Release notes for MegaMatcher 11.x line products

These release notes are relevant for the following products:

• MegaMatcher 11.x Standard / Extended SDK
• VeriFinger 11.x Standard / Extended SDK
• VeriLook 11.x Standard / Extended SDK
• VeriEye 11.x Standard / Extended SDK
• VeriSpeak 11.x Standard / Extended SDK

See MegaMatcher 13 product line release notes for the newer versions.

List of releases:

October 28, 2020 (Revision hash ec1f630ac12ba5d9e4345c8bbad39a1712dc2b11)
June 19, 2020 (Revision hash 37b7e974be310f14f79dce216785a28ef69cdeb2)
May 14, 2020 (Revision hash 4436c026504beed5c8e986c4bd34ea4facb63ab6)
February 13, 2020 (Revision hash 3044c6174b18f0578dfff9b1a9842771922c1ab5)
December 27, 2019 (Revision hash 83742f07dd327bc1dc0dad903f4de011dc15b0c0)
November 5, 2019 (Revision hash 9baa611e526fb9b48d31d05b9e9bc20d078b1f0e)
September 19, 2019 (Revision hash 635c7d1cad980af77720b0f3d1d7152ca2c65c5a)
August 26, 2019 (Revision hash 9fdc64fd7e0e74004577b75edc819b04480b61ef)
July 7, 2019 (Revision 195553)
May 20, 2019 (Revision 193212)
March 25, 2019 (Revision 191384)
February 19, 2019 (Revision 190192)
January 7, 2019 (Revision 188367)

October 28, 2020

Product revision number: 20201028
Product revision hash: ec1f630ac12ba5d9e4345c8bbad39a1712dc2b11

New features:

Android Bluetooth sample added.

Fixes:

Fixed an issue with trial license in some specific network configurations.
Fixed issues with license deactivation on older Android devices.
Fixed issues with Upek (and other DigitalPersona) device capture on Windows and Linux.
Fixed an issue with automatic scan after manual on Integrated Biometrics.

Updates and improvements:

Thales Cogent CSD101i fingerprint scanner support added on Windows.
Suprema RealScan FC palmprint scanner support added.
Spoof support and smear detection added for Integrated Biometrics on Windows.
Futronic scanners now supported on Android 10/11.
Faster capturing on Aratek BM series devices.
MobotixThermal camera can now be added through the configuration file.
Iris ID major stability rework.

June 19, 2020

Product revision number: 20200619
Product revision hash: 37b7e974be310f14f79dce216785a28ef69cdeb2

New features:

MobotixThermalCamera module added.

Fixes:

Fixed issues with token face image cutting from stream.
Fixed a bug with still camera resolution setting in Android while camera is recording.
Fixed a number of other minor bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Added Jenetric fingerprint scanner module.
Added IrisId R100 Iris and Face scanner support.

May 14, 2020

Product revision number: 20200514
Product revision hash: 4436c026504beed5c8e986c4bd34ea4facb63ab6

New features:

The new NdmOnvif module automatically scans the default network interface for Onvif compliant cameras and adds them to the device list. The network interface, refresh interval and connection timeout can all be changed in the NdmOnvif.ini on Microsoft Windows and NdmOnvif.conf on Linux. The added devices have these custom properties:
- Onvif username/password - credentials used for communication via the Onvif standard.
- Stream username/password - credentials used for accessing the stream.
- Media Profile - many cameras have multiple media profiles which can be changed with this property. You can enter the profile's name or alternatively enter it's number, starting from 0.
The Android face-sample which demonstrates how to efficiently perform face capture on low power devices.

Fixes:

Fixed issues with cosmetic lenses detection which caused crashes with some non-typical size iris images.
Fixed a bug with Android activation/deactivation.
Fixed a number of other minor bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Greatly improved ActivationWizard.
Added HID Crossmatch I Scan 3 iris scanner module on Microsoft Windows.
Added support for BeepAfterSound device parameter to GreenBit and IntegratedBiometrics.
Integrated Biometrics module significantly improved capturing performance and added SuperDryMode property.
Updated Suprema RealScan SDK and added DirtySensitivity (Windows) and AutoCalibration parameters.
Removed the outdated NdmProsillica camera module.

February 13, 2020

Product revision number: 20200212
Product revision hash: 3044c6174b18f0578dfff9b1a9842771922c1ab5

Fixes:

Fixed an issue with NSubject create from memory failing to detect FCRecord format.
Fixed a bug which could result in a possible crash on Android during fingerprint extraction on devices with large number of CPU cores.
Fixed a bug which could result in a possible crash on Android during face extraction in case multiple faces are processed in parallel.
Fixed Volume License Manager (dongle) issues on Windows which could result in licenses "dissapearing" after some time or incorrect behaviour during dongle update procedure.
Fixed an issue with ZKTeco SLK20R fingerprint reader instantly finishing capture even if no finger is placed.
Fixed an issue with NeuBio fingerprint reader incorrectly returning serial number.
Fixed a number of other minor bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Simplified licensing on Android platform and made it more user-friendly.
Enhanced NSQLiteConnection to support synchronous mode for more reliability, but less performance. Set sqliteConnection.setProperty("Synchronous", true); to enable this feature.
Added Nitgen NScan fingerprint reader support.
Updated Futronic and Integrated Biometrics support modules to latest version of vendor SDKs.

December 27, 2019

Product revision number: 20191227
Product revision hash: 83742f07dd327bc1dc0dad903f4de011dc15b0c0

Fixes:

Fixed an issue with ridge count calculation in NFingerExaminer.
Fixed listing more than 3 dongles using licensing API.
Fixed an issue with Cross Match LScan.
Fixed a number of other minor bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

ANTemplate now supports drawing of Type-8 vector signatures.
Faster video frame conversion.
Better SmartCard backwards compatibility on Android.

November 5, 2019

Product revision number: 20191105
Product revision hash: 9baa611e526fb9b48d31d05b9e9bc20d078b1f0e

New features:

Added Android camera capturing option for continous focus mode.

Fixes:

Fixed FIRecord with vendor extended data memory access violations.
Fixed an issue when extremely large fingerprint image could cause template extraction to hang.
Fixed segmentation fault when normalizing constant iris image.
Fixed an issue with opening some TIFF files with broken resolution fields.
Fixed an issue with crash on Android when DigitalPersona U.are.U is unplugged during capture or denied permissions.
Fixed a bug which showed a Cross Match scanner as a palm scanner even if it does not support palm scanning.
Fixed a number of other minor bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Updated Android java dependencies to be compatible with Gradle 5+ versions.
Android device list is now refreshed immediately on USB connect/disconnect (previously it was needed to wait 10 seconds).
Added Bitel fingerprint scanner support on Android.

September 19, 2019

Product revision number: 20190919
Product revision hash: 635c7d1cad980af77720b0f3d1d7152ca2c65c5a

Fixes:

Fixed a bug in fingers singular point (core, delta, etc.) extraction producing incorrect results on some images.
Fixed a rare issue with Java multithreaded applications deadlock on initialization.
Fixed an issue with automatic palmprint capturing on Green Bit scanner.
Fixed licensing issues on Android 4.4 x86 platform.
Fixed a number of other minor bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Suprema BioMini Slim 2 fingerprint scanner now supported on Linux.
Optimized preview speed for Green Bit devies to show smaller palmprint images.

August 26, 2019

Product revision number: 20190826
Product revision hash: 9fdc64fd7e0e74004577b75edc819b04480b61ef

The first release of MegaMatcher 11.2 SDK line.

Algorithms:

Improved fingerprint recognition algorithm which was recognized by NIST as the most interoperable and accurate fingerprint template generator and matcher in the world (submission Neurotechnology+010A in the NIST MINEX III evaluation).
Improved face recognition algorithm which provides even better accuracy of face recognition using medium template size: with almost 6 times smaller algorithm deployment files size and 2 times faster extraction speed it reaches the same accuracy as the large template.

New features:

Added CropRect property to NEAttributes for returning cropping position when cropping standard iris images.

Fixes:

Fixed a bug when EnrollWithDuplicateCheck could sometimes not detect duplicates when multiple operations are started concurrently on very slow hardware.
Fixed an issue with NFingerExaminer not failing on images which have small number of minutiae.
Fixed an issue with Suprema RealScan-F not listed as palmprint scanner.
Fixed a number of small bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Optimized reading and writing ANTemplate XML files.
More robust JPEG 2000 file handling.
Scanners support:
- Added support for Suprema BioMini Slim 3.
- Added support for Integrated Biometrics Kojak 3.0.
- Faster start of Integrated Biometrics scans after the first scan on Android.
- Added image preview for DigitalPersona U.are.U scanners on Microsoft Windows (for models which support it)

July 7, 2019

Product revision: 195553

New features:

Added an algorithm for ethnicity classification by face image.
Added support for Famoco FX100 Bio fingerprint capture terminal on Android.
Added support for Futronic's LFD mode on Windows and Linux.

Fixes:

Fixed a number of issues in ANTemplate.
Fixed issues with macOS framework and samples signatures.
Fixed licensing issues on Android 9.
Fixed a number of other minor bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Removed FacesDetectSegmentsEmotions and FacesDetectSegmentsAge data files (they are a part of FacesDetectSegmentsAttributes data file now).
Added missing setters and getters for ICAO property confidence in Java wrappers.
Updated USB communication libraries used in dongle devices.
Updated IriTechIriShield scanner SDK.
Updated documentation on SDK license activation.

May 20, 2019

Product revision: 193213

New features:

Added Integrated Biometrics FIVE-0 fingerprint scanner support.
Added ZKTeco fingerprint scanners support.

Fixes:

Fixed issues with ANTemplate invalid buffer handling and template parsing.
Fixed a bug with ANTemplate Type-8 record resolution handling.
Fixed Cross Match L Scan crash when disconnecting and connecting a device back.
Fixed an issue with GreenBit scanner continued functioning when disconnected during capturing.
Fixed an issue with Suprema devices under Android when aborting capturing.
Fixed a number of small bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Improved singular point generation for fingerprints.
Aratek Trustfinger and Suprema BioMini 2 devices now supported on Android.
Improved DigitalPersona U.are.U support on Android.

March 25, 2019

Product revision: 191384

The first release of MegaMatcher 11.1 SDK line.

New features:

Palm Print Image Processing license introduced for fast palmprint template extraction on server side.
Added PC license support for Orange Pi Zero.
Added Mantra MIS100V2 Iris scanner support on Android.

Fixes:

Fixed some issues with ANTemplate Type-9 record creation from FMRecord.
Fixed a bug with ANTemplate Type-17 record automatic image conversion.
Fixed an issue with slower speed of finger and face identification.
Fixed issues with Canon EDS unplugging.
Updated IBScanUltimate SDK to fix Android crashes on Oreo or above.
Fixed an issue with SupremaBioMini crash after unplugging.
Fixed issues with IriTech IriShield binoculars on Android.
Fixed a number of small bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Improved palmprint identification speeds.
Updated Akiyama Akys-10 Biometric Camera integration.
Added image preview on SupremaBioMini on Windows.
Spoof detection levels can be now customized on Lumidigm scanners.
Updated SecuGen SDK for Android.

February 19, 2019

Product revision: 190192

New features:

Added support for Akiyama Akys-10 Biometric Camera.
Added missing ANTemplateType2Record tutorials.

Fixes:

Fixed issues with iris segmentation.
Fixed an issue of non returning quality metrics on ICAO warnings.
Fixed a number of small bugs and issues.

Updates and improvements:

Improved face detection algorithm to better deal with complex cases.
ANTemplate XML validation is now separate from reading which allows to read files even if they contain some mistakes.
Scanner modules updates and fixes for Cross Match L Scan, IMD, Futronic, Green Bit, Nitgen and DigitalPersona U.are.U.
Updated Android tutorials.
Improvements in documentation.

January 7, 2019

Product revision: 188367

The first release of MegaMatcher 11.0 SDK line.

Fingerprint modality
- Line 11.0 includes outstanding in terms of PIV interoperability NIST MINEX III compliant Neurotechnology+0206 INCIST 378 template generator. It leads to significantly improved cross-vendor two-way interoperability and native accuracy rates of both Neurotechnology's MINEX III leaderboard standard template matchers:
  - top ranked mobile or large-scale systems dedicated Neurotechnology+0108 template matcher;
  - smart cards dedicated Neurotechnology+0206 template matcher.
- Improved native recognition reliability evaluated within NIST PFTII as 4E Neurotechnology's fingerprint proprietary templates generator and matcher pair submission.
- New fingerprint classification algorithm is included which improves classification quality.
- New fingerprint slap segmentation algorithm is able to handle more complex segmentation cases which results in more successfully segmented slap images.
- Fingerprint examination scenario has been separated from template extractor. From 11.0 product line, fingerprint extraction creates only template by default, extra features such as generating binarized images are disabled by default. For such scenarios a new NFingerExaminer object is introduced which covers many use cases for fingerprint examining during adjudication process: skeletonized image, singular points (core, delta, double core), calculate number of ridge crossings between two points, find intersections points between specified line and fingerprint ridges.
Face modality
- New face detection algorithm can detect many more faces in difficult conditions, up to full profile head rotation (requires fast CPU, optionally a simpler detection algorithm can be selected on weaker machines).
- New face recognition algorithm – about 5 times less recognition errors on low False Acceptance Rate.
- Improved facial feature points detection.
- New face image quality determination algorithm.
- New background uniformity check.
- New emotion classifier.
- New smaller face template.
- New face attributes/properties determination algorithm.
Iris modality
- Introduced iris detection confidence for determining if image actually contains iris.
- Detection of contact lenses which can distort iris image.
Palm print modality
- New palm print extraction algorithm.
Voice modality
- New text-independent speaker recognition algorithm.
Licensing
- Trial and non-trial distributions merged. Previously trial distribution was a separate distribution, which required extra effort to migrate to paid license version. Starting from 11.0 line, there is a single distribution and trial/non-trial licensing switch can be made programmatically. NLicenseManager contains TrialMode property (which is false by default), and Activation Server (pgd) supports Trial = 1 in pgd.conf configuration file.
- Android per application sandbox licensing. Previously Android licenses were activated per device, which introduced lots of challenges during application deployment. From 11.0 line Android licenses are activated per application sandbox. This also enables to use license deactivation feature. Please note, that during development application should be updated instead of deleting and installing again, otherwise license instances could be lost. Also, other activation options such as using licenses from PC's dongle can be more convenient for development purposes.
- Android, iOS, Embedded linux licenses merged into Mobile licenses. Instead of specifying a particular operating system, now all licenses designed for mobile device usage are named as Mobile.
- Dongle licensing not supported in containers. If licenses contained in a dongle should be used from Docker (or other) containers, it is needed to launch License Activation Service (pgd) on host machine. For other licensing options License Activation service may be running on Docker. These restrictions apply only to License Activation Service, not on other Neurotechnology libraries and services.
.NET specific
- .NET Standard 1.1 libraries have been upgraded to .NET Standard 2.0. It is recommended to use the .NET Standard libraries for modern .NET applications. For backwards compatibility, .NET framework 4.5 libraries are provided as well.
Android specific
- Android samples/tutorials now use only Gradle for project building, Maven is no longer supported. This allowed to simplify project structure to make the projects not dependent on various "common" folders and made easier to use from Android Studio.
Biometric standards
- ANTemplate (ANSI/NIST ITL) was changed to tolerate lots of validation errors while reading standard templates from other systems. Validation checks are still performed but instead of failing with exception, any errors or warnings are added to ConformanceTestResult collection found on every type of ANRecord. To quickly find if record has any validation errors ANTemplate.IsValidated property can be used. It is up to user to decide whether strict validation is required in particular case. Also, it is possible to fix broken records by changing values of invalid fields to correct ones and calling ANTemplate.CheckValidation() to perform the validation again.
- Simplified adding new records to ANSI/NIST ITL template by introducing AddRecordTypeXXX methods for every record type. Most values are set to default and do not need to be specified manually. BDIF records (FMRecord, FIRecord, FCRecord, IIRecord) also updated in the same way. I.e. deprecated view constructors (e.g., FmrFingerViewCreate) and introduced view addition to owner record function (e.g., FMRecordAddFingerViewEx to FMRecord).
- ANTemplate auto-detects encoding of the read template (traditional or XML).
- WSQ reader to autocorrects broken NISTCOM blocks.
- Simplified any ANSI NIST ITL, BDIF standard record read by enabling ALLOW_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_FEATURES on read by default (even with no flags). Does not apply to write.
- Support creating records in ANTemplate from existing image data without repacking. FromImageData methods should be used in that case.
- Save ANTemplate or BDIF (FIRecord/FIRecord/FCRecord) image as data functionality in samples.
- Added ANType2Record tutorial
- Updated Java sample updated to list missing ANTemplate respective attributes.
- Extend ANSI NIST ITL ANTemplate 13 and 15 records to allow lower resolution value than found in standard specification using ANT_ALLOW_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_RESOLUTION flag. Applies by default with BDIF_NON_STRICT_READ while reading any standard ANSI NIST ITL template.
Other changes
- Setup.exe is no longer provided. The SDK is designed to be used when unzipped to a writable folder, no additional installer steps are necessary.
- NCluster low-level communication library is no longer provided. Please use NBiometricClient with RemoteConnection functionality instead (refer to IdentifyOnServer tutorials for usage example).
- NdmVirtual previously deprecated API was removed, use ConnectTo functionality instead.