VISS Version 3.0 Release Candidate Available for Public Review 

– Ulf Björkegren, Ford Motor Company

Vehicle Information Service Specification (VISS) is an automotive API that allows consistent access to vehicle data, represented by the consistent, common data model, Vehicle Signal Specification. It provides a uniform way to interact with vehicle data, which is crucial for building software-defined and connected vehicle applications. A common API helps in creating interoperable solutions and can simplify development across different manufacturers and platforms.

The project started about 10 years ago in the W3C to maintain a simple pub/sub, get/set interface that supported WebSockets. Over the years it has added HTTP and MQTT protocols, a complete access control model, subscription triggering conditions, and more. The project was migrated to COVESA from W3C in 2024.

Today we announce that the COVESA VISS version 3.0 Release Candidate 0 is available for public review. 

Please review the three documents on the Release Candidate page and provide comments, by any of the below methods, to the COVESA VISS WG by February 21, 2025:

• Adding comments to the Issue thread
• Inserting comments in the respective PDF found on the release link and emailing the PDF to ubjorken@ford.com, edwardguild@geotab.com, peter.winzell@volvocars.com, and wonsuk.lee@etri.re.kr
• Adding comments or the PDF to the COVESA viss-vissr Slack channel

Below are the major new features in version 3.0 that complement the version 2.0 feature set:

• A separate tree describing the VISS server capabilities that can be accessed by clients
• File transfer. Upload/download of files
• Data compression
• Payload encoding
• gRPC support
• JSON scheme defining the content of all primary payloads
• Error messages updated

Hopefully, it entices you to learn more about VISS by reading the specification. As vehicles become smarter and more connected, VISS provides a crucial API. The 3.0 release brings key enhancements, including gRPC support, data compression, and file transfer capabilities, empowering faster and more secure development of connected vehicle solutions ranging from diagnostics to next-generation mobility services.

By contributing your feedback, you can help shape this essential tool for the evolving automotive ecosystem and ensure it meets the needs of developers, manufacturers, and users alike​. Share your feedback by February 21, 2025!