ISO/IEC 24791-2:2011

Overview

ISO/IEC 24791-2:2011 specifies the Data Management interfaces for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) within the Software System Infrastructure (SSI) for item management. It defines how RFID tag data is accessed and managed - including reading, writing, collection, filtering, grouping, and event subscription/notification - at an abstraction level appropriate for middleware and data-management components. The standard incorporates the EPCglobal Application Level Events (ALE) Standard with extensions to support ISO/IEC 15962 data encoding and ISO/IEC 18000 air protocols.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Data-management interfaces: Defines client and service endpoint interactions for tag data operations and control functions in an SSI architecture.
• Supported operations: Reading, writing, collection, filtering, grouping, event subscription and notification for RFID tag data.
• Abstraction of commands: Abstract command/operation definitions that can be mapped to different network bindings and encoding mechanisms, enabling protocol-agnostic middleware.
• Encoding support: Explicit support for ISO/IEC 15962 data encoding rules and logical memory semantics (UID, AFI, DSFID, etc.).
• Air protocol compatibility: Full support for commands/responses for air interfaces covered by ISO/IEC 18000 series at the Data Management abstraction layer.
• Volume and format management: Provisions for volume reduction, data format/structure modification, and basic data analysis appropriate to Data Management’s role.
• Client-controlled reporting: Reporting mechanisms that let client applications request data in controlled formats, either inside or outside the SSI.
• Conformance: Requires satisfying EPCglobal ALE conformance plus Clause 9 extensions in ISO/IEC 24791-2 for ALE interpretation and ISO/IEC 15962/18000 interaction.
• Modeling and architecture: Uses UML physical diagrams and follows the SSI architecture defined in ISO/IEC 24791-1 (Client and Services Endpoints).

Practical applications

ISO/IEC 24791-2 is aimed at enabling interoperable, scalable RFID middleware and data-management solutions across industries:

• Supply chain & logistics: Real-time inventory tracking, shipment validation, and exception reporting using event-driven RFID data streams.
• Retail and asset management: High-volume tag reads with filtering, grouping, and format conversion for POS and stock control systems.
• Healthcare & pharmaceuticals: Secure, auditable tag read/write operations and controlled reporting for item-level traceability.
• Manufacturing: Integration of RFID tag data into MES/ERP systems with consistent encoding and protocol mapping.
• IoT and sensor integration: Combining tag and sensor data, and reducing data volumes before forwarding to enterprise applications.

Who should use this standard

• RFID middleware and software platform developers
• System integrators and solution architects
• Interrogator/device manufacturers and firmware teams
• Enterprise IT teams implementing item-level tracking
• Conformance/test labs and standards bodies

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 24791-1 (SSI Architecture)
• ISO/IEC 15962 (RFID data encoding rules)
• ISO/IEC 18000 series (RFID air interfaces)
• EPCglobal ALE (Application Level Events)
• ISO/IEC 19762 series (AIDC vocabulary)

Keywords: ISO/IEC 24791-2, RFID data management, Software System Infrastructure (SSI), ALE, ISO/IEC 15962, ISO/IEC 18000, RFID middleware, tag encoding, event notification.