PROMISE: Product Lifecycle Management and Information Tracking Using Smart Embedded Systems

Abstract

Product lifecycle management (PLM) processes can be greatly improved and extended if more information on the product and its use is available during the various lifecycle phases. The PROMISE project aims to close the information loop by employing product embedded information devices (PEIDs) in products. In this chapter, we present the goals and application scenarios of the project with special focus on the middleware that enables the communication between PEIDs and enterprise applications. Furthermore, we give details of the design and implementation of the middleware as well as the role of Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) as device-level protocol.