EPCglobal AFI Committee Reaches Recommendation on Numbering Management

Resolution Clears Way for EPCglobal UHF Gen 2 Submission to ISO

LAWRENCEVILLE, New Jersey – January 18, 2005 – EPCglobal Inc^TM, a subsidiary of GS1 a not-for-profit standards organization entrusted with driving the global adoption of Electronic Product Code (EPC) technology, today announced the AFI (Application Family Identifier) Committee, established by the EPCglobal Board, has reached a recommended approach on tag numbering management for the recently ratified UHF Generation 2 standard. The recommendation put forth by the AFI Committee calls for accommodating both the EPC header and ISO's AFI into the Numbering System Identifier (NSI) on each EPC tag.

The use of this identifier will act as a guidepost for RFID readers and will enable the reflected signals from tags to be distinguished between an EPCglobal numbered tag and tags using other numbering schemes. This will allow for more efficient and accurate use of EPC tags in a global, multi-tag supply chain environment.

"This recommendation recognizes the broad and increasing uses of RFID in multiple industries around the world," said Chris Adcock, president, EPCglobal Inc. "Once the recommendation is approved through the EPCglobal standards development process, this will pave the way for the amended UHF Generation 2 standard to be presented to ISO."

The recommended approach would add a binary indicator (or "bit") to the current field referred to as the Numbering System Identifier (NSI) in the Gen 2 specification. This identifier would then assist readers to more easily distinguish between a tag carrying an EPCglobal header and one carrying an AFI.

Sanjay Sarma, chairman of the EPCglobal AFI Committee, said, "This technical solution will allow RFID readers to operate even more efficiently and allow a broader standardization of the EPCglobal protocol."

Michael Guillory, a representative of the ISO working groups concerned with AFI and member of the EPCglobal AFI Committee commented, "This is the best approach to reaching EPCglobal's and ISO's goal; a unified and globally interoperable standard. We firmly believe that cooperation between ISO and EPCglobal is beneficial to the industry communities we serve."

At the end of 2004, EPCglobal announced the ratification of the royalty-free UHF Generation 2 candidate specification as a standard. The announcement marked the much anticipated completion of the UHF Generation 2 air interface protocol and opened the door for technology providers to begin creating products to meet the requirements of suppliers, manufacturers, end users, and industries as a whole with standards-based equipment. As part of the standards development process and concurrent with the ratification of UHF Generation 2, EPCglobal set up a special committee to consider whether additional numbering features were necessary to the EPCglobal standard. Today's announcement reflects the outcome and recommendation of this group, which was comprised of representatives from EPCglobal, ISO, and GS1. The committee analyzed and evaluated several approaches before deciding to move forward with the proposed recommendation. The Committee's recommendation will now be submitted as an enhancement request in the EPCglobal standards process.

About EPCglobal Inc
EPCglobal Inc^TM, a subsidiary of GS1, is a not-for-profit organization entrusted by industry to establish and support the EPCglobal Network^TM as the global standard for real-time, automatic identification of information in the supply chain of any company, anywhere in the world.

The EPCglobal Network combines radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, existing communications network infrastructure, and the Electronic Product Code^TM (a number for uniquely identifying an item) to enable accurate, cost-efficient visibility of information in the supply chain. The end result helps organizations be more efficient, flexible, and responsive to customer needs. For more information about EPCglobal visit: www.EPCglobalinc.org.

About GS1
GS1 is the global not-for-profit organisation that creates, develops and manages the EAN·UCC standards jointly with the Uniform Code Council, one of its Member Organisations. These are open, global, multisectoral information standards, based on best business practices. By driving their implementation, GS1 and its Member Organisations play a leading role in supply and demand chain management improvement worldwide. For more information on EAN International, please visit: www.GS1.org.

About ISO
ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 146 countries, on the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world's largest developer of standards. ISO is a non-governmental organization: its members are not, as is the case in the United Nations system, delegations of national governments. Nevertheless, ISO occupies a special position between the public and private sectors. Many member institutes are part of governmental structures or have their roots in the private sectors having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations. For more information on ISO, please visit: www.ISO.org