One of the first brainy bladelets in its AON architecture Cisco Systems has announced its intelligent foundation for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) will be available in October. It forms part of its Application Oriented Network (AON) technology stack.

The vendor says its aim is to assist vendors with the introduction and deployment of RF tags and readers in the supply chain, and to increase accurate near-time information on stock inventory and management, to cut operating costs.

Willie Oosthuysen, systems engineering director for Cisco Middle East and Africa, says the solution is particularly useful for retailers bogged down with inventory optimisation and stock-out management. With RFID technology, retailers can have up-to-the-second information on their stock and sales, depending on their level of investment and the benefits they derive from the information.

Stock management is key for retailers distributed in the same area. In that way the supply chain can be optimised and stock levels shared, if one runs out.

"The RFID-enabled AON modules can be installed throughout the company network, at the edge for event capture and filtering, and in the data centre for authentication and aggregation. Other features include outbound encryption, digital signatures and content-based routing, to ensure maximum for external suppliers and third party vendors," says Oosthuysen.

Cisco, and other vendors are developing AON modules for the major packaged software vendors, and expects the take-up of the technology to spur development among smaller software vendors.

Tags: Networking