NDS.Live Launch at NDS Public Conference

It’s finally here: NDS.Live, the update for the NDS standard, has been officially launched at the NDS Public Conference and is now available. The first release of NDS.Live focuses on use cases for map data in ADAS and autonomous driving. The release of additions to cover navigation use cases will follow in early 2021.

Since the NDS standard was first introduced, technology has evolved tremendously. Map data needs to be much more detailed and precise to support automated and autonomous driving functions, cars are being equipped with data connectivity so map data can be stored and processed in the cloud, and new use cases for map data are appearing left, right, and center. With the new NDS.Live launch, the specification now supports these new requirements and use cases and thus combines the best of our past experience with today’s realities and tomorrow’s new possibilities.

NDS.Live is not a database, it is a distributed map data system.

Fabian Klebert, NDS Association Technical Coordinator

NDS.Live follows the principle of a distributed system, meaning it allows driver assistance, navigation, and drive automation systems to pull together map data packages from different NDS.Live Smart Layers, from different data service providers or clouds and to then merge them into one comprehensive pool of information. This modular approach ensures much more flexibility. The modularity enables updates of individual data packages at higher rates, e.g. speed limits, while other more static data can be updated less frequently. The modularity of NDS.Live also enables a faster evolution of those parts of the NDS.Live specification that will need to evolve at a faster pace as we are moving into Automated Driving that still has a steep learning curve. And last but not least, the NDS.Live Smart Layers makes a step-by-step migration of a system from NDS.Classic map databases to NDS.Live data services possible.

The official NDS.Live launch was presented by Fabian Klebert, NDS Association Technical Coordinator, at the NDS Public Conference:

Of course, testing of NDS.Live is already running at full speed. The NDS.Live Joint Development Team is working on a set of implementations for the first SD and HD ADAS maps. As part of that, some NDS members have worked on their NDS.Live implementation projects and presented these at the NDS Public Conference in September 2020:

• Map data provider HERE Technologies showed the setup of an NDS.Live service, which includes an NDS.Live registry, smart layer providers for roads and ADAS attributes, and transcoding of the existing HERE Map for ADAS in NDS.Classic into NDS.Live smart layers. Learn more about their project in this video.

• Automotive software expert Elektrobit integrated NDS.Live into their electronic horizon solution, which would make it easier for customers to switch data service providers or combine content from multiple providers. For a detailed explanation of how this worked and the use cases, see here.

• Map data provider Navinfo developed an NDS.Live implementation for an intelligent data delivery service, addressing the requirements for more detailed maps, data, and more frequent updates. You can watch their project here.

• Navigation software provider NNG has adapted their Intelligent Co-Driver client to NDS.Live SmartLayer tiles and are anticipating significantly reduced costs for changes between map service providers. Take a look at their implementation here.

And finally, if you want to learn more about the intricacies of the NDS.Live specification, don’t forget to check out our NDS.Live blog series, starting with NDS.Live: An update for the future of navigation.