ISO/IEC 18000-6:2025

International
Standard
ISO/IEC 18000-6
Fourth edition
Information technology — Radio
2025-10
frequency identification for item
management —
Part 6:
General parameters for air
interface communications at 860
MHz to 930 MHz
Technologies de l'information — Identification par
radiofréquence (RFID) pour la gestion d'objets —
Partie 6: Paramètres de communications d'une interface radio
entre 860 MHz et 960 MHz
Reference number
© ISO/IEC 2025
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© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms . 2
3.1 Terms and definitions .2
3.2 Symbols .2
3.3 Abbreviated terms .2
4 Conformance . 3
4.1 Claiming conformance .3
4.2 Interrogator conformance and obligations .3
4.3 Tag conformance and obligations .3
5 Overview . 4
Bibliography . 9

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
iii
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
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ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations,
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The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/
IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives or www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs).
ISO and IEC draw attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the
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received notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers
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Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
In the IEC, see www.iec.ch/understanding-standards.
This document was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 31, Automatic identification and data capture techniques.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition (ISO/IEC 18000-6:2013), which has been
technically revised.
The main changes are as follows:
— the frequency range has been changed from “860 MHz to 960 MHz” to “860 MHz to 930 MHz”;
ISO/IEC 18000-65 has been added as an optional extension for streaming sensors.
A list of all parts in the ISO/IEC 18000 series can be found on the ISO and IEC websites.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html and
www.iec.ch/national-committees.

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
iv
Introduction
This document describes a passive backscatter radio frequency identification (RFID) system that supports
the following system capabilities:
— identification and communication with multiple tags in the field;
— selection of a subgroup of tags for identification or with which to communicate;
— reading from and writing to or rewriting data many times to individual tags;
— user-controlled permanently lockable memory;
— data integrity protection;
— interrogator-to-tag communications link with error detection;
— tag-to-interrogator communications link with error detection;
— support for both passive back-scatter tags with or without batteries.
This document provides an overview for a passive-backscatter, RFID system operating in the 860 MHz to
930 MHz frequency range. The system comprises interrogators, also known as readers, and tags, also known
as labels. The general overview describes four types called Type A, Type B, Type C and Type D. Details for
each type are defined in the following documents and described in detail in the following paragraphs:
— Type A: ISO/IEC 18000-61
— Type B: ISO/IEC 18000-62
— Type C: ISO/IEC 18000-63
— Type D: ISO/IEC 18000-64
This document, together with ISO/IEC 18000-61, ISO/IEC 18000-62, ISO/IEC 18000-63 and ISO/IEC 18000-64,
specifies the physical and logical requirements for a passive-backscatter, RFID system operating in the
860 MHz to 930 MHz frequency range.
NOTE The titles of ISO/IEC 18000-61, ISO/IEC 18000-62 and ISO/IEC 18000-64 list an upper frequency range of
960 MHz, which is intended to be modified at their next revision.
An interrogator transmits information to a tag by modulating an RF signal in the given frequency range. The
tag receives both information and operating energy from this RF signal. Passive tags are those which receive
all of their operating energy from the interrogator's RF waveform. If tags maintain a battery then they may
operate using some passive principles; however, they do not necessarily get all their operating energy from
the interrogator's RF waveform.
An interrogator receives information from a tag by transmitting a continuous-wave (CW) RF signal to
the tag; the tag responds by modifying the reflection coefficient of its antenna, thereby backscattering
and modulating an information signal to the interrogator. The system is Interrogator-Talks-First (ITF) for
Types A, B and C, meaning that a tag modulates its antenna reflection coefficient with an information signal
only after being directed to do so by an interrogator, or TOTAL, meaning that a tag modifies its antenna
reflection coefficient with an information signal upon entering an interrogator's field after first listening
for interrogator modulation in order to determine if the system is ITF or not. Interrogators and tags are not
required to talk simultaneously; rather, communications are half-duplex, meaning that interrogators talk
and tags listen, or vice versa.
This document further contains an optional “tag only talks after listening” Type D, an enhanced Tag Talks
Only (TTO) technique. Type D uses Pulse-Position Encoding (PPE) or Miller encoding in the return link
and does not define a dedicated forward link. In fact, tags may implement one of the types defined in this
document (A, B, or C) besides Type D in order to allow enhanced tag access techniques.

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
v
Types A, B and C are ITF. Type A uses Pulse-Interval Encoding (PIE) in the forward link and an adaptive
ALOHA collision-arbitration algorithm. Type B uses Manchester in the forward link and an adaptive binary-
tree collision-arbitration algorithm. Type C uses PIE in the forward link and a random slotted collision-
arbitration algorithm.
Type D is TOTAL based on Pulse Position Encoding or Miller M = 2 encoded subcarrier.

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
vi
International Standard ISO/IEC 18000-6:2025(en)
Information technology — Radio frequency identification for
item management —
Part 6:
General parameters for air interface communications at 860
MHz to 930 MHz
1 Scope
This document specifies the air interface for radio frequency identification (RFID) devices operating in the
860 MHz to 930 MHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band used in item management applications.
This document is intended to allow for compatibility and to encourage inter-operability of products for the
growing RFID market in the international marketplace.
This document defines the forward and return link parameters for technical attributes including, but
not limited to, operating frequency, operating channel accuracy, occupied channel bandwidth, maximum
effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP), spurious emissions, modulation, duty cycle, data coding, bit rate,
bit rate accuracy, bit transmission order, and, where appropriate, operating channels, frequency hop rate,
hop sequence, spreading sequence and chip rate. It further defines the communications protocol used in the
air interface.
This document specifies the physical and logical requirements for a passive-backscatter, Interrogator-Talks-
First (ITF) or tag-only-talks-after-listening (TOTAL) RFID system.
This document, together with ISO/IEC 18000-61, ISO/IEC 18000-62, ISO/IEC 18000-63 and ISO/IEC 18000-64
specifies the following for the 860 MHz to 930 MHz range:
— physical interactions (the signalling layer of the communication link) between interrogators and tags;
— interrogator and tag operating procedures and commands;
— the collision-arbitration scheme used to identify a specific tag in a multiple-tag environment.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 18000-61, Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Part 61:
Parameters for air interface communications at 860 MHz to 960 MHz Type A
ISO/IEC 18000-62, Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Part 62:
Parameters for air interface communications at 860 MHz to 960 MHz Type B
ISO/IEC 18000-63, Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Part 63:
Parameters for air interface communications at 860 MHz to 930 MHz Type C
ISO/IEC 18000-64, Information technology — Radio frequency identification for item management — Part 64:
Parameters for air interface communications at 860 MHz to 960 MHz Type D

© ISO/IEC 2025 – All rights reserved
ISO/IEC 19762, Information technology — Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) techniques —
Vocabulary
3 Terms, definitions, symbols and abbreviated terms
3.1 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 19762 and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use
...