A key factor in RFID adoption has been the development of standards for tags, readers, and communication protocols between them. Two main bodies have been engaged in defining standards that relate to RFID: the International Organization for Standards (ISO), and EPC Global.
Of the two, the ISO has a much broader focus, and has created standards that relate to frequency spectrum allocation, physical dimensions for ‘proximity’ – about 10cm range, and ‘vicinity’ – about 50 to 70cm range – identification cards, animal identification, and item management.
EPC Global, which grew out of MIT and industry-backed Auto ID Center, has a very specific focus of developing standards for a system that would ultimately allow unique identification of (just about) every piece of goods manufactured on the planet, along with an information system that could retrieve a life-time history for such goods. Such historical information may include, for example, date and place of manufacture, lot number, and transportation history from the moment of manufacture right down to the point the product left the store. The implications of such a global system for manufacturing, logistics and marketing are staggering. Many experts view the arrival of such as system as a matter of time.
ISO Standards 
A good overview of ISO’s involvement in RFID regulation can be found here.
A history of ISO RFID standards for 13.56 MHz can be found here.
Published ISO RFID Standards—as of Feb 3, 2005
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Standard
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Description
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Stage
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Stage Date
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10536
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Identification cards -- Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards.
Up to about 10 cm range.
|
Review
|
2004-12-31
|
|
11784
|
Radio frequency identification of animals -- Code structure
|
Review
|
2003-11-07
|
|
11785
|
Radio frequency identification of animals -- Technical concept
|
Review
|
2001-09-19
|
|
14443-1
|
Identification cards -- Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards -- Proximity cards -- Part 1: Physical characteristics
Predecessor of ISO 15693. Communication reach of only around 10cm.
|
Review
|
2003-10-13
|
|
14443-2
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Identification cards -- Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards -- Proximity cards -- Part 2: Radio frequency power and signal interface
|
Published
|
2001-06-28
|
|
14443-3
|
Identification cards -- Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards -- Proximity cards -- Part 3: Initialization and anticollision
|
Published
|
2001-02-01
|
|
15693-1
|
Identification cards -- Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards -- Vicinity cards -- Part 1: Physical characteristics
In 1998, Philips and Texas Instruments presented ISO 15693 for vicinity applications, the aim being to successfully communicate over a distance of 50 to 70 cm with a single-antenna reader.
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Review
|
2003-10-14
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|
15693-2
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Identification cards -- Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards -- Vicinity cards -- Part 2: Air interface and initialization
|
Review
|
2003-10-14
|
|
15693-3
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Identification cards - Contactless integrated circuit(s) cards - Vicinity cards -- Part 3: Anticollision and transmission protocol
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Published
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2001-03-29
|
|
15961
|
Radio frequency identification (RFID) for item management -- Data protocol: application interface
|
Published
|
2004-10-18
|
|
15962
|
Radio frequency identification (RFID) for item management -- Data protocol: data encoding rules and logical memory functions
|
Published
|
2004-10-18
|
|
15963
|
Radio frequency identification for item management -- Unique identification for RF tags
|
Published
|
2004-09-08
|
|
18000-1
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Radio frequency identification for item management -- Part 1: Reference architecture and definition of parameters to be standardized
|
Published
|
2004-09-13
|
|
18000-2
|
Radio frequency identification for item management -- Part 2: Parameters for air interface communications below 135 kHz
|
Published
|
2004-09-13
|
|
18000-3
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Radio frequency identification for item management -- Part 3: Parameters for air interface communications at 13,56 MHz
|
Published
|
2004-09-13
|
|
18000-4
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Radio frequency identification for item management -- Part 4: Parameters for air interface communications at 2,45 GHz
|
Published
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2004-08-31
|
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18000-6
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Radio frequency identification for item management -- Part 6: Parameters for air interface communications at 860 MHz to 960 MHz
|
Published
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2004-08-31
|
|
18000-7
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Radio frequency identification for item management -- Part 7: Parameters for active air interface communications at 433 MHz
|
Published
|
2004-08-31
|
Draft ISO RFID Standards—as of Feb 3, 2005
|
Standard
|
Description
|
Stage
|
|
17358
|
Supply chain application for RFID -- Application requirements
|
20 - Preparatory
|
|
17363
|
Supply chain application for RFID -- Freight containers
|
20 – Preparatory
|
|
17364
|
Supply chain application for RFID -- Transport units
|
20 – Preparatory
|
|
17365
|
Supply chain application for RFID -- Returnable transport items
|
20 – Preparatory
|
|
17366
|
Supply chain application for RFID -- Product packaging
|
20 - Preparatory
|
|
17367
|
Supply chain application for RFID -- Product tagging
|
20 - Preparatory
|
|
18047-7
|
Automatic identification and data capture techniques -- RFID device conformance test methods -- Part 7: Test methods for air interface communications at 433 MHz
|
30 - Committee
|
|
19762-3
|
Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) techniques -- Harmonized vocabulary -- Part 3: Radio frequency identification (RFID) (available in English only)
|
50 - Approval
|
|
24710
|
Automatic Identification and Data Capture Techniques -- Radio Frequency Identification for Item Management -- Elementary tag license plate functions for ISO/IEC 18000 Air interface definitions
|
40 - Enquiry
|
EPC Standards 
Published EPC Global standards can be found here. Briefly, EPC Global has defined standards for the following:
· Logical data format for EPC Tags
· Tag communication protocol for the following types of tags
· 900 MHz Class 0
· 13.56 MHz Class 1
· 860 MHz to 930 MHz Class1
· Specifications for standardized EPC middleware called ‘Savant’
· How EPC middleware, including Savant, communicates with tag readers.
· Physical Markup Language (PML) Specification. This XML-based language defines the format for information exchange between components in the EPC network.
· Object Name Service (ONS) Specification. Specification for global network that retrieves information about any EPC-tagged item in the world.
EPC tags come in a variety of Classes. The following table explains what the various classes mean.
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Explanation of EPC Global ‘Classes’
|
|
EPC Class
|
Definition
|
Programming
|
|
Class 0
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"Read Only" passive tags
|
Programmed as part of the semiconductor manufacturing process
|
|
*Class 0+
|
"Write-Once, Read-Many" version of EPC Class 0
|
Programmed once by the customer then locked
|
|
Class 1
|
"Write-Once, Read-Many" passive tags
|
Programmed once by the customer then locked
|
|
Class 1 - Gen2
|
Addresses global interoperability, multiple read/write capabilities, and increased data-communication speeds.
|
Can be reprogrammed many times
|
|
Class 2
|
Rewritable passive tags
|
Can be reprogrammed many times
|
|
Class 3
|
Semi-passive tags
|
|
Class 4
|
Active tags
|
|
Class 5
|
Readers
|
N/A
|
|
* Not an EPC Global defined class
|
source: http://home.att.net/~randall.j.jackson/epc.htm
