omlox - the locating standard

ZIGPOS RTLS works seamlessly with the World’s first open locating Standard

ZIGPOS RTLS is omlox compatible

With the goal to harmonize access to location data and foster interoperability across RTLS and devices from different vendors, the omlox standard has been initiated by industrial leaders back in 2018. By now, omlox is hosted by the PROFIBUS & PROFINET International (PI) standardization body and shaped by an ever- growing member community including TRUMPF Tracking Technologies GmbH, ZIGPOS GmbH and many other companies. The omlox standard defines an open and generic RTLS architecture. To overcome siloed RTLS, omlox standardizes interfaces that pave the way towards flexible, extendable and interoperable locating solutions.

The omlox air-interface definition provides interoperability within the omlox Core Zone across various UWB-enabled RTLS devices from different vendors, allowing flexible configurations and extensions to address numerous use-cases in industry, logistics and beyond.

The omlox air-interface standardizes locating and data communication within the omlox Core Zone across UWB-capable satellites and tags from different vendors. This interface is described in the omlox Core Zone v2 Specification and defines the UWB radio (also called In-band (IB)) as well as an Out-of-Band (OoB) radio protocol. Whereas the regulatory emission-limited UWB radio is primarily used for time/distance measurements, all other communication is typically off-loaded to a separate and less limited narrow-band OoB radio.

In order to achieve vendor-agnostic interoperability between satellites and tags, configurations and concepts on various layers have been standardized.

The ZIGPOS RTLS as omlox Core Zone Infrastructure is continuously reporting the positions of the Mobiles to the omlox Hub. The ZIGPOS API is of course still fully available and can be used e.g. for display updates of our Badges, firmware updates and other services, available with a ZIGPOS System.

See the API Docs of the ZIGPOS RTLS

The omlox hub API allows running an unlimited variety of location-based applications by deploying just a single unified and technology-agnostic API interface accessing positions, ranges etc. Those can be originating from different kinds of ranging and locating technology, such as UWB, BLE, GPS, 5G, WiFi or others. One of the providers for the omlox Hub is the DeepHub by Heidelberg Mobil.

See the API Docs of the Heidelberg Mobil DeepHub

Example: Asset Tracking with the ZIGPOS Badge and the omlox API

As an example Use-Case, we want to track an asset with the ZIGPOS Badge and use the omlox Hub-API. This is the data flow:

  1. ZIGPOS Badge is communicating over the omlox Air-Interface with the ZIGPOS Satellites
  2. ZIGPOS Satellites processing the ranging data in the Core-Zone
  3. ZIGPOS RTLS as omlox-Core-Zone Infrastructure is receiving the data
  4. ZIGPOS Locating Engine in the ZIGPOS RTLS is calculating a position for the Asset
  5. ZIGPOS RTLS API provides the position for example via REST: 
    GET "https://zigpos/rtls_api/rest/positions" response:
[{
  "id": "1648105283387",
  "timestamp": "1648105306890",
  "x": 411865.98,
  "y": 5653241.45,
  "z": 148.58,
  "address": "8121069331309204651"
}]
  6. The ZIGPOS RTLS publishes the position to the omlox Hub-API
  7. The omlox Hub-API provides the position as well (with additional context): 
    GET "https://deephup/rest/providers/locations" response:
[{
  "position": {
    "type": "Point",
    "coordinates": [
      411865.98,
      5653241.45,
      148.58
    ]
  },
  "source": "A8C01D4C-333A-4406-B2E9-A174AD295CB1",
  "provider_type": "uwb",
  "provider_id": "8121069331309204651",
  "trackables": [
    "3EE36F6C-6974-4084-81D8-A876DFA27FA6"
  ],
  "timestamp_generated": "2019-09-02T22:02:24.355Z",
  "timestamp_sent": "2019-09-02T22:02:24.357Z",
}]
Data flow for Asset Tracking with a ZIGPOS Badge and the omlox Hub-API

Other Use Cases

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