ISO/IEC 15693 vs. NFC Forum Tag Types
Comparing 2 standards across 13 specifications. 12 key differences identified.
ISO/IEC 15693 (NFC Forum Type 5) is an international standard for High-Frequency (13.56 MHz) Vicinity Integrated Circuit Cards (VICC). Engineered with relaxed power requirements and highly sensitive subcarrier modulation, it achieves read ranges up to 1 to 1.5 meters, making it the standard for library item tracking, ski resort passes, and pharmaceutical logistics.
NFC Forum Tag Types (Types 1 through 5) are standardized memory and communication specifications established by the NFC Forum, operating at 13.56 MHz. They define how data is formatted in NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF) across underlying ISO/IEC 14443 Type A/B, FeliCa, and ISO/IEC 15693 radio architectures.
Specification Comparison Table
13 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Frequency Bands
|
13.56 MHz | 13.56 MHz |
|
Operating Distance
|
Up to 1.0 to 1.5 m (Vicinity range) | — |
|
NFC Forum Classification
|
Type 5 Tag | — |
|
Data Rates (Downlink)
|
26.48 kbps (High data rate) / 1.65 kbps (Low rate) | — |
|
Downlink Modulation
|
100% or 10%–30% ASK (1-out-of-4 or 1-out-of-256 pulse position coding) | — |
|
Uplink Modulation
|
Manchester coding on 423.75 kHz single or dual subcarriers | — |
|
Prominent Silicon Families
|
NXP ICODE, STMicroelectronics ST25TV, Texas Instruments Tag-it | — |
|
Data Format Standard
|
— | NDEF (NFC Data Exchange Format) |
|
Type 1 Baseline
|
— | Innovision Topaz (ISO 14443-A, 106 kbps, 96B–2KB) |
|
Type 2 Baseline
|
— | NXP NTAG / MIFARE Ultralight (ISO 14443-A, 106 kbps, 48B–2KB) |
|
Type 3 Baseline
|
— | Sony FeliCa Lite (JIS X 6319-4, 212/424 kbps, up to 1MB) |
|
Type 4 Baseline
|
— | ISO/IEC 14443 Type A & B T=CL (106–848 kbps, up to 32KB) |
|
Type 5 Baseline
|
— | ISO/IEC 15693 Vicinity (26.48 kbps, up to 64KB) |