GenKey WSQ fingerprint implementation granted FBI certification

The fingerprint image compression Wavelet Scalar Quantization (WSQ) implementation from large-scale biometric identity management solutions provider GenKey has been certified by the WSQ certification given by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Within the biometrics and criminal justice community, the WSQ algorithm is the standard for the exchange of 8-bit, 500 ppi fingerprint images.

FBI’s new WSQ specification, Version 3.1, requires a highly accurate implementation of gray-scale fingerprint image compression. In October, Suprema’s fingerprint image compression algorithms were certified with the latest FBI WSQ certification.

GenKey received its FBI WSQ certification after a complete analysis of its WSQ implementation by the NIST, and included a comparison between GenKey’s WSQ implementation with the output from a double precision reference implementation of the NIST. The WSQ implementation of GenKey is filed with implementation number 10851 and 10850 at the FBI Biometric Specifications.

“Obtaining the WSQ certification is an important step forward for us, as customers may increasingly demand it as a requirement for large-scale AFIS applications,” GenKey CEO Michiel van der Veen said in a statement. “Having a fully thread safe and certified implementation of WSQ de- and encoding helps us to fulfill our aim to deliver biometric solutions that meet our customers’ demands and internationally recognized standards.”

Article Topics

algorithms  |  biometrics  |  FBI  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  GenKey  |  Identity  |  NIST