ISO 17438-3:2024

Overview

ISO 17438-3:2024 - Intelligent transport systems - Indoor navigation for personal and vehicle ITS stations - Part 3 - specifies requirements and the schema/encoding for indoor positioning reference data. It defines the composition and encoding format of data that a personal/vehicle ITS station (P/V‑ITS‑S) can reference to obtain indoor positions for client‑based indoor navigation. The standard focuses on the reference data themselves and clarifies what is out of scope (security/authentication, payment, preparation of indoor maps, low‑level communication protocols, and other deployment‑specific issues).

Key topics and technical requirements

• Composition of indoor positioning references: Defines the types of information required to support indoor positioning (e.g., infrastructure descriptors, fingerprint maps) without prescribing specific positioning algorithms.
• Schema and encoding: Specifies a data model and an encoding format (ASN.1 conventions are used) so P/V‑ITS stations and central ITS stations (C‑ITS‑S) can interchange reference data interoperably.
• Client‑based vs server‑based positioning: Focuses on client‑based indoor positioning where the P/V‑ITS‑S performs the positioning and therefore must obtain reference data from a C‑ITS‑S.
• Mandatory/optional/conditional fields and conformance: Data types include mandatory, optional or conditional fields. Implementations must meet the stated multiplicities and conditions to conform.
• Examples and modules: The document includes an ASN.1 module (Annex A) and an informative Wi‑Fi example (Annex B) such as Wi‑Fi fingerprint map usage for positioning.
• Coordinate systems and terminology: Aligns definitions with related ITS and geospatial terminology (WGS84 and ITS station concepts).

Applications and users

Who benefits:

• Indoor navigation service designers and developers building apps or in‑vehicle systems that require interoperable indoor reference data.
• ITS integrators and transport operators deploying indoor navigation in stations, airports, parking garages, shopping centres and transit hubs.
• Indoor mapping and positioning platform providers who publish fingerprint maps or infrastructure datasets (Wi‑Fi, BLE, LTE).
• Vehicle OEMs and nomadic device vendors integrating P/V‑ITS‑S capabilities for indoor guidance and wayfinding.

Practical uses:

• Enabling client‑side positioning on smartphones and in‑vehicle units using shared Wi‑Fi/BLE fingerprint maps.
• Standardized exchange of indoor positioning references between central servers and personal/vehicle ITS stations for consistent indoor navigation experiences.

Related standards

• ISO 17438‑1 (Indoor navigation - general info and use cases)
• ISO 17438‑4 (Terminology and related indoor navigation concepts)
• ISO 13184‑2 (ITS guidance protocol references)

Keywords: ISO 17438-3:2024, indoor navigation, indoor positioning reference data, P/V‑ITS station, client‑based indoor positioning, ASN.1, Wi‑Fi fingerprint map, ITS.