DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

Latent Print AFIS Interoperability Working Group
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

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FOREWORD

This is one of a series of documents prepared by the Latent Print Automated Fingerprint 

Identification System (AFIS) Interoperability Working Group. The purpose of these documents 

is to provide guidance and a framework to those involved in the identification process who may 

be tasked to be a project leader or member of a working group for an AFIS purchase, 

replacement, upgrade, or move to a more biometrics-based identification process.

Each agency has its own procedures as well as policies and laws that are applicable in the 

procurement process. The information contained in these documents should be considered as 

complementary.

The Latent Print AFIS Interoperability Working Group

The lack of latent print search interoperability and the subsequent missed opportunities to 

make identifications have been long recognized as serious issues within the examiner 

community. Latent print examiners, AFIS managers, vendors, governmental agencies, and 

professional organizations have explored opportunities to improve interoperability. Since the 

introduction of AFIS systems in the 1980s and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Integrated 

Automated Fingerprint Identification System in the late 1990s, latent print identifications have 

risen on a hierarchical level but not on a peer-to-peer basis.

As part of a National Institute of Justice (NIJ)/National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) effort to address the lack of AFIS interoperability, the Law Enforcement Standards Office 

(OLES) formed the Latent Print AFIS Interoperability Working Group. The mission of this 

Working Group is to improve latent print AFIS interoperability by developing a clear 

understanding of the issues and challenges to latent print AFIS interoperability and to identify 

collaborative ways to actively address this national problem.

The first meeting of the Working Group was held in April 2008. The release in February 2009 of 

the National Academy of Sciences’ report, Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: 

A Path Forward,

1

gave further support to the issue at a national level.

The Working Group consists of federal, state, and local representatives, as well as vendors and 

other members of the identification community. These include the following:

 

1

National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic 

Science Community. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward. National Academies 

Press, 2009.
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State and Local Representation

Broward County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office

Culver City, California, Police Department

Illinois State Police, Forensic Science Center at Chicago

Los Angeles County, California, Sheriff’s Department

Nlets

New Hampshire Division of State Police Forensic Laboratory

New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

San Francisco, California, Police Department

Santa Monica, California, Police Department

South Carolina Crime Information Center

Texas Department of Public Safety

Western Identification Network, Inc.

Federal Representation

Department of Homeland Security

FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division

NIJ Office of Science and Technology

NIST Information Technology Laboratory

NIST Law Enforcement Standards Office

AFIS Technical Advisors and Vendor Representatives

While many individuals contributed to the success of this project, the following are noted for 

having made significant contributions of their time, talent and vision: 

Susan Ballou National Institute of Standards and Technology

Anthony Clay United States Secret Service

Joi Dickerson Culver City, California, Police Department

Mike Garris National Institute of Standards and Technology

Peter T. Higgins Higgins & Associates, International

Janet Hoin New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

Lisa Jackson Santa Monica Police Department

Mike Lesko Texas Department of Public Safety

Joe Morrissey New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

Leo Norton Los Angeles County, California, Sheriff’s Department.

Beth Owens Franklin County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Office

Joe Polski International Association for Identification (Ret.)

Mr. Anthony Clay of the United States Secret Service is particularly recognized for his 

contributions to the Glossary.

The objectives of the Working Group in the preparation of these documents were to:
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 Define the issues and challenges to latent print AFIS interoperability

 Identify opportunities to actively address latent print interoperability

 Develop guidelines to provide guidance on technical and administrative issues

The Working Group developed this and other documents to meet the needs of latent print 

examiners, AFIS users, managers, vendors, and policy makers to establish interagency latent 

AFIS interoperability. This document is one in a series of reference documents to help agencies 

achieve interoperability, located at http://www.fingerprint.nist.gov/.

About the Glossary

This Glossary was developed from many sources. To support the standardization of use, 

wherever possible the acronyms, abbreviations, and their definitions were extracted from 

federal- and industry-recognized sources. There is no single nationally or internationally 

recognized glossary of AFIS terms. Like the differences between dictionaries, each source 

presents a slightly different wording for the same concept. 

For example, there are differences in the definition of the word “glossary” between the 

Merriam-Webster Online (“a collection of textual glosses or of specialized terms with their 

meanings”), Webster’s New World College Dictionary (“a list of difficult, technical, or foreign 

terms with definitions or translations, as for some particular author, field of knowledge, etc., 

often included in alphabetical listing at the end of a textbook”), and the Oxford Dictionaries Pro 

Online (“an alphabetical list of terms or words found in or relating to a specific subject, text, or 

dialect, with explanations; a brief dictionary”). Is one right and the others wrong?

The reader is encouraged to refer to additional sources such as the Scientific Working Group on 

Friction Ridge Analysis, Study and Technology and other nationally recognized authoritative 

sources for complementary descriptions. Definitions that were pulled in whole or in part from 

other sources include a reference to that source in parentheses. A list of acronyms follows the 

Glossary in Appendix A. 
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ACCEPTANCE TESTING—1: A thorough test of an AFIS prior to taking ownership and making 

payment. 2: Those tests that are intended to determine that all equipment and software 

functions and complies with the contract specifications and to determine the reliability of the 

system. (ANSI/IAI)

ACCESS RIGHTS—Profile of a user composed of options to enable specific AFIS functions. For 

example, ten-print staff members cannot access latent print functions unless granted access 

rights to those functions.

ACCURACY—1: A software quality metric that provides those characteristics for required

precision in calculations and outputs. 2: A measure of the AFIS’s ability to place the correct 

mate within a specific position on the candidate list as a result of the matching process. 

(ANSI/IAI) 3: The closeness of agreement between the AFIS-generated representation of a 

fingerprint compared with the fingerprint it represents. (ANSI/IAI) 

ACE-V—The process for identifying latent fingerprints, which involves Analysis, Comparison, 

Evaluation, and Verification:

 Analysis is the qualitative and quantitative assessment of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 

Details to determine proportion, interrelationship, and value for individualization.

 During Comparison, the latent print examiner looks at the attributes noted during 

analysis for differences and agreement between the latent print and the known 

exemplar.

 Evaluation follows extensive comparison by making a determination if two impressions 

were made by the same source, not from the same source, or if the information is 

inconclusive. (A determination is made as to the results of the Comparison process. 

The fingerprint community accepts three conclusions: (a) the latent print and known 

exemplar were made by the same source, (b) the latent print and known exemplar were 

not made by the same source, or (c) a conclusive comparison could not be determined. 

This could be due to a lack of comparable area in the known exemplar or lack of clarity 

due to improperly recorded known exemplars.)

 Verification occurs when a second qualified examiner does an independent assessment 

of the latent print and known exemplar, utilizing the ACE process.

ACTIVITY LOG—A continuously updated record of system activity. (ANSI/IAI)

ALGORITHM—1: Mathematical routine used in computer processing. In AFIS processing, the 

matcher algorithm searches for relationships between the search print and ten-print. 2: 

Mathematical routine used in computer processing, e.g., an AFIS matching algorithm 

establishes the correlation of Level 2 Detail between fingerprints. (SWGFAST). 3: A step-by-step 

computational procedure for solving a problem. The system computer and other system 

components use algorithms to make decisions required to process and handle information. 

(ANSI/IAI) 
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ALPHANUMERIC—Non-image information related to a person, ten-print card, or latent case;

may also be referred to as demographic data. 

AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARDS INSTITUTE—Institute founded in 1918 that administers 

U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment.

ANALYSIS—1: The qualitative and quantitative assessment of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 

Details to determine proportion, interrelationship, and value for individualization. 2: The first 

step in the ACE-V process.

ANSI/NIST STANDARD—Standard proposed by NIST and adopted by ANSI. For example, the 

ANSI/NIST-ITL standard Data Format for the Interchange of Fingerprint, Facial & Other 

Biometric Information is used by law enforcement, intelligence, military, and homeland security 

organizations throughout the world. The first version of this standard dates to 1986. Over the 

years, it has been updated and expanded to cover more biometric modalities beyond the 

original record type of fingerprint minutiae. (NIST)

ARTIFACT—1: Any distortion or alteration not in the original friction ridge impression produced 

by an external agent or action. 2: Any information not present in the original object or image 

inadvertently introduced by image capture, processing, compressions, transmission, display, or 

printing. (SWGFAST 2011)

AUTHENTICATION—1: A process to determine whether a digital image has been altered in any 

way since its capture. 2: A process used to determine whether an electronic file has the correct 

association, as with unique identifier, name, images, and criminal history record. 

AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM—1: An automated, minutiae-based 

identification system that may consist of two or more distinct databases comprising two-finger 

identification records and ten-finger latent cognizant records (records of individuals more likely 

to be found at crime scenes, for example, burglars). 2: A computer-based system for reading, 

cataloguing, searching, matching, and storing fingerprints and related data. (ANSI/IAI) 3: A 

generic term for a fingerprint matching, storage, and retrieval system. (SWGFAST 2011)

AXIS—One of two intersecting lines superimposed on a displayed fingerprint image, used as a 

reference point to indicate orientation in a side-by-side comparison. 

BENCHMARK TESTING—Standardized testing of a device or software to evaluate performance 

against some standard.

BIFURCATION—1: A point on a finger image where the friction ridge divides into two ridges. 2: 

The point at which one friction ridge divides into two friction ridges. (SWGFAST 2011)
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CANDIDATE— 1: A master file record selected as a possible match to a current minutiae record, 

which results from either an automated name search or an automated (fingerprint) technical 

(AFIS) search. 2: A selection made by AFIS as a result of a search inquiry. (ANSI/IAI)

CANDIDATE LIST—The list of potential mates listed in descending order of their matching 

scores as determined by the matching process within the fingerprint minutiae matcher. A 

candidate list can also be produced by an Interstate Identification Index automated subject 

search. (ANSI/IAI)

CARD SCAN—1: An electronic scanning method of transmitting inked fingerprint impressions 

that meet local standards and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s image quality specifications

and that are suitable for Store and Forward processing. 2: Electronic recording of friction ridge 

impressions (fingers and/or palms) from fingerprint cards, palm print cards, etc.; sometimes 

referred to as dead-scan or flat-bed scanner. (SWGFAST)

CHARGED-COUPLED DEVICE—1: An electronic chip capture device used in optical recording 

devices to convert light into electrical current. AFIS applications include digital cameras, card 

scans, Livescan, and other imaging equipment that captures fingerprint images on a chip. 2: An 

electronic chip capture device used in optical recording instruments that converts light energy 

into electrical current, e.g., the chip in a digital camera or scanner for capturing friction ridge 

impressions. (SWGFAST 2002)

COMPUTERIZED CASE HISTORY or COMPUTERIZED CRIMINAL HISTORY—Online case history 

information management system that lists all the criminal and non-criminal events that the 

identification agency is authorized to release to an inquiring agency; also referred to as the 

Rapsheet. 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SERVICES—A division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

CERTIFIED LATENT PRINT EXAMINER—A latent print examiner certified by the Latent Print 

Certification Board of the International Association for Identification. 

CODER—Term for hardware, software, or both used to detect minutiae in a fingerprint image.

COMPARISON—1: The process of evaluating fingerprint images to be classified and/or 

identified for proper identification per user request. 2: The second step of the ACE-V method. 

3: The observation of two or more impressions to determine the existence of discrepancies, 

dissimilarities, or similarities. (SWGFAST 2009)

COMPRESSION RATIO—Ratio of original file size as compared to the compressed file size. For 

AFIS, a 15:1 ratio is most often used.

CONCLUSION—Determination made during the Evaluation stage of ACE-V, including 

identification, inconclusive, or exclusion.
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CONSOLIDATION—1: The merger of two or more records that are filed under more than one 

Federal Bureau of Investigation Number or identification number when it is determined that all 

pertain to one subject. 

CORE—1: A well-defined center or focal point of a fingerprint image. 2: The approximate

center or focal point of a friction ridge image (SWGFAST 2011). 3: A specific formation within a 

fingerprint pattern, defined by classification systems such as Henry.

CONTROL TERMINAL AGENCY—A state or territorial criminal justice agency on the National 

Crime Information Center system providing statewide or equivalent service to its criminal 

justice users. There is only one Control Terminal Agency per state or territory, and each

operates under the supervision of a terminal agency coordinator.

DATABASE—A collection of data of a particular type, organized for efficient storage and 

retrieval (e.g., fingerprint minutiae data, fingerprint image data, or mugshot image data).

DELTA—That point on a ridge of a fingerprint image at or nearest to the point of divergence of 

two type lines and located at or directly in front of the point of divergence; also known as a triradius. (SWGFAST 2011)

DIGITAL IMAGE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM—An AFIS subsystem that contains the electronic 

fingerprint images.

DOWN SAMPLING—Process of representing an image with a smaller number of samples; may 

also be referred to as sub-sampling.

ELECTRONIC BIOMETRIC TRANSMISSON SPECIFICATON—A standard published by the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation for electronically encoding and transmitting biographic, biometric, and 

disposition information between federal, state, and local users and the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation, which specifies file, record content, format, and data codes. 

ELECTRONIC FINGERPRINT TRANSMISSION SPECIFICATION (EFTS)—A standard published by 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation for electronically encoding and transmitting fingerprint 

images and identification and arrest data between federal, state and local users and the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation, which specifies file, record content, format, and data codes.

ELECTRONIC TEN-PRINT SUBMISSION—An electronic submission that originates at a Livescan

booking terminal or card scanner at either the federal, state, or local level and is transmitted via 

the Criminal Justice Information Services wide area network to the Integrated Automated 

Fingerprint Identification System for processing. This type of electronic transaction contains 

fingerprint images and personal descriptor data. Processing of the transaction, including image 

comparison and the conclusion, is performed by Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel.
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ELIMINATION FINGERPRINTS—1: Fingerprint images taken from persons with legitimate access 

to evidence under examination for latent fingerprint. 2: Exemplars of friction ridge skin detail 

of persons known to have had legitimate access to an object or location. (SWGFAST 2011)

ENCODING—AFIS process used to record minutiae.

ERRONEOUS EXCLUSION—The incorrect determination that two areas of friction ridge 

impressions did not originate from the same source. (SWGFAST 2011)

ERRONEOUS INDIVIDUALIZATION—The incorrect determination that two areas of friction ridge 

impressions originated from the same source. (SWGFAST 2011)

EURODAC—An AFIS formed by the European Union to track asylum seekers who apply for 

benefits.

EVALUATION—1: A determination by a latent print examiner about whether two impressions 

were made by the same source or different sources or if the information is inconclusive. 2: The 

third step in the ACE-V process. 

EXCLUSION—The determination by an examiner that there is sufficient quality and quantity of 

detail in disagreement to conclude that two areas of friction ridge impressions did not originate 

from the same source. (SWGFAST 20111)

EXEMPLAR—1: An impression or image of friction ridge skin purposely collected with the 

knowledge of the subject. 2: The prints of an individual associated with a known or claimed 

identity deliberately recorded electronically, by ink, or by another medium (also known as 

known prints). (SWGFAST 2011)

EXPUNGEMENT—The process of either fully or partially purging data from a subject’s record in 

the subject criminal history file. It results in the removal of all charges associated with the 

arrest covered by expungement while retaining the date of arrest and submitting originating 

agency identifier. Expungement requests are submitted by arrest or judicial agencies when an 

individual has been exonerated after initial arrest or released without charge and recorded as 

“detention only” or when so ordered by a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

FALSE CANDIDATE—A candidate selected by an AFIS search as a possible match, which is 

subsequently determined not identical.

FEATURES EXTRACTION—The system capability to identify from a scanned fingerprint digital

image separately definable attributes, which may be discretely stored and used to classify and 

uniquely identify that fingerprint. 
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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION NUMBER—A unique identifying number assigned by the 

Federal Bureau of Investigation to a subject of a fingerprint record of arrest who has not been 

identified as a previous offender in a search of the files. 

FINGERPRINT—An impression of the friction ridges of all or any part of the finger. (SWGFAST 

2011)

FINGERPRINT CHARACTERISTICS—Any aspects of fingerprints that can uniquely identify them.

FINGERPRINT CLASSIFICATION—1: A method for describing the common pattern fingerprint 

characteristics (e.g., pattern types or ridge counts) for the purpose of subdividing a fingerprint 

file into “classes” or groups having the same general characteristics so as to reduce the amount 

of the file needed to be searched to locate the mate (within the Integrated Automated 

Fingerprint Identification System, this may involve either Henry classification or pattern-level 

classification). 2: Grouping fingerprints according to shape and size for the purpose of filing and 

retrieving.

FINGERPRINT FEATURES—Unique physical characteristics of a fingerprint that are used to 

perform automated fingerprint searches.

FINGERPRINT FEATURES MASTER FILE—The set of all records on which fingerprint feature data 

exists.

FINGERPRINT IMAGE—A representative two-dimensional reproduction of the ridge detail of a 

fingerprint. 

FINGERPRINT MATCHER SCORE—An AFIS-generated numerical score that indicates the 

approximate relationship between a latent print and an exemplar.

FINGERPRINT MINUTIAE—Unique identifying characteristics of fingerprints (e.g., beginning and 

ending points of ridges).

FINGERPRINT MINUTIAE MATCHER—The matching subsystem equipment that compares the 

minutiae data-based features of a search print with fileprints and selects the fileprint that 

comes closest to matching the search print. It will also perform a Minutiae Verification Match.

FINGERPRINT MINUTIAE MATCHER ACCURACY—1: A measure of the matcher subsystem’s 

ability either to identify the correct candidate as a result of the matching process or to report 

that no candidate is selected if the mate is not in the fileprint database being searched. 2: The 

closeness of agreement between the matcher subsystem’s generated representation of a 

fingerprint compared with the fingerprint it represents.

FINGERPRINT MINUTIAE MATCHER RELIABILITY—1: The probability that the mating fingerprint 

will be selected as the primary candidate by the matcher subsystem if that mate is in the 

fileprints being searched or that no candidate will be selected if the mate is not in the fileprints 
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being searched. 2: The probability that an entity will perform its intended functions for a 

specified interval under stated conditions.

FINGERPRINT MINUTIAE MATCHER SELECTIVITY—The function of selecting the candidate, both 

correct and incorrect, and its relationship to other close candidates based upon minutiae 

scoring algorithms within the matcher subsystem.

FINGERPRINT PLAIN IMPRESSIONS—Fingerprint impressions taken by simultaneously capturing 

all of the fingers of each hand and then the thumbs without rolling, using a pressed or flat

impression. See also, plain, touch, or flat impression. 

FINGERPRINT REPOSITORY—A term for the AFIS/Federal Bureau of Investigation capability to 

store fingerprint characteristics data and perform database-like functions, such as storage 

retrieval, search, and update. The AFIS/Federal Bureau of Investigation Segment has at least 

three subcategories of repository:

(1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Repository contains one entry for each 

subject meeting retention criteria. The data included are extracted from criminal 

ten-print submissions. At a minimum, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal 

Repository contains fingerprint characteristics for all ten fingers.

(2) The Unsolved Latent Repository contains single latent fingerprints not identified to any 

subject in the criminal fingerprint repository. It is used to provide leads for unsolved 

criminal cases.

(3) The Special Repositories have separately defined uses and data. Each has its own 

sponsor who controls its use. The data in each repository may be used for either 

ten-print and latent fingerprint searching or for specially defined fingerprint searching.

FINGERPRINT ROLLED IMPRESSIONS—The impressions created by individually rolling each 

inked finger from side to side in order to obtain all available ridge detail. See also, inked rolled 

print.

FAST FOURIER TRANSFER ALGORITHM—An algorithm used in digital image processing to 

decompose and compose a signal.

FLATS—Fingerprint plain impressions. See also, plain, touch, or flat impression.

FRICTION RIDGE—1: The ridge-shaped skin on a finger or palm surface that makes contact with 

an object. 2: A raised portion of the epidermis on the palmar or plantar skin, consisting of one 

or more connected ridge units. (SWGFAST 2011)

GRAY-SCALE IMAGE—An image using more than two radiometric values, i.e., 256 shades of 

gray in an 8-bit image. Not a strictly black/white image.
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GROUP IV FAX—A facsimile transmitted fingerprint card suitable for identification processing.

HENRY CLASSIFICATION—An alphanumeric system of fingerprint classification named after Sir 

Edward Richard Henry used for filing, searching, and retrieving ten-print records. (SWGFAST 

2011)

HIT RESPONSE or HIT ON FINGERPRINT SEARCH—An identification of minutiae-based data of a 

fingerprint image with minutiae-based data from another fingerprint image as being a mate for 

the finger of the same person.

INTEGRATED AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM—The Federal Bureau of 

Investigation’s national AFIS. (SWGFAST 2011) IAFIS provides: (a) repository maintenance 

services, such as receipt, storage, and retrieval; (b) powerful search functions that attempt to 

match submitted fingerprints with fingerprints in the repository; and (c) fingerprint 

characteristics processing capability to derive unique aspects of fingerprints for storage and 

matching.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR IDENTIFICATION—Professional association whose 

members are engaged in forensic identification, investigation, and scientific examination of 

physical evidence.

IDENTIFICATION—1: The positive match of a current ten-print or latent fingerprint card to a 

prior fingerprint card stored in the fingerprint files, made on a comparison of one set of 

fingerprints to another. 2: In some forensic disciplines, the similarity of class characteristics. 

(SWGFAST 2011) See also, individualization.

INDIVIDUALIZATION—The determination by an examiner that there is sufficient quality and 

quantity of detail in agreement to conclude that two friction ridge impressions originated from 

the same source. (SWGFAST 2011)

IMAGE—Processed or stored fingerprint images from a ten-print card or latent lift.

INKED ROLLED PRINT—An inked fingerprint impression taken by physically rolling the inked 

finger from side to side (nail to nail) on the fingerprint card stock. See also, rolled impression. 

INTEROPERABILITY—The ability of two or more AFIS networks, systems, devices, applications 

or components to exchange information between them and to use the information so 

exchanged correctly and with minimal loss of accuracy.

INTERPOL—Originally the International Police Commission, established in 1923 with the first 

headquarters in Vienna, Austria. With the General Secretariat now in Lyon, France, Interpol 

focuses on international crimes that threaten public safety, especially those involving terrorism, 

criminal organizations, drugs, finances and technology, and trafficking in human beings, and 

provides fugitive investigative support.
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INTERSTATE IDENTIFICATION INDEX—A national network for the exchange of criminal history 

records, which includes elements of participating state systems, the National Crime Information 

Center System, the Identification Automated Services of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications Network, and the U.S. Postal Service, 

among other systems. 

IMAGE QUALITY SPECIFICATION—Element of the Electronic Fingerprint Transmission 

Specification that has two components, Appendix F and Appendix G.

JOURNAL OF FORENSIC IDENTIFICATION—A publication of the International Association for 

Identification.

JPEG—1: An acronym for the Joint Photographic Experts Group. 2: A compression file format 

with the “.jpg” file extension, most of which use lossy compression.

LATENT COGNIZANT DATABASE—Fingerprint features records of all ten fingers of a subset of 

criminals in the ten-print database, used for matching latent fingerprint submissions, which 

may be partial fingerprints. Includes fingerprint data from certain crime categories (e.g., bank 

robbery or terrorism). 

LATENT PRINT—1: Transferred impression of friction ridge detail not readily visible. 2: Generic 

term used for unintentionally deposited friction ridge detail. (SWGFAST) 3. The reproduction of 

the friction ridges on an item that is touched when the ridges come in contact with any 

contaminant. 

LATENT PRINT SUBMISSION—A submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation or other 

agency that contains a latent fingerprint search request accompanied by the latent fingerprint 

information, either electronic or hardcopy.

LATENT PRINT LIFT—1: A reproduction of the friction ridge detail of a latent print. 2:An 

adhesive or other medium used to transfer a friction ridge impression from a substrate. 

(SWGFAST 2011)

LATENT PRINT SEARCH—A comparison of the fingerprint features extracted from a latent 

fingerprint with the fingerprint features contained in a fingerprint features file to determine 

whether a latent fingerprint has a potential mate on file within the AFIS repository. 

LATENT PRINT SPECIALIST—Law enforcement agency employee who performs latent print 

processing.

LATENT PRINT SUBMISSION—One image and associated descriptor data received by latent 

processing services, which may be part of a case.
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LAW ENFORCEMENT ONLINE—National, interactive communications system maintained by the 

Federal Bureau of Investigation exclusively for law enforcement.

LIGHTS OUT—An AFIS search without any human intervention at Verification.

LIVESCAN PRINT—A fingerprint image that is produced by scanning a live finger with Livescan 

technology. 

LIVESCAN—An electronic method of taking and transmitting fingerprints without using ink, 

which produces fingerprint impressions of high quality to perform identification processing.

LOCAL MODE—Process by which a workstation can perform some function independent of AFIS 

(function may be limited to acquisition of new records).

LATENT/LATENT SEARCH—A search of a latent print against other latent prints, which are 

usually stored in the Unsolved Latent File, and which has the potential to link crimes committed 

by same person, even though that person is as yet unidentified. Also referred to as a 

latent/unsolved latent search.

LATENT/TEN-PRINT IDENTIFICATION DATABASE SEARCH—A search of a latent print against the 

ten-print identification database.

LATENT/TEN-PRINT LATENT COGNIZANT SEARCH—A search of a latent print against the tenprint latent cognizant (ten-finger) database.

LATENT/UNSOLVED LATENT SEARCH—See latent/latent search.

MASTER NAME INDEX—A subject identification index maintained by criminal history record 

repositories that includes names and other identifiers for each person with a record in the 

database.

MATCH—Condition of retrieving a file subject that, because of matcher score, falls within 

selection criteria for the probability of a mate to a search suspect.

MATCHER—An AFIS component that compares the minutiae database features of a search 

print with fileprints and selects the fileprint that comes closest to matching the search print.

MATCHER ACCURACY—A measure of the matcher subsystem’s ability to place the correct 

mates as the selected candidate as a result of the matcher process, or a measure of the 

matcher subsystem’s ability to select no candidate if the mate is not in the database.

MATCHER RELIABILITY—1: The probability that the mate fingerprint will be selected as the 

primary candidate by the matcher if it is in the file being searched, or that no candidate will be 
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selected if the mate is not in the file being searched. 2: The probability that the matcher will 

function as intended for a specified interval under specific conditions.

MATCHING SCORE—The numerical result of comparing the minutiae data of two fingerprint 

digital representations.

MATE—1: A fingerprint that matches another impression from the same finger. 2: A fingerprint 

that is another impression from the same finger. (ANSI/IAI)

MINUTIAE—1: Friction ridge characteristics that are used to individualize the print and that

occur at points where a single friction ridge deviates from an uninterrupted flow. Deviation 

may take the form of ending, dividing into two or more ridges, or immediately originating and 

terminating. (ANSI/IAI) 2: Events along a ridge path, including bifurcations, ending ridges, and 

dots (also known as Galton details). (SWGFAST)

MINUTIAE DATA—The data representing the relative position, orientation, and in some cases, 

the relationship and/or types of the minutiae in a fingerprint image. (ANSI/IAI)

MINUTIAE SEARCHING—The process of comparing the search print against the fileprints by 

scoring the match of minutiae data in the prints and ranking the scores either to produce one 

candidate with the highest score who is the potentially identical mate for the same finger, or to 

produce no candidate when the potentially identical print does not exist within the fileprint 

database.

MINUTIAE VERIFICATION MATCH—The process of comparing minutiae data from a subject’s 

previously entered single fileprint with minutiae data from a single incoming search print and, 

thereafter, comparing the resultant match score with a threshold to determine if the prints are 

potential mates.

MATCHER QUALITY INDEX—Value representing the sum of the “equivalent number of 

minutiae” for fingers 2 and 7 (generally the search fingers). The index is a complex metric that 

weights the actual minutiae count using local image quality and the number of neighbors in 

computation. On the average fingerprint, the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification 

System produces about 88 minutiae, and the average value for the equivalent number of 

minutiae is about 56. Images with higher matcher quality index values are more likely to be 

successfully matched by the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

NAIL-TO-NAIL ROLL—See rolled impression.

NAME SEARCH—A routinely searched database program/file that can yield the State 

Identification Number of individuals in the database if they have used the same descriptive 

information for a prior event.

NATIONAL CONSORTIUM FOR JUSTICE INFORMATION AND STATISTICS—See SEARCH.
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

16

NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER—A computer system established in 1967 to provide 

criminal record history, fugitives, missing persons, and stolen property information to local, 

state, and federal agencies. Succeeded by National Crime Information Center 2000.

NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER 2000—Successor to National Crime Information 

Center, a network that provides information to local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies 

through computer terminals and mobile applications. 

NATIONAL FINGERPRINT FILE—A component of the Interstate Identification Index that

decentralizes interstate exchange of criminal history records by containing fingerprints from all 

federal offenders but only one first-arrest set of fingerprints from select state offenders with 

other biometric data, requiring states to maintain the criminal history.

NATIONAL INCIDENT-BASED REPORTING SYSTEM—An outgrowth of the uniform crime report 

and a byproduct of the state and local incident-based reporting systems, which collects specific 

crime information on 22 offense categories consisting of 46 specific crimes collectively called 

Group A offenses, including data on victims, offenders, and circumstances. For the 11 offensive 

categories known as Group B, only arrest information is captured.

NATIONAL INSTANT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM—A non-fingerprint-based 

search database accessible through the Internet and required before purchasing a firearm. 

Federal Firearms Licensees record descriptive information on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms and Explosives’ Form 4473.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY—Formerly known as the National 

Bureau of Standards, this division of the U.S. Department of Commerce ensures standardization 

in non-defense government agencies.

NEXT GENERATION IDENTIFICATION—Program to advance the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation’s biometric identification services, providing an incremental replacement of 

current Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System technical capabilities, while 

introducing new functionality across a multi-year timeframe.

NLETS—An outgrowth of Law Enforcement Teletype System, Nlets was incorporated in 1970 as 

a not-for-profit organization. Nlets provides an international, computer-based message system 

that links local, state, and federal criminal justice agencies for information exchange and 

provides information services support for justice-related applications by supporting data 

communications links to state networks using commercial relay services.

NON-IDENTIFICATION—A determination that two fingerprints do not belong to a particular 

person or that no mate is found as the result of a fingerprint comparison.

ORIGINATING AGENCY IDENTIFIER—An identification number assigned by the National Crime 

Information Center or the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System to each 
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

17

agency that may submit information into, or receive information from, either system. The 

format of this number varies from agency to agency, except that the first two characters always 

designate the state, territory, province, or country of the contributor.

PALM PRINT—1: An inked and rolled or Livescan of the palms of both hands. May also include 

the side of the hand referred to as the writers palm. 2: An impression of the friction ridges of 

all or any part of the palmar surface of the hand. (SWGFAST 2011)

PATTERN CLASSIFICATION—Characterization of a fingerprint as containing one of seven 

fingerprint patterns: arch, tented arch, right-slant loop, left-slant loop, whorl, amputation, or

scar. The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System will provide for both patternlevel and Henry classifications.

PROCESS CONTROL NUMBER—A temporary identifier of a ten-print record until matching State 

Identification Number is found (by locating a match in the database) or a new State 

Identification Number is assigned (if there is no match on the database). 

PEAK MINUTE—A minute during which a system must process a statistically significantly

greater number of user support functions than it is required to process during an average 

minute.

PIXEL—The smallest element of a picture that is digitized as an entity. (ANSI/IAI)

PLAIN, TOUCH, OR FLAT IMPRESSION—Impressions of all four fingers from each hand, taken 

simultaneously, and of the thumbs, taken without rolling, which appear at the bottom of the 

fingerprint card and serve to verify the proper sequence of the rolled (or Livescan) impressions 

and to provide additional ridge detail for comparison. (ANSI/IAI) 

PROTOTYPE—A simulation of a program, report, menu, or system.

QUALITY CONTROL—1: Editing of fingerprint minutiae to improve accuracy for identification, 

automatically determined for ten-prints. 2: Measures that are taken to ensure that an 

acceptable level of system performance is maintained. (ANSI/IAI)

RADIOMETRIC RESOLUTION—Number of intensity levels (i.e., shades of gray or color values) in 

a digital image.

RELAUNCH—Searching a latent print case after the initial latent/ten-print latent cognizant 

database search using different search parameters while maintaining the same case identifiers 

and images.

RELIABILITY—The probability that the mating fingerprint will be a candidate if the mate is in the 

file being searched.
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

18

REMOTE TEN-PRINT FINGERPRINT FEATURE SEARCH (NATIVE MODE)—A search request 

transmitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation originating outside the Identification Tasking 

and Networking workstations containing fingerprint characteristics derived by an AFIS in a 

similar manner to those derived by the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System 

and containing the necessary fingerprint classifications and other data. The search request is 

performed automatically by the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System

without human involvement.

REVERSE SEARCH—See ten-print/unsolved latent search.

REMOTE FINGERPRINT EDITING SOFTWARE—Software package from the Federal bureau of 

Investigation to perform remote searches on the Integrated Automated Fingerprint

Identification System, which supports remote Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification 

System transactions including image- and features-based searches for latent and ten-print

applications. Succeeded by Universal Latent Workstation.

ROLLED IMPRESSION—Fingerprint impressions created by individually rolling each finger from 

side to side (nail to nail) to obtain all available friction ridge detail. The images appear in the 

individual print boxes on the ten-print card.

SCANNER—Capture device to create a digital image. New scanners that connect to the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation must meet the standards outlined in Appendix F of the Electronic 

Biometric Transmission Specification.

SEARCH SELECTIVITY—The total number of incorrect candidates divided by the total number of 

searches conducted during the time period; that is, it is the number of incorrect candidates, 

averaged over time periods, produced for comparison per search at the operating point at 

which search reliability is measured.

SEARCH or THE NATIONAL CONSORTIUM FOR JUSTICE INFORMATION AND STATISTICS—A 

nonprofit membership organization dedicated to better criminal justice information 

management, effective identification technology, and responsible law and policy.

SEGMENT—One of the constituent parts into which an automated system may be logically 

divided. 

STATE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER—Number assigned to each individual on a state file.

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT—Person who exhibits the highest level of expertise in performing a 

specialized job, task, or skill.

STATEMENT OF WORK—Describes the tasks and responsibilities for a project.
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

19

SPATIAL RESOLUTION—Relationship of the individual pixels to the size of the actual area 

represented.

SPECTRAL RESOLUTION—Color bands of light detected during image acquisition.

STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY—The highest level of development of a device or technique 

achieved at any particular time.

STORE AND FORWARD—A system capable of electronically receiving and processing fingerprint 

cards at the state and then sending the fingerprints electronically into AFIS and to the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation.

SUBJECT SEARCH—A search, using biographical and/or physical data, to identify a list of 

candidates having records that match the descriptors specified; can be based upon name, 

gender, date of birth, Federal Bureau of Investigation Number, State Identification Number, 

Social Security Number, or other biographical or physical data (e.g., height, weight, age) or 

combinations of these characteristics.

SCIENTIFIC WORKING GROUP ON FRICTION RIDGE ANALYSIS, STUDY AND TECHNOLOGY—A 

group of local, state, and federal law enforcement officials and members of the community 

who establish guidelines for the development and enhancement of friction ridge examiners’ 

knowledge, skills, abilities, methods, and protocols; who establish guidelines for quality 

assurance; and who cooperate with national and international standards organizations to 

disseminate their findings.

TERMINAL AGENCY COORDINATOR—Individual in the control terminal agency who is 

responsible for monitoring system use, enforcing system discipline, and ensuring National crime 

Information Center operating procedures are followed.

TECHNICAL SEARCH—Using AFIS, a minutiae-based fingerprint search, usually with the index 

fingerprints of the ten-print record but sometimes with the thumbs or a combination of index 

fingers and thumbs.

TEN-PRINT—A fingerprint card (or fingerprint card equivalent) containing rolled and plain 

impressions from the ten fingers of an individual. The standard format contains 14

impressions: one rolled fingerprint impression of each finger, plain fingerprint impressions of 

each thumb, and plain impressions of the four fingers of each hand simultaneously.

TEN-PRINT CARD SUBMISSION—A fingerprint card submitted to the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation by mail, facsimile, or other electronic method for the purpose of identification and 

possible incorporation into the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Fingerprint Repository.

TEN-PRINT IMAGE SEARCHES—An electronic transaction submitted to the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation, which contains fingerprint images, classification information as required by the 
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

20

Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or remotely extracted fingerprint 

characteristics. The subsequent search will be conducted automatically with no additional 

manual editing or processing. If candidates are identified, the candidates’ Federal Bureau of 

Investigation Numbers are returned to the transmitting agency along with fingerprint images 

from the highest scoring candidates.

TAGGED IMAGE FILE FORMAT—An image file format with the “.tif” file extension, which can be 

either lossless or lossy.

TEN-PRINT/TEN-PRINT IDENTIFICATION DATABASE SEARCH—Search of a ten-print record 

against the records in the ten-print identification database.

TEN-PRINT/UNSOLVED LATENT SEARCH—Search of a new ten-print record against the records 

in the unsolved latent file in expectation that the owner of the latent print did not have a 

record in the ten-print database at the time of the latent/ten-print search. Also referred to as a 

reverse search.

TEN-PRINT IDENTIFICATION DATABASE—Database consisting of two finger images, usually the 

index fingers but sometimes the thumbs.

TEN-PRINT LATENT COGNIZANT DATABASE—Database consisting of all ten finger images, 

which may be a subset of the ten-print identification database. 

TRANSPOSITION—Incorrect position of hands on the ten-print card (e.g., images of the right 

hand appear in boxes for the left hand). In the past, identification staff would visually inspect 

the rolled impressions against the plain impressions for consistency. Livescan software for

extraction and comparison reduce this burden on digitally retrieved images.

TECHNOLOGY WITHOUT AN IMPORTANT NAME—Image acquisition and output protocol 

commonly used between computers, printers, and image capture devices.

UNIFORM CRIME REPORT—Voluntary reporting of crimes (including murder, non-negligent 

manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle 

theft, and arson) to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice information Services 

Division. 

UNSOLVED LATENT/UNSOLVED LATENT SEARCH—A search of the unsolved latent print file 

using another unsolved latent print to determine if latent images from the same subject are on 

file even if the subject remains unknown. May be used to determine a serial offender and for 

sharing information with another agency.

UNIVERSAL LATENT WORKSTATION—Software program developed by the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation’s Criminal Justice information Services Division that, when installed on a 

commercial off-the-shelf computer, allows the operator to create a native feature set for AFIS 
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

21

vendors by which the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System can receive and 

search an ANSI/NIST-formatted record.

UPGRADE—Introduction of new software and/or hardware into an existing system. The 

upgrade may be to fix certain known problems unique to one AFIS customer, to fix known 

problems applicable to all customers, to provide an improvement to the AFIS system not 

related to a problem, or to enable a move to a new platform (such as from Microsoft®

Windows®to Linux, or Windows®98 to Windows®XP). The upgrade may require extensive onsite testing prior to installation on the live system.

VALIDATION—Process of comparing data or images against a previously verified set of data; a 

double check of the verification that confirms the accuracy of a system prior to use. 

VERIFICATION—1: Process of visually comparing a search fingerprint with a candidate 

fingerprint to determine if there is a match after another latent print examiner has already 

reached a conclusion. 2: The fourth and final step in the ACE-V process.

WIDE AREA NETWORK—A network that interconnects geographical entities, such as cities and 

states, generally covering a distance of 50 miles or greater.

WAVELET SCALAR QUANTIZATION—A lossy compression algorithm used to reduce finger or 

palm print images size.
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

A1-1

Attachment I:

Acronym List
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

A1-2

ABIS—Automated Biometric Identification System

AFIS—Automated Fingerprint Identification System

ANSI—American National Standards Institute

APB—Advisory Policy Board 

ARG—Attributed Relational Graph

ASCII—American Standard Code for Information Interchange

ATB—Automated Fingerprint Identification System Test Bed

BCI&I—Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation

BoM—Bill of Material

CAN—Criminal Ten-Print Submission (No Answer Necessary)

CAR—Criminal Ten-Print Submission (Answer Required)

CARC—Criminal Ten-Print Card Scanning Service Submission (Answer Required)

CAXI—Core and Axis Independent

CCD—Charged-Coupled Device

CCH—Computerized Case History or Computerized Criminal History

CJIS—Criminal Justice Information Services

CLPE—Certified Latent Print Examiner

CMF—Criminal Master File

CNAC—Criminal Ten-Print Card Scanning Service Submission (No Answer Necessary)

CODIS—Combined DNA Index System

CONOPS—Concept of Operations

COTS—Commercial Off-the-Shelf

CSS—Card Scanning Service

CTA—Control Terminal Agency

DCJS—New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

DEU—Unknown Deceased

DIRS—Digital Image Retrieval System

DMS—Data Management System

DNA—Deoxyribonucleic Acid

DPS—Department of Public Safety

EBTS—Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification

EFCON—Electronic Fingerprint Converter

EFTS—Electronic Fingerprint Transmission Specification

EFS—Extended Feature Set

FANC—Federal Applicant – No Charge Federal Agency Name Check

FAR—False Acceptance Rate

FAT—Factory Acceptance Test

FAUF—Federal Applicant User Fee

FBI—Federal Bureau of Investigation

FFT—Fast Fourier Transfer

FIC—Fingerprint Image Comparison

FIMF—Fingerprint Image Master File

FNCC—Federal Applicant Card Scanning Service Submission (No Charge)
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

A1-3

FNU—Federal Bureau of Investigation Number

FPF—Focal Point Filtering

FPT—Fast Fourier Number

FpVTE—Fingerprint Vendor Technology Evaluation

FUFC—Federal Applicant Card Scanning Service Submission (User Fee)

GFE—Government-Furnished Equipment

IAFIS—Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System

IAI—International Association for Identification

IBR—Incident-Based Reporting

ICD—Interface Control Document

IDAS—Identification Automated Services of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

III—Interstate Identification Index

IISS—Identification and Investigative Services Section of Criminal Justice Information Services 

Division

IMAP—Internal Miscellaneous Applicant Civil

IQS—Image Quality Specification

IRC—Indeterminate Ridge Count

IT—Information Technology

ITL—Information Technology Laboratory

ITN—Identification Tasking and Networking

JFI—Journal of Forensic Identification

JPEG—Joint Photographic Experts Group

LDIS—Local DNA Index System

LEIF—Law Enforcement Interconnecting Facilities

LEO—Law Enforcement Online

LETS—Law Enforcement Teletype System

LFFS—Latent Fingerprint Feature Search

LFIS—Latent Fingerprint Image Search

LITS—Latent Interoperability Transmission Standard

LT—Latent Print

LT-ARG—Latent-Attributed Relational Graph

MAP—Miscellaneous Applicant Civil

MAPC—Miscellaneous Applicant Card Scanning Service Submission (No Charge)

MCAXI—Modular Core and Axis Independent

MCS—Minutiae Comparison Standard

MOU—Memorandum of Understanding

MPR—Missing Person

MQI—Matcher Quality Index

N-FACS—National Fingerprint-Based Applicant Check Study

NCIC—National Crime Information Center

NCIC 2000—National Crime Information Center 2000

NDIS—National DNA Index System

NFF—National Fingerprint File

NFFC—Non-Federal Applicant Card Scanning Service Submission (User Fee)
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

A1-4

NFUF—Non-Federal Applicant User Fee

NGI—Next Generation Identification

NIBRS—National Incident-Based Reporting System

NICS—National Instant Criminal Background Check System

NIJ—National Institute of Justice

NIST—National Institute of Standards and Technology

NOE—Non-Operational Environment

NPS—National Police Services

NSOR—National Sex Offender Registry

NYSIIS—New York State Identification and Intelligence System

O&M—Operations and Maintenance

ODRC—Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

OE—Operational Environment

OLES—Law Enforcement Standards Office

ORI—Originating Agency Identifier

PC/RC—Pattern Class/Ridge Count

PCN—Process Control Number

POC—Point of Contact

PPI—Pixels per Inch

PSS—Public Safety Strategy

QC—Quality Control

RFES—Remote Fingerprint Editing Software

RFI—Request for Information

RFP—Request for Proposals

RRI—Repository Retrieval Index

SAN—Storage Area Network

SAT—Site Acceptance Test

SDIS—State DNA Index System

SID—State Identification

SME—Subject Matter Expert

SMT—Scars, Marks, and Tattoos

SoS—System-of-Systems

SOW—Statement of Work

SP/CR—System Problem/Change Report

SSN—Social Security Number

SWGFAST—Scientific Working Group on Friction Ridge Analysis, Study and Technology

TAC—Terminal Agency Coordinator

TAR—True Acceptance Rate

TBD—To Be Determined

TIFF—Tagged Image File Format

TOT—Type of Transaction

TP—Ten-Print Record

TP-CMF-CAXI—Ten-Print Criminal Master File Core and Axis Independent

TP-ARG—Ten-Print-Attributed Relational Graph
DRAFT Glossary of AFIS Terms

A1-5

TPid—Ten-Print Identification Database

TPIS—Ten-Print Image Search

TPlc—Ten-Print Latent Cognizant Database

TWAIN—Technology Without an Important Name

UCR—Uniform Crime Report

UL—Unsolved Latent

ULF—Unsolved Latent File

ULW—Universal Latent Workstation

UP—Unsolved Palm

USSS—United States Secret Service

VPN—Virtual Private Network

WAN—Wide Area Network

WDS—Workflow Distribution Server

WIN—Western Identification Network

WSQ—Wavelet Scalar Quantization