Unique identifier

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A unique identifier (UID) is an identifier that is guaranteed to be unique among all identifiers used for those objects and for a specific purpose. [1] The concept was formalized early in the development of computer science and information systems. In general, it was associated with an atomic data type.

Contents

In relational databases, certain attributes of an entity that serve as unique identifiers are called primary keys . [2] In mathematics, set theory uses the concept of element indices as unique identifiers.

Classification

There are some main types of unique identifiers, [1] each corresponding to a different generation strategy:

  1. serial numbers , assigned incrementally or sequentially, by a central authority or accepted reference.
  2. random numbers, selected from a number space much larger than the maximum (or expected) number of objects to be identified. Although not really unique, some identifiers of this type may be appropriate for identifying objects in many practical applications and are, with informal use of language, still referred to as "unique"
    1. Hash functions : based on the content of the identified object, ensuring that equivalent objects use the same UID.
    2. Random number generator : based on random process.
  3. names or codes allocated by choice which are forced to be unique by keeping a central registry such as the EPC Information Services.
  4. names or codes allocated using a regime involving multiple (concurrent) issuers of unique identifiers that are each assigned mutually exclusive partitions of a global address space such that the unique identifiers assigned by each issuer in each exclusive address space partition are guaranteed to be globally unique. Examples include (1) the media access control address MAC address uniquely assigned to each individual hardware network interface device produced by the manufacturer of the devices, (2) consumer product bar codes assigned to products using identifiers assigned by manufacturers that participate in GS1 identification standards, and (3) the unique and persistent Legal Entity Identifier assigned to a legal entity by one of the LEI registrars in the Global Legal Entity Identifier System (GLEIS) managed by the Global LEI Foundation (GLEIF).

The above methods can be combined, hierarchically or singly, to create other generation schemes which guarantee uniqueness. [2] In many cases, a single object may have more than one unique identifier, each of which identifies it for a different purpose.

Examples

National identification number

National identification number is used by the governments of many countries as a means of tracking their citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents for the purposes of work, taxation, government benefits, health care, and other governance-related functions.

Chemistry

Computing

Economics, tax and regulation

Internet architecture and standards

Mathematical publications

Research / Science

Transportation

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Identifier</span> Name that identifies a unique entity

An identifier is a name that identifies either a unique object or a unique class of objects, where the "object" or class may be an idea, physical countable object, or physical noncountable substance. The abbreviation ID often refers to identity, identification, or an identifier. An identifier may be a word, number, letter, symbol, or any combination of those.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serial number</span> Unique code assigned for identification of a single unit

A serial number is a unique identifier used to uniquely identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially.

There are many different numbering schemes for assigning nominal numbers to entities. These generally require an agreed set of rules, or a central coordinator. The schemes can be considered to be examples of a primary key of a database management system table, whose table definitions require a database design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universally unique identifier</span> Label used for information in computer systems

A Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) is a 128-bit label used for information in computer systems. The term Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) is also used, mostly in Microsoft systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ISSN</span> Serial number used to identify a periodical publication

An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication (periodical), such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs are used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic Product Code</span> Universal identifier for physical object

The Electronic Product Code (EPC) is designed as a universal identifier that provides a unique identity for every physical object anywhere in the world, for all time. The EPC structure is defined in the EPCglobal Tag Data Standard, which is a freely available standard. The canonical representation of an EPC is a URI, namely the 'pure-identity URI' representation that is intended for use when referring to a specific physical object in communications about EPCs among information systems and business application software.

A digital identity is data stored on computer systems relating to an individual, organization, application, or device. For individuals, it involves the collection of personal data that is essential for facilitating automated access to digital services, confirming one's identity on the internet, and allowing digital systems to manage interactions between different parties. It is a component of a person's social identity in the digital realm, often referred to as their online identity.

A Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is an identifying number used for tax purposes in the United States and in other countries under the Common Reporting Standard. In the United States it is also known as a Tax Identification Number (TIN) or Federal Taxpayer Identification Number (FTIN). A TIN may be assigned by the Social Security Administration (SSA) or by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The Data Universal Numbering System, abbreviated as DUNS or D-U-N-S, is a proprietary system developed and managed by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) that assigns a unique numeric identifier, referred to as a "DUNS number" to a single business entity. It was introduced in 1963 to support D&B's credit reporting practice. It is standard worldwide. DUNS users include the European Commission, the United Nations, and Apple. More than 50 global industry and trade associations recognize, recommend, or require DUNS. The DUNS database contains over 300 million entries for businesses throughout the world. DUNS numbers can be represented using ISO/IEC 6523 using ICD 0060.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GS1</span> Organization for barcode standards

GS1 is a not-for-profit, international organization developing and maintaining its own standards for barcodes and the corresponding issue company prefixes. The best known of these standards is the barcode, a symbol printed on products that can be scanned electronically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Article Number</span> Standard barcode system used in global trade

The International Article Number is a standard describing a barcode symbology and numbering system used in global trade to identify a specific retail product type, in a specific packaging configuration, from a specific manufacturer. The standard has been subsumed in the Global Trade Item Number standard from the GS1 organization; the same numbers can be referred to as GTINs and can be encoded in other barcode symbologies defined by GS1. EAN barcodes are used worldwide for lookup at retail point of sale, but can also be used as numbers for other purposes such as wholesale ordering or accounting. These barcodes only represent the digits 0–9, unlike some other barcode symbologies which can represent additional characters.

In the distribution and logistics of many types of products, track and trace or tracking and tracing concerns a process of determining the current and past locations of a unique item or property. Mass serialization is the process that manufacturers go through to assign and mark each of their products with a unique identifier such as an Electronic Product Code (EPC) for track and trace purposes. The marking or "tagging" of products is usually completed within the manufacturing process through the use of various combinations of human readable or machine readable technologies such as DataMatrix barcodes or RFID.

A mobile equipment identifier (MEID) is a globally unique number identifying a physical piece of CDMA2000 mobile station equipment. The number format is defined by the 3GPP2 report S.R0048 but in practical terms, it can be seen as an IMEI but with hexadecimal digits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Standard Name Identifier</span> 16 digit identifier for people and organisations

The International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) is an identifier system for uniquely identifying the public identities of contributors to media content such as books, television programmes, and newspaper articles. Such an identifier consists of 16 digits. It can optionally be displayed as divided into four blocks.

MIL-STD-130, "Identification Marking of U.S. Military Property," is a specification that describes markings required on items sold to the Department of Defense (DoD), including the addition, in about 2005, of UII Data Matrix machine-readable information (MRI) requirements. MIL-STD-130 describes the materials allowed, minimum text size and fonts, format, syntax and rules for identifying marks on a part, where to locate this marking plus exceptions and unique situations, such as vehicle identification numbers, cell phone IDs, etc. Other non-identifying markings—such as "this end up"—are covered under MIL-STD-129.

Unique Identification Marking, UID marking, Item Unique Identification or IUID, is a part of the compliance process mandated by the United States Department of Defense. It is a permanent marking method used to give equipment a unique ID. Marking is essential for all equipment with an acquisition cost of over $5,000, equipment which is mission essential, controlled inventory, or serially-controlled. UID-marking is a set of data for assets that is globally unique and unambiguous. The technology used to mark an item is 2D Data Matrix ECC 200 Symbol. UID marking can be used to ensure data integrity and data quality throughout an item's lifecycle; it also supports multi-faceted business applications.

ResearcherID is an identifying system for scientific authors. The system was introduced in January 2008 by Thomson Reuters Corporation.

The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a unique global identifier for legal entities participating in financial transactions. Also known as an LEI code or LEI number, its purpose is to help identify legal entities on a globally accessible database. Legal entities are organizations such as companies or government entities that participate in financial transactions. An individual person may not obtain an LEI. The identifier is used in regulatory reporting to financial regulators and all financial companies and funds are required to have an LEI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ucode system</span>

The ucode system is an identification number system that can be used to identify things in the real world uniquely. Digital information can be associated with objects and places, and the associated information can be retrieved by using ucode.

ISO/IEC 7064 is a standard promulgated by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) that defines algorithms for calculating check digit characters. The checks should be applicable to alphanumeric strings and should be able to detect all single substitution errors, all or nearly all single local transposition errors, all or nearly all circular shift errors, a high proportion of double substitution errors, a high proportion of all other errors.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 McMurry, Julie A.; et al. (2017). "Identifiers for the 21st century: How to design, provision, and reuse persistent identifiers to maximize utility and impact of life science data". PLOS Biology. 15 (6): e2001414. doi: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PBIO.2001414 . PMC   5490878 . PMID   28662064.
  2. 1 2 Kline, Kevin E.; Kline, Daniel; Hunt, Brand (2009). SQL in a nutshell (3rd ed.). Beijing: O'Reilly. ISBN   978-0-596-51884-4. OCLC   244652620.
  3. ↑ Haak, Laurel L.; Fenner, Martin; Paglione, Laura; Pentz, Ed; Ratner, Howard (2012). "ORCID: A system to uniquely identify researchers". Learned Publishing. 25 (4): 259–264. doi:10.1087/20120404. S2CID   206007063.
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