Reference

RFID & NFC glossary

Plain-English definitions of the RFID and NFC chips, standards and terms procurement teams meet when speccing tags. Chip specs are drawn from Proud Tek's datasheet-verified registry — not marketing copy. Each entry has its own link, so you can deep-link a definition (for example /glossary/#ntag-215).

RFID & NFC chips

The silicon inside a tag. Memory, frequency band and cryptography decide what a chip can do — and what it costs. Specs below come from Proud Tek's datasheet-verified registry.

NTAG 213: NXP's entry-tier NTAG 21x HF NFC chip (ISO/IEC 14443A, NFC Forum Type 2) with 144 bytes of user memory. Common in NFC stickers and tap-to-link labels where a single URL or short record is enough. Compare NTAG memory →
NTAG 215: The mid-tier NTAG 21x chip (ISO/IEC 14443A, NFC Forum Type 2) with 504 bytes of user memory. The most popular NFC chip for business cards, tap-to-review tags and collectibles — room for a URL plus extra records. Compare NTAG memory →
NTAG 216: The top-tier NTAG 21x chip (ISO/IEC 14443A, NFC Forum Type 2) with 888 bytes of user memory, for tags that store longer NDEF payloads such as multi-record vCards or larger URLs. Compare NTAG memory →
NTAG 424 DNA: NXP's secure NFC chip (ISO/IEC 14443A, NFC Forum Type 4, 416 bytes) with AES-128 SUN authentication: every tap returns a fresh, server-verifiable cryptographic URL. Used for anti-counterfeit, tamper-evidence and digital product passports. NTAG 424 DNA cards →
MIFARE Classic 1K: A legacy 13.56 MHz access/transit card (ISO/IEC 14443A) with 1 KB EEPROM in 16 sectors. Its CRYPTO-1 cipher has been publicly broken since 2008, so it is not recommended for new security-sensitive deployments. MIFARE Classic encyclopedia →
MIFARE DESFire EV3: NXP's high-security smart-card chip (ISO/IEC 14443A + ISO 7816-4 APDU) in 2/4/8 KB variants with AES-128 (and legacy 3DES) cryptography. The default choice for secure access control, transit and campus credentials. DESFire EV3 cards →
MIFARE Ultralight C: A low-cost ticketing chip (ISO/IEC 14443A) with 144 bytes of user memory and 3DES authentication — used for limited-use transit tickets and event wristbands. Ultralight C encyclopedia →
MIFARE Plus EV2: A security-upgrade card (ISO/IEC 14443A) with AES-128, designed as a drop-in migration path from MIFARE Classic to a modern cipher while keeping a Classic-compatible memory layout. MIFARE Plus cards →
ICODE SLIX: NXP's ISO/IEC 15693 (NFC Forum Type 5) vicinity chip with 112 bytes of user memory and longer read range than ISO 14443. Common in library books, laundry tags and tamper labels. ICODE SLIX encyclopedia →
EM4100: A read-only 125 kHz LF chip (ISO/IEC 18000-2) that broadcasts a fixed 40-bit ID in the clear. Ubiquitous in legacy proximity fobs and cards; trivially cloned, so not for security. LF chip encyclopedia →
EM4305: A writable 125 kHz LF chip (ISO/IEC 18000-2; ISO 11784/11785 FDX-B) with 512-bit EEPROM and password protection — used for animal ID and programmable LF credentials. LF chip encyclopedia →
T5577: A widely-used writable 125 kHz LF transponder (ISO/IEC 18000-2) with roughly 330 rewritable bits that can emulate many LF formats. Common in programmable hotel and access fobs. EM4100 vs T5577 →
UCODE 8: NXP's mainstream UHF chip (EPC Gen2v2 / ISO 18000-63) with a 128-bit EPC — a high-sensitivity workhorse for retail item-level and supply-chain labels. UCODE 8 encyclopedia →
UCODE 9: NXP's latest mainstream UHF chip (EPC Gen2v2 / ISO 18000-63, 96-bit EPC) with improved read sensitivity and a unique TID for serialization and brand protection. UCODE 9 encyclopedia →
Impinj Monza R6: Impinj's high-volume UHF chip (EPC Gen2v2 / ISO 18000-63, 96-bit EPC) with AutoTune for consistent performance across varied label antennas; common in retail apparel tags. Monza R6 encyclopedia →
Alien Higgs-3: Alien's UHF chip (EPC Gen2v2 / ISO 18000-63) with a 96-bit EPC and 512-bit user memory — used where on-tag user data storage is needed in asset and supply-chain tags.

Standards & protocols

The air-interface and data-format standards that decide which readers and phones can talk to a tag.

RFID: Radio-Frequency Identification — reading a unique ID (and sometimes data) from a tag over radio, without contact or line of sight. Spans LF (125 kHz), HF (13.56 MHz) and UHF (860–960 MHz) bands. Active vs passive RFID →
NFC: Near-Field Communication — a 13.56 MHz subset of HF RFID (ISO/IEC 14443 / 15693) standardized by the NFC Forum for short-range, phone-readable interactions such as tap-to-link and tap-to-pay.
ISO/IEC 14443: The HF (13.56 MHz) proximity standard, roughly 10 cm range, underlying MIFARE, DESFire and NTAG chips and NFC card emulation. Defined in Type A and Type B variants.
ISO/IEC 15693: The HF (13.56 MHz) vicinity standard, up to roughly 1 m range, behind ICODE chips and NFC Forum Type 5 tags — longer range but lower data rate than ISO 14443.
ISO/IEC 18000-63: The UHF (860–960 MHz) passive air-interface standard, functionally equivalent to EPC Gen2 — the protocol behind passive UHF supply-chain and retail tags.
EPC Gen2: EPCglobal UHF Class-1 Generation-2 (current revision Gen2v2), aligned with ISO 18000-63 — the dominant passive-UHF protocol defining the EPC memory bank plus inventory and security commands.
NDEF: NFC Data Exchange Format — the standard message format (records for URLs, text, vCards and more) that lets any NFC phone read and write a tag's payload interoperably. NDEF format explained →
NFC Forum tag types: The NFC Forum's tag-type profiles (Type 1–5) mapping chips to capabilities: Type 2 covers NTAG 21x, Type 4 covers DESFire and NTAG 424 DNA, and Type 5 covers ICODE / ISO 15693 chips.

Core concepts

The vocabulary buyers meet when speccing a tag or comparing quotes.

LF (Low Frequency): RFID at 125–134 kHz — short range with good tolerance of liquids and metal proximity, but low data rate. The band for EM4100, EM4305, T5577 and animal ID. 125 kHz vs 13.56 MHz →
HF (High Frequency): RFID/NFC at 13.56 MHz — roughly 10 cm to 1 m range and phone-readable. The band for NFC, MIFARE, NTAG and ICODE. HF vs UHF →
UHF (Ultra-High Frequency): RFID at 860–960 MHz — multi-metre range and fast bulk reads. The band for EPC Gen2 supply-chain, retail and asset tracking. HF vs UHF →
RFID inlay: The functional core of a tag: the chip plus its etched or printed antenna on a thin substrate, before it is converted into a finished label, card or hard tag.
Antenna: The conductive coil (HF/LF) or dipole (UHF) that couples the chip to the reader's field. How well it is tuned to the chip and the carrier band largely determines read range.
MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity): The smallest production run a manufacturer will accept for a given product or customization. Proud Tek publishes an MOQ ladder per product family in its quotes. Request a quote →