Electronic Product Code

The Electronic Product Code, (EPC), is a family of coding schemes created as an eventual successor to the bar code. The EPC was created as a low-cost method of tracking goods using RFID technology. It is designed to meet the needs of various industries, while guaranteeing uniqueness for all EPC-compliant tags. EPC tags were designed to identify each item manufactured, as opposed to just the manufacturer and class of products, as bar codes do today. The EPC accommodates existing coding schemes and defines new schemes where necessary.

The EPC was the creation of the MIT Auto-ID Center, a consortium of over 120 global corporations and university labs. The EPC system is currently managed by EPCglobal, Inc., a subsidiary of GS1, creators of the UPC barcode.

The Electronic Product Code promises to become the standard for global RFID usage, and a core element of the proposed EPCglobal Network.


Structure
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All EPC numbers contain a header identifying the encoding scheme that has been used. This in turn dictates the length, type and structure of the EPC. EPC encoding schemes frequently contain a serial number which can be used to uniquely identify one object.

EPC Version 1.3 supports the following coding schemes:

-General Identifier (GID) GID-96
-a serialized version of the GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) SGTIN-96 SGTIN-198
-GS1 Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) SSCC-96
-GS1 Global Location Number (GLN), SGLN-96 SGLN-195
-GS1 Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI) GRAI-96 GRAI-170
-GS1 Global Individual Asset Identifier (GIAI) GIAI-96 GIAI-202 and
-DOD Construct DoD-96

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