarights

Metro



Microelectronics Technology, Inc.

Mstar Semiconductor

NCR

NEC Corporation

NXP Semiconductors

OatSystems

ODIN Technologies

Omron

Oracle Corporation

Panda Int'l Transp Ltd

Pango Networks, Inc.

Paxar

PepsiCo

Polaris Networks

Procter & Gamble

Psion Teklogix Inc.

Q.E.D. Systems

Raining Data Corporation

RetailTech

Reva Systems

RFIP Ltd. (formerly Radio Freq Ident Ctr)

RFXCEL Corp

Savi Technology

Sirit

SOFTBANK TELECOM Corp. (Japan)

Supply Insight, Inc.

SyGade Solutions

Symbol Technologies, Inc.

T3C Incorporated

Tagent Corporation

TagSys

TEGO, Inc.

ThingMagic, LLC

Tibco

Toppan Printing Co



Toray International, Inc.

Tyco / ADT

Ussen Limited Company

VeriSign

Vocollect

Vue Technology

Wal-Mart

Wish Unity

Yuen Foong Yu Paper

513

download this standard epc/rfid dci 1

Documents