EPC Gen 2 Architecture

EPC or Electronic Product Code is a universal identifier that are encoded on RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags to check identities of objects like inventory, assets and people, and track them. The second generation of this technology, as laid down by EPCglobal Tag Data Standard, is called EPC Gen 2.

The architecture of EPC Gen 2, RFID network has two main components −

• Tags or labels − They are affixed on objects so that they can be identified or tracked.
• Readers or interrogators − They are the intelligent part of the system that tracks the tags.

The architecture is shown as below −

RFID tags may be like stickers that are affixed on the objects, like a bag, pair of jeans etc.; or they may be integrated into the object like a driving license. The RFID integrated circuit has a transmitter and a receiver embedded on it. It contains the serial number that uniquely identifies a specific object. The tags have two parts, a microchip to store and process information about the object, and an antenna to receive and transmit signals with the reader.

The RFID reader captures the information encoded on the tag using an antenna. It is a two-way radio transmitter-receiver that emits a signal for the tag. The tag responds by sending the information embedded in its memory. The reader captures the results and transmits to the RFID computer program, which then performs the necessary processing.