An Information Framework for Internet of Things Services in Physical Internet

Abstract

The physical Internet (PI, or pi) concept was developed to address the current unsustainability problem of logistics systems. The key physical elements in the PI include pi-containers, pi-nodes, and pi-movers. The pi-containers designed to be world-standard, smart, green, and modular are moved, handled, and stored throughout an open global logistic infrastructure. Meanwhile, the pi-nodes and pi-movers including physical systems and vehicles are designed to exploit as best as possible the characteristics of pi-containers to facilitate material handling processes. Thus, the logistics industry vision is a key player poised to benefit from the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution since millions of pi-containers with contained shipments being moved, tracked, and stored by a variety of the pi-nodes and pi-movers each day. This paper proposes first an information framework enabling IoT of the PI infrastructure and then a service-oriented architecture for the IoT applied for providing the IoT logistics services for the PI. A case study utilizing the architecture is presented to illustrate an efficient management service of logistics operations in the PI.