EPC Encoder and Decoder SGTIN-96 and SGTIN-198

What this tool does

Bi-directional encoder and decoder for GS1 SGTIN-96 and SGTIN-198 EPCs; the two encodings that carry a serialised GTIN on the vast majority of UHF (RAIN) RFID labels in retail today. Type whichever value you have and the tool computes every other representation instantly: GTIN-14 plus serial number, EPC Pure Identity URI (as used in EPCIS), EPC Tag URI (as used in reader middleware), and the raw binary and hexadecimal actually programmed into the tag's EPC memory.

Because it works in both directions it is equally an EPC encoder and an EPC decoder: encode when you are preparing a tagging run and know the GTIN and serial; decode when you are identifying an unknown tag from the hex your reader reports. As it translates, it verifies the GTIN-14 check digit, splits the GS1 Company Prefix from the item reference, names the brand owner where the prefix is known, and auto-detects whether the EPC is SGTIN-96 or SGTIN-198.

How to use it

To encode, enter a GTIN-14 in (01) and a serial in (21), select the GS1 Company Prefix length and a Filter Value, and the URIs, binary and hex populate downwards. To decode, paste an EPC Tag URI or the tag’s hex and everything above fills in — no company-prefix knowledge needed, since SGTIN EPCs carry a partition value recording where the prefix ends. The green arrows show which way the data is rippling, and Show Example loads a complete worked example. EPCs using the newer GS1 TDS v2.3 schemes (headers F7/FB/FC/FD) are handled by the companion TDS v2.3 decoder & encoder.

SGTIN-96 vs SGTIN-198

SGTIN-96 (EPC header 30) is the fixed 96-bit workhorse. Its serial number is purely numeric; an integer from 0 to 274,877,906,943 with no leading zeros — which fits the smallest, cheapest tag chips and suits systems that assign serials as plain counters.

SGTIN-198 (EPC header 36) trades compactness for expressiveness: the serial may be up to 20 alphanumeric characters (letters, digits and a limited set of special characters), each stored in 7 bits. That makes it the right choice when serials contain letters or must preserve leading zeros; but the EPC occupies 198 significant bits (padded to 208 on the tag), so the chip needs the larger EPC memory bank.

The tool dynamically selects the appropriate scheme for you from the header byte, the tag-size selection, or the characteristics of the serial you type.