ISO/IEC 18000-63 Radio Frequency Identification for Product Management - Part 63: Air Interface Communication Parameters Type C in the Range of 860 MHz to 960 MHz

The “ISO/IEC 18000-63 Information technology – Radio frequency identification for product management – ​​Part 63: Parameters for air interface communication in the 860 MHz to 960 MHz range Type C” standard, developed jointly by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), defines the air interface for radio frequency identification (RFID) devices operating in the 860 MHz to 960 MHz industrial, scientific, and medical bands used in product management applications. It provides a common technical specification for RFID devices that can be used in the development of RFID application standards. This standard aims to ensure product compatibility and promote interoperability for the growing international RFID market.

This standard defines forward and backward link parameters for technical specifications including, but not limited to, operating frequency, operating channel accuracy, occupied channel bandwidth, maximum effective isotropic radiated power, unwanted emissions, modulation, duty cycle, data encoding, bit rate, bit rate accuracy, bit transmission sequence, and, where applicable, operating channels, frequency hopping rate, hopping sequence, spread sequence, and chip speed. It also defines the communication protocol used at the air interface.

This standard specifies the physical and logical requirements for passive backscattering, interrogator-first talk (ITF) systems. The system consists of two components: interrogators (readers) and tags. An interrogator receives information from a tag by sending a continuous wave RF signal to the tag; the tag responds by modulating the reflection coefficient of its antenna, thereby scattering an information signal back to the interrogator. The system is ITF, meaning a tag modulates the reflection coefficient of its antenna with an information signal only after being directed by an interrogator.

This standard states:

• Physical interactions between interrogators and tags (the signal layer of the communication link).
• Logical operating procedures and commands between interrogators and labels.
• A collision arbitration scheme used to identify a specific tag in a multi-tag environment.
• Optional security commands that allow the use of ISO/IEC 29167 cryptographic packets.

This standard is the fundamental technical specification for RAIN RFID technology, the dominant passive UHF RFID ecosystem used worldwide for supply chain, retail, logistics, asset tracking, manufacturing, healthcare, and many other product-level identification applications.

In short, this standard describes a passive backscattering, interrogator-first-talk (ITF) system:

• The reader (interrogator) initiates communication and activates the tag using a continuous wave of RF energy.
• The label reflects (scatters) the modulated information back to the reader.

The main parameters defined are as follows:

• Frequency range: 860-960 MHz (regional differences apply due to regulations).
• Modulation (forward link): Double-sided band amplitude shift keying, single-sided band or phase inversion with pulse interval coding.
• Label backscattering: Amplitude shift keying or phase shift keying
• Data rates: Variable, forward link typically 26,7–128 kbps, backward link 5–640 kbps depending on encoding.
• Collision avoidance: Aloha-based nested algorithm with Q algorithm for efficient deduplication of large tag populations.
• Memory model: Organized into banks.
• Security and privacy:
• Optional access/termination passwords
• Cryptographic authentication and privacy via referenced ISO/IEC 29167 packages.
• Advanced privacy commands (e.g., hiding, reactivating)

ISO/IEC 18000-63 (Gen2) is the de facto global standard for passive UHF RFID.

• It is used in most retail clothing labeling (e.g., fast fashion, department stores).
• It is used in warehouse and logistics automation.
• It provides product-level visibility in supply chains.
• It supports drug monitoring and tracking.
• RAIN forms the basis of RFID marking (RAIN stands for radio frequency identification at ultra-high frequencies).

Almost all commercially available UHF RFID tags and readers sold today claim to comply with this standard.

The ISO/IEC 18000-63 standard is the only globally accepted technical specification for how readers and tags should communicate with each other using RFID technology, especially at ultra-high frequencies (860-960 MHz). The main reasons this standard is important are:

• Interoperability between suppliers and borders.
• Ensuring global supply chains and multilateral cooperation.
• Scalability for high-volume, high-speed applications.
• Preventing fragmentation and supplier dependency.
• Creating a stable foundation for innovation and security.

In short, the necessity of this standard is based on its scalability. The most important applications of UHF RFID (such as product-level retail visibility, end-to-end supply chain tracking, and automated inventory) only become economically feasible under the following conditions:

• Labels are extremely inexpensive (this is only possible with high-volume, standardized production).
• The systems are plug-and-play worldwide.
• Billions of products can be tracked without requiring specialized engineering for each installation.

The ISO/IEC 18000-63 standard makes this possible. This is why RAIN RFID supports most modern passive UHF installations worldwide. This standard is a fundamental international standard that enables the interoperability of billions of UHF RFID tags and readers deployed globally, making the “Internet of Things” possible at the physical object level.

For many years, our organization, with its competent and experienced staff, has been understanding the needs of its clients, providing the advanced testing services they require, and assisting them in the establishment, implementation, and improvement of management systems. Within this framework, we also provide testing services compliant with the ISO/IEC 18000-63 standard.