Aware, Inc. - Biometrics Software

MINEX-certified, ANSI/INCITS 378-compliant fingerprint minutiae extraction, template generation, and matching for 1:1 verification

Aware XM extract and match SDK provides MINEX-certified INCITS 378-compliant fingerprint minutiae extraction, template generation, and 1:1 matching, such as required for PIV ID card personalization and authentication. XM works seamlessly with other Aware SDKs such as PIVPack and ICAOPack to incorporate biometric verification into a comprehensive enrollment, personalization, and reader software solution.

Background

ANSI/INCITS 378 is a biometric data interchange format standard designed for transport and storage of fingerprint minutiae. It is defined by the INCITS M1 “Biometrics” standards body and US technical advisory group to ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 37 for biometrics. The standard defines not only a list of metadata elements but also precisely how to identify fingerprint minutiae.

NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a U.S. government agency. In order to assess the interoperability of fingerprint minutiae—that is, could minutiae extracted by one algorithm be matched by an algorithm of other vendors—they conducted a test called MINEX. The test was conducted primarily to assess whether fingerprint minutiae could achieve a sufficient level of interoperability, or rather would images be required. A requirement for participation in the MINEX test was ANSI/INCITS 378 compliance. MINEX resulted in lists of both extract algorithms and match algorithms that achieved a certain level of performance when used in conjunction with algorithms of the various participants.

The PIV federal employee ID program requires that fingerprint minutiae from two fingers be stored on each ID card in INCITS 378 format. GSA requires that only extraction algorithms certified by the MINEX test be used to generate minutiae for storage on PIV ID cards.

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