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assigned to one entity is different than the name assigned to another entity. In the
EPCglobal Architecture Framework, the unique identity is the Electronic Product Code,
defined by the EPCglobal Tag Data Standard
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Unique identity within the EPCglobal Architecture Framework, as embodied in the
Electronic Product Code, has these characteristics:
• Uniqueness/Serialization The EPC assigned to one entity is different than the EPC 430
assigned to another (but see below for exceptions). This implies that all EPC-
identified entities are serialized; that is, they carry a unique serial number as part of
the EPC.
• Universality EPCs comprise a single space of identifiers that can be used to identify 434
any entity, regardless of what kind of entity it is. An EPC for an entity is globally
unique across all types of entities..
• Compatibility EPC identifiers are designed to be compatible with existing naming 437
systems. In particular, for every GS1 key that names a unique entity instance (as
opposed to a class of entities), there is a corresponding EPC. This provides
compatibility and interoperability with systems based on GS1 keys.
• Federation The EPC is not a single naming structure, but a federation of several 441
naming structures. This allows existing naming structures to be incorporated into the
EPC system, so that the property of universality (above) is achieved, while
maintaining compatibility with existing naming structures. This attribute is extremely
important to ensure wide adoption of the EPC, which would be significantly more
difficult if adoption required adoption of a single naming structure.
For example, both GS1 SSCC keys and GS1 GIAI keys also correspond to valid
EPCs. The various concrete representations of the EPC use a system of headers
(textual or binary according to the representation) to distinguish one identity scheme
from another; when one EPC is compared to another, the header is always included so
that EPCs drawn from different schemes will always be considered distinct. The
header is always considered to be a part of the EPC, not something separate.
While the EPC is designed to federate multiple naming structures, there may be
performance tradeoffs, especially with respect to RFID tag performance, when
multiple naming structures are used in the same business context. For this reason,
there is motivation to minimize the number of distinct naming structures used within
any given industry.
• Extensibility The mechanisms for federating naming structures within the EPC are 458
extensible, so that additional naming structures may be incorporated into the EPC
system without invalidating existing EPCs or the GS1 system.
• Representation independence EPCs are defined in terms of abstract structure, which 461
has several concrete realizations. Especially important are the binary realization that
is used on RFID tags and the Universal Resource Identifier (URI) realization that is
used for data exchange. Formal conversion rules exist [TDS1.4], and the Tag Data
Translation Standard [TDT1.0] provides a machine-readable form of these rules.