Tag Data Standard (EPC)

The GS1 Tag Data Standard provides specifications for two things – the format of the Electronic Product Code (EPC); and how the data is carried within Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Around the world, more and more companies are using this standard and the EPC network to improve supply chain processes.
 

A large part of the Tag Data Standard is about encoding EPCs onto RFID tags, as well as defining standards for other data that may be stored on the tag. It exists to make it easy for companies to leverage the benefits of the EPC network.

The standards covers two broad areas:

• The EPC specification – including its representation at various levels of the EPCglobal Architecture and its correspondence to GS1 ID Keys and other existing codes
• The data specification for RFID tags – including the EPC, ‘user memory’ data, control information and tag manufacture information

It should be remembered that while the two areas of the Tag Data Standard (EPC and RFID) will generally overlap, they aren’t always synonymous – EPC is an identifier in its own right, just as RFID is a data carrier that doesn’t always carry an EPC. 

Read about EPC/RFID

Read the EPC Tag Data Standard documentation 

Read about Interoperability of GS1 Barcodes, EPCIS and RFID