ISO/IEC 24791-5:2012

Overview

ISO/IEC 24791-5:2012 specifies a low‑level device interface for RFID Software System Infrastructure (SSI). Built on the EPCglobal Low Level Reader Protocol (LLRP) with ISO/IEC 24791 extensions, the standard gives RFID control software binary, TCP/IP‑based access to interrogators (readers) so developers can optimize air‑protocol command sequencing, tag access, and device control. In this edition the supported air protocol is Type C of ISO/IEC 18000-6. The interface supports direct read/write of raw tag memory, tag control operations (lock/kill), and reading ISO/IEC 15962‑encoded data items by OID.

Key topics and requirements

• LLRP core + extensions: Uses EPCglobal LLRP as the foundation and defines LLRP extensions (clause 9) and binary encoding (clause 10) to support ISO/IEC 15962 data item access.
• Binary TCP/IP transfer: Efficient binary transfer syntax over TCP/IP for interrogator-client communication.
• Air‑protocol access: Low‑level access to air protocol commands and parameters (optimized sequencing, multi‑operation tag access).
• Data item handling: Read one or more data items encoded per ISO/IEC 15962 by specifying OIDs in URN notation; optional decoding to Unicode (UTF‑8). Encoding data items onto tags is out of scope.
• Device control features: Direct read/write of raw tag data, tag locking and killing capabilities via the device interface.
• Conformance: Implementations must conform to EPCglobal LLRP requirements and the specific “shall” statements in clause 9 of ISO/IEC 24791-5.

Applications and users

Who benefits:

• RFID system integrators needing fine‑grained control over reader behavior to maximize read rates and reliability.
• Reader/interrogator manufacturers implementing a standards‑based device endpoint for enterprise integration.
• Software developers building middleware, reader controllers, and SSI components requiring direct access to air protocol commands.
• Supply chain, inventory and asset management solution providers who need deterministic, optimized tag access and selective reading of encoded data items. Practical uses include optimizing multi‑operation tag transactions, direct memory access for diagnostics and provisioning, secure tag control (lock/kill), and extracting ISO/IEC 15962 encoded data for higher‑level applications.

Related standards

• EPCglobal LLRP (Low Level Reader Protocol)
• ISO/IEC 18000‑6 (Type C air interface)
• ISO/IEC 15962 (data encoding/access methods)
• ISO/IEC 24791‑1 (SSI architecture)
• ISO/IEC 19762 series and ISO/IEC 8859‑1 (vocabulary/character sets)

Keywords: ISO/IEC 24791-5, RFID device interface, LLRP, ISO/IEC 18000-6 Type C, ISO/IEC 15962, SSI, interrogator, TCP/IP, RFID system integration.