Working Draft -- 23 November 2005 

Recommendations for Revision of ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 

Report of CBEFF Working Group 

Greg Cannon – Crossmatch 

Dale Hapeman (Chair) – Contractor, DoD BMO/BFC 

Mike McCabe – NIST 

Rob Mungovan – Aware 

Bonny Scheier – Saber 

Anne Wang – Cogent Systems

The CBEFF Working Group has developed the following recommendations: 

1. Support multiple biometric types by adding Record Type-18. This record conforms to 

INCITS 398-2005, the Common Biometric Exchange Formats Framework (CBEFF). 

2. Include an informative annex to provide example(s) of the implementation of the 

proposed CBEFF Data Record. 

3. Add optional fields to Type-10, and Type-13 through Type-16, that allow those types to 

conform to the requirements of CBEFF. 

Text for insertion in the revised ITL 1-2000 follows: 

CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Text...................................................................................... 1

CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Informative Annex................................................................ 6

Additions to Other Logical Records - Suggested Text ............................................................... 8

<additional information if required> ......................................................................................... 11

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Text

CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Text 

A. Type-18 CBEFF data record 

The Type-18 tagged-field logical record shall contain and be used to exchange biometric data 

by using a format that conforms to INCITS 398-2005, the Common Biometric Exchange 

Formats Framework (CBEFF). 

A CBEFF compliant Biometric Information Record (BIR) is made up of a Header, a Biometric 

Data Block (BDB), and an optional Signature Block (which is not used in the Type-18 logical 

record). A BIR is often shown as follows, but the ordering of components is not specified by 

the CBEFF standard. While the exact format of the BIR is not specified in the CBEFF 

standard, the Type-18 logical record is one instance of a specification that defines an exact 

format. 

Biometric Information Record (BIR) 

Header BDB Signature Block 

Two mandatory fields in the CBEFF Header are Format Owner and Format Type. The Format 

Owner field denotes the vendor, standards body, working group, or industry consortium that 

has defined the format of the biometric data (the data contained in the BDB). A CBEFF 

requirement is that format owners register with the International Biometric Industry Association 

(IBIA) for an assigned identifier of the format owner. The values used in the Format Type field 

are assigned by the format owner and represent a specific BDB format as specified by the 

format owner. This may be a non-standard, unpublished data format or a data format that has 

been standardized by an industry group, consortium, or standards body. It is the combined 

CBEFF Format Owner/Format Type value that uniquely identifies the BDB format. 

The Type-18 logical record provides the CBEFF fields necessary for users to send, receive, 

and interpret biometric data in any registered BDB format. The data carried in the Biometric 

Data field (18.999) is the BDB. The format of that data is identified by the fields BDB Format 

Owner and BDB Format Type as described by the CBEFF standard. 

A Type-18 record is capable of carrying the data of any biometric modality as long as it is 

identified by a BDB Format Owner and BDB Format Type. 

A.1 Fields for the Type-18 logical record 

The following paragraphs describe the data contained in each of the fields for the Type-18 

logical record. Within a Type-18 logical record, entries shall be provided in numbered fields. It 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Text

is required that the first two fields of the record are ordered, and the field containing the 

CBEFF formatted binary data shall be the last physical field in the record. For each field of the 

Type-18 record, Table 1 lists the “condition code” as being mandatory “M” or optional “O”, the 

field number, the field name, character type, field size, and occurrence limits. Based on a 

three-digit field number, the maximum byte count size for the field is given in the last column. 

As more digits are used for the field number, the maximum byte count will also increase. The 

two entries in the “field size per occurrence” include all character separators used in the field. 

The “maximum byte count” includes the field number, the information, and all the character 

separators including the “GS” character. 

Table 1. Type-18 CBEFF Data Record Layout 

Ident Cond 

Code 

Field 

Number 

Field Name Char 

Type 

Field size per 

occurrence 

Occur 

count 

Max byte 

count 

min max min max 

LEN M 18.001 LOGICAL RECORD LENGTH N 4 10 1 1 15 

IDC M 18.002 IMAGE DESIGNATION 

CHARACTER 

N 2 5 1 1 12 

RSV - 18.003 

18.099 

RESERVED FOR FUTURE 

INCLUSION 

-- -- -- -- -- -- 

HDV M 18.100 CBEFF HEADER VERSION N 5 5 1 1 12 

BTY M 18.101 BIOMETRIC TYPE N 9 9 1 1 16 

BDQ M 18.102 BIOMETRIC DATA QUALITY AN 2 4 1 1 11 

BFO M 18.103 BDB FORMAT OWNER AN 5 5 1 1 12 

BFT M 18.104 BDB FORMAT TYPE AN 5 5 1 1 12 

RSV - 18.105 

18.199 

RESERVED FOR FUTURE 

INCLUSION 

-- -- -- -- -- -- 

UDF O 18.200 

18.998 

USER-DEFINED FIELDS -- -- -- -- -- -- 

BDB M 18.999 BIOMETRIC DATA B 2 -- 1 1 -- 

A.1.1 Field 18.001: Logical Record Length (LEN) 

This mandatory ASCII field shall contain the total count of the number of bytes in the Type-18 

logical record. This field shall specify the length of the record including every character of 

every field contained in the record and the information separators. 

A.1.2 Field 18.002: Image Designation Character (IDC) 

This mandatory ASCII field shall be used to identify the CBEFF data contained in the record. 

This IDC shall match the IDC found in the file content (CNT) field of the Type-1 record. 

A.1.3 Field 18.003-099: Reserved for Future Definition (RSV) 

These fields are reserved for inclusion in future revisions of this standard. None of these fields 

are to be used at this revision level. If any of these fields are present, they are to be ignored. 

A.1.4 Field 18.100: CBEFF Header Version (HDV) 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Text

This mandatory ASCII field shall be used to identify the version of CBEFF specification that 

this record conforms to. The format is two characters for major version number followed by 

two characters for minor version. The current version of CBEFF is INCITS 398-2005 

represented by the string ‘0101’ (major version ‘01’ and minor version ‘01’). 

A.1.5 Field 18.101: Biometric Type (BTY) 

This mandatory ASCII field shall be used to identify the type of biometric technology. This 

specification adopts the values presented in CBEFF Table 4 with the addition of two leading 

zeros for future expansion. The resulting table is shown in Table 2. 

 Table 2. Biometric Type 

Biometric Type 

name 

Biometric Type 

code 

No Information Given ‘00000000’ 

Multiple Biometrics Used ‘00000001' 

Facial Features ‘00000002' 

Voice ‘00000004' 

Fingerprint ‘00000008' 

Iris ‘00000010' 

Retina ‘00000020' 

Hand Geometry ‘00000040' 

Signature Dynamics ‘00000080' 

Keystroke Dynamics ‘00000100' 

Lip Movement ‘00000200' 

Thermal Face Image ‘00000400' 

Thermal Hand Image ‘00000800' 

Gait ‘00001000' 

Body Odor ‘00002000' 

DNA ‘00004000' 

Ear Shape ‘00008000' 

Finger Geometry ‘00010000' 

Palm Print ‘00020000' 

Vein Pattern ‘00040000' 

Foot Print ‘00080000’ 

A.1.6 Field 18.102: Biometric Data Quality (BDQ) 

This mandatory ASCII field shall be used to specify the quality of the data in the BDB. This 

value shall be within the range of 0 through 100 where 100 is the highest quality. To support 

ANSI INCITS 358, the BioAPI standard (see Section 2.1.46 BioAPI_QUALITY), the values in 

Table 3 shall also be allowed: 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Text

 Table 3. Biometric Data Quality 

Biometric Data Quality 

description 

Biometric Data Quality 

 code 

Quality not supported ‘NSu’ 

Quality supported but not set ‘NSe’ 

A.1.7 Field 18.103: BDB Format Owner (BFO) 

In a CBEFF structure the BDB Format Owner and Format Type, when used in combination, 

uniquely identify the specific format of the BDB content. The format and content of the BDB is 

“owned” by the CBEFF Client (see Clause 6.1 of the CBEFF standard). This BDB format 

definition may be published (public) or unpublished (non-public). 

This mandatory ASCII field shall be used to denote the vendor, standards body, working 

group, or industry consortium that has defined the format of the Biometric Data (in the BDB). A 

CBEFF requirement is that format owners register with IBIA for an assigned identifier of the 

format owner. The number is guaranteed to be unique. Refer to Clause 6. CBEFF Patrons 

and Clients, of the CBEFF standard, for registration information. 

The 4 hex digits assigned by IBIA shall be represented by a string of 4 ASCII characters. 

A.1.8 Field 18.104: BDB Format Type (BFT) 

This mandatory ASCII field shall be used to identify the value assigned by the format owner to 

represent the specific BDB Format as specified by the format owner. This may be a nonstandard, unpublished data format or a data format that has been standardized by an industry 

group, consortium, or standards body. The registration of the Format Type value is 

recommended but not required. Refer to Clause 6. CBEFF Patrons and Clients, of the CBEFF 

standard, for information about registration. 

The 4 hex digits assigned by the format owner shall be represented by a string of 4 ASCII 

characters. 

A.1.9 Field 18.105-199: Reserved for Future Definition (RSV) 

These fields are reserved for inclusion in future revisions of this standard. None of these fields 

are to be used at this revision level. If any of these fields are present, they are to be ignored. 

A.1.10 Field 18.200-998: User-Defined Fields (UDF) 

These fields are user-definable fields. Their size and content shall be defined by the user and 

be in accordance with the receiving agency. If present, they shall contain ASCII textual 

information. 

A.1.11 Field 18.999: Biometric Data (BDB) 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Text

This field shall contain the CBEFF Biometric Data Block (BDB). It shall always be assigned 

field number 999 and must be the last physical field in the record. For example, 18.999: is 

followed by an iris BDB in a binary representation. 

A.2 End of Type-18 CBEFF Data Record 

For the sake of consistency, immediately following the last byte of data from field 18.999 an 

“FS” separator shall be used to separate it from the next logical record. This separator must 

be included in the length field of the Type-18 record. 

A.3 Additional Type-18 CBEFF Data Records 

Additional Type-18 records may be included in the file. For each additional CBEFF record, a 

complete Type-18 logical record together with the “FS” separator is required. 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Informative Annex

CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Informative Annex 

Annex A 

(Informative) 

Type-18 CBEFF Data Record Example 

This example of a Type-18 CBEFF Data Record contains a Biometric Data Block (BDB) that is 

an INCITS 381-2004 standard finger image data record. 

In this example, the content of the BDB assumes that the finger image is of a left index finger 

and that the image was captured using a live-scan device that conforms to the parameters 

listed under setting level ‘31’ in table 1 of the INCITS 381-2004 standard. The image has pixel 

dimensions of 375 x 625 with a 500-pixel scanning resolution in both horizontal and vertical 

directions and will be formatted as uncompressed for the purpose of illustration. This example 

begins with a finger image that is 234,375 bytes long (as shown in the last row of Table 2 

(bytes 51 through 234,425)) and adds the appropriate headers. 

Table 1 lists the contents of the Type-18 CBEFF data record. The binary data in the BDB field 

of this record is expanded in Table 2. 

Table 1 – Type-18 CBEFF Data Record Example 

Field Transaction Record Byte Count 

LEN 18.001:234519G

S 14 

IDC 18.002:33 G

S 10 

HDV 18.100:0101 G

S 12 

BTY 18.101:00000008 G

S 16 

BDQ 18:102:80 G

S 10 

BFO 18.103:001B G

S 12 

BFT 18.104:0401 G

S 12 

BDB 18.999:<binary data> F

S 

See Table 2 

234,425 + 8 

Total 234,519 

The total byte count of this example data record is 234,519 as shown in the Length (LEN) field. 

The contents of the binary data portion of the BDB field are shown in Table 2. The remainder 

of the record is composed as follows: 

• The Image Designation Character (IDC) field contains the example value of 33. 

• The CBEFF Header Version (HDV) field identifies the version of the CBEFF standard 

specified in INCITS 398-2005 with the string ‘0101’. 

• The Biometric Type (BTY) field represents fingerprint with the string ‘00000008’. 

• The Biometric Data Quality (BDQ) field represents the example value of 80 with the 

string ‘80’. 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 CBEFF Data Record - Suggested Informative Annex

• The CBEFF BDB Format Owner assigned to INCITS M1 is the 16-bit value 0x001B 

Hex. This is represented in the BFO field with the string ‘001B’. 

• The CBEFF BDB Format Type code assigned by INCITS M1 to INCITS 381-2004 is the 

16-bit value 0x0401 Hex. This is represented in the BFT field with the string ‘0401’. 

Table 2. ANSI/INCITS 381-2004 Data Example 

Subfield Bytes Values Notes 

Format identifier 1-4 46 49 52 00 “FIR” – Finger Image Record 

Version number 5-8 30 31 30 00 “010” 

Record length 9-14 00 00 00 

03 93 B9 

One finger view 

(36+1*(14+234,375) bytes) 

CBEFF Product Identifier 15-18 43 21 DC BA CBEFF PID 

Capture Device 19-20 01 AB Vendor specified 

Image Acquisition Level 21-22 00 31 EFTS/F, 500 Pixels/inch 

Number of fingers/palms 23 01 

Scale units 24 01 Pixels/inch 

Scan resolution (horiz) 25-26 01 F4 500 pixels/inch 

Scan resolution (vert) 27-28 01 F4 500 pixels/inch 

Image resolution (horiz) 29-30 01 F4 500 pixels/inch 

Image resolution (vert) 31-32 01 F4 500 pixels/inch 

Pixel depth 33 08 256 gray levels 

Image compression algorithm 34 00 Uncompressed 

Reserved 35-36 00 00 

Length of finger data block 37-40 00 03 93 95 Includes header and image 

data block (234,389 bytes) 

Finger/palm position 41 07 Left index finger 

Count of views 42 01 

View number 43 01 

Finger/palm image quality 44 FE Undefined – 254 

Impression type 45 00 Live-scan plain 

Horizontal line length 46-47 01 77 375 pixels per horizontal line 

Vertical line length 48-49 02 71 625 horizontal lines 

Reserved 50 00 Byte set to ‘0x00’ 

Finger/palm image data 51-234,425 -- Uncompressed image data 

(234,375 bytes) 

The total byte count of this Biometric Data Block is 234,425. 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 Additions to Other Logical Records 

Additions to Other Logical Records - Suggested Text 

> 

<Table 1 provides information for the additional fields added to Type-10, and Type-13 through 

Type-16 > 

Table 1 Additional Fields 

Ident Cond 

Code 

Field 

Number 

Field Name Char 

Type 

Field size per 

occurrence 

Occur 

count 

Max byte 

count 

min max min max 

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

HDV O xx.100 CBEFF HEADER VERSION N 5 5 1 1 12 

BTY O xx.101 BIOMETRIC TYPE N 9 9 1 1 16 

BDQ O xx.102 BIOMETRIC DATA QUALITY AN 2 4 1 1 11 

BFO O xx.103 BDB FORMAT OWNER AN 5 5 1 1 12 

BFT O xx.104 BDB FORMAT TYPE AN 5 5 1 1 12 

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 

<The following is the text for the additional fields added to Type-10, and Type-13 through 

Type-16. The XX in the following would be replaced by 10, 13, 14, 15, or 16 as appropriate 

x.1.4 Field XX.100: CBEFF Header Version (HDV) 

This optional ASCII field shall be used to identify the version of CBEFF specification that this 

record conforms to. The format is two characters for major version number followed by two 

characters for minor version. The current version of CBEFF is INCITS 398-2005 represented 

by the string ‘0101’ (major version ‘01’ and minor version ‘01’). 

Note that in able to claim conformance to this version of CBEFF, the optional fields XX.100 

through XX.104 must be present (i.e., are mandatory). 

x.1.5 Field XX.101: Biometric Type (BTY) 

This optional ASCII field shall be used to identify the type of biometric technology. This 

specification adopts the values presented in CBEFF Table 4 with the addition of two leading 

zeros for future expansion. The resulting table is shown in Table a. 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 Additions to Other Logical Records 

 Table a. Biometric Type 

> 

Biometric Type 

name 

Biometric Type 

code 

No Information Given ‘00000000’ 

Multiple Biometrics Used ‘00000001' 

Facial Features ‘00000002' 

Voice ‘00000004' 

Fingerprint ‘00000008' 

Iris ‘00000010' 

Retina ‘00000020' 

Hand Geometry ‘00000040' 

Signature Dynamics ‘00000080' 

Keystroke Dynamics ‘00000100' 

Lip Movement ‘00000200' 

Thermal Face Image ‘00000400' 

Thermal Hand Image ‘00000800' 

Gait ‘00001000' 

Body Odor ‘00002000' 

DNA ‘00004000' 

Ear Shape ‘00008000' 

Finger Geometry ‘00010000' 

Palm Print ‘00020000' 

Vein Pattern ‘00040000' 

Foot Print ‘00080000’ 

<in the sections for each individual type, the exact value could be specified here: 

 Type-10 w/ Facial Image - ‘00000002’ (Facial Features) 

 Type-10 w/ SMT image - ‘00000000’ (No Information Given) 

 Type-13 Latent image - ‘00000008’ (Fingerprint) 

 Type-14 Tenprint - ‘00000008’ (Fingerprint) 

 Type-15 Palmprint image - ‘00020000’ (Palm print) 

 Type-16 User defined - include the table 

x.1.6 Field XX.102: Biometric Data Quality (BDQ) 

This optional ASCII field shall be used to specify the quality of the data in the BDB. This value 

shall be within the range of 0 through 100 where 100 is the highest quality. To support ANSI 

INCITS 358, the BioAPI standard (see Section 2.1.46 BioAPI_QUALITY), the values in Table b 

shall also be allowed: 

 Table b. Biometric Data Quality 

Biometric Data Quality 

description 

Biometric Data Quality 

 code 

Quality not supported ‘NSu’ 

Quality supported but not set ‘NSe’ 

x.1.7 Field XX.103: BDB Format Owner (BFO) 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 Additions to Other Logical Records 

In a CBEFF structure the BDB Format Owner and Format Type, when used in combination, 

uniquely identify the specific format of the BDB content. The format and content of the BDB is 

“owned” by the CBEFF Client (see Clause 6.1 of the CBEFF standard). This BDB format 

definition may be published (public) or unpublished (non-public). 

This optional ASCII field shall be used to denote the vendor, standards body, working group, or 

industry consortium that has defined the format of the Biometric Data (in the BDB). A CBEFF 

requirement is that format owners register with IBIA for an assigned identifier of the format 

owner. The number is guaranteed to be unique. Refer to Clause 6. CBEFF Patrons and 

Clients, of the CBEFF standard, for registration information. 

The 4 hex digits assigned by IBIA shall be represented by a string of 4 ASCII characters. 

x.1.8 Field XX.104: BDB Format Type (BFT) 

This optional ASCII field shall be used to identify the value assigned by the format owner to 

represent the specific BDB Format as specified by the format owner. This may be a nonstandard, unpublished data format or a data format that has been standardized by an industry 

group, consortium, or standards body. The registration of the Format Type value is 

recommended but not required. Refer to Clause 6. CBEFF Patrons and Clients, of the CBEFF 

standard, for information about registration. 

The 4 hex digits assigned by the format owner shall be represented by a string of 4 ASCII 

characters. 

< I am actively attempting to get BDB Format Type values assigned by INCITS M1 (M1 is a 

registered Format Owner) for each of Type-10, and Type-13 through Type-16. This would 

mean that the BDB Format Owner field would be equal to ‘001B’ and that the exact value of 

BDB Format Type could be specified in this document in the appropriate section for each type. 

NIST (specifically, Mr. Michael McCabe) is also a registered Format Owner. In this case, the 

BDB Format Owner field would be equal to ‘000F’. 

> 

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Recommendations for ANSI/NIST ITL 1-2000 Additions to Other Logical Records 

<additional information if required> 

IBIA information:

International Biometric Industry Association 

Suite 370 South 

601 Thirteenth Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20005 

List of registered Format Owner values: 

http://www.ibia.org/biometrics/formatregistry_registered.asp

To register new Format Owner values: http://www.ibia.org/biometrics/formatregistry.asp

CBEFF Reference:

INCITS 398-2005 - Information technology - Common Biometric Exchange Formats 

Framework (CBEFF). 

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