ISO/IEC 15693
Smart Cards & RFID · 7 specs
Direct Answer
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.
Source: ISO/IEC 15693 / NFC Forum Type 5 · Last reviewed Aug 28, 2026
Specs
| Frequency Bands | 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 |
Vicinity vs Proximity Operating Physics
While ISO/IEC 14443 'Proximity' cards require high magnetic field strengths that limit communication to under 10 cm, ISO/IEC 15693 'Vicinity' cards operate in weak magnetic fields (as low as 0.15 A/m). By utilizing pulse-position modulation (PPM) where 1-out-of-4 or 1-out-of-256 data encoding minimizes RF energy interruption, gate antennas can read tags passing through doorways up to 1.5 meters wide.
Commercial Applications
ISO 15693 is standard in automated library check-out and drop-box systems (where entire stacks of books are inventoried simultaneously), ski lift hands-free ticketing, garment tracking in industrial laundries, and medical device anti-counterfeiting.