Bitmap venue maps do not scale
Indoor products still rely on bitmap exports of CAD drawings far too often. Structured vector maps are easier to render, edit, validate, and reuse.
Open source building blocks for location software
Open Location Stack
Open Location Stack gives vendors, integrators, and product teams reusable software for location hubs, connectors, and indoor maps across mixed-vendor deployments.
Created by FORMATION
Mission
Open Location Stack focuses on the software teams keep rebuilding between location hardware, hubs, maps, and applications. Real deployments still need the same venue models, connectors, hub adapters, and map tooling project after project. We are building those pieces as open source so vendors and integrators can spend more time on product and delivery work. The project was initiated by FORMATION, where we run production location projects and hit these gaps directly.
Stop rebuilding the same stack
Many location products still rebuild the same hub logic, SDK glue, and map tooling just to get positions on a screen. That wastes engineering time and leaves customers with brittle integrations.
Vendor-specific APIs slow integration work
Location systems only become useful when they connect cleanly to business software and customer workflows. Rewriting adapters for every RTLS vendor is wasted effort.
Closed middleware limits reuse
When hub and integration layers stay proprietary, integrators and product teams inherit more cost, more coupling, and fewer options.
Open source fits this market
Location solutions depend on many hardware and software components across vendors and sites. Rebuilding the same hub, connector, and mapping layers in private silos adds cost and complexity. Open source gives teams something reusable to start from.
Open Location Stack uses the permissive MIT License, so teams can embed, adapt, extend, and white-label the software.
Commercial flexibility
Use the stack in customer projects, packaged offerings, internal tools, or partner-delivered solutions without license friction.
Faster productization
Start from open hub, connector, and mapping components instead of rebuilding the same infrastructure for every deployment.
Shared codebase
An open codebase is easier to inspect, adapt, extend, and integrate across mixed-vendor deployments.
Open Location Hub
Open Location Hub connects location feeds, exposes interoperable APIs, handles auth, and supports mixed-vendor deployments.
Reduce lock-in
Work across vendor-specific systems and custom APIs without tying your application layer to one closed hub.
Hybrid tracking
Bring together RTLS, barcode, QR, GPS, and related location systems across sites, zones, and assets.
Support product and integration teams
Reuse the base layer for auth, event exchange, interoperability, and downstream applications.
Indoor mapping that products can use
The mapping side of Open Location Stack focuses on structured indoor map data instead of static floor-plan images. That gives teams a better base for rendering, routing, zoning, and validation.
Shared spatial context
Places, levels, routes, and zones need a shared indoor model before live positions from multiple systems can be interpreted correctly.
Shared site context
A strong map layer helps teams work with mixed tracking systems, site hierarchies, and operational activity in the same model.
Reusable map capabilities
Structured map data makes authoring, validation, rendering, and maintenance more reusable across projects.
Plug in what you need
Open Location Hub supports a wide range of connectors, so existing deployments can participate without a rip-and-replace project.
Existing hubs
Plug in on-premise or cloud hubs such as Corriva Hub, Deephub, or other existing deployments where location data is already flowing.
Location technologies
Bring together barcode and QR-based flows, GNSS, camera-based systems, RFID, BLE, UWB, and other location technologies.
Integrate ERP, MMS, SAP, and more
Send and receive location data and operational events between the hub and ERP, MMS, SAP, and related enterprise systems using reusable connectors.
Grow the connector ecosystem
Location solution providers can contribute connectors, show compatibility, and list support on the Open Location Stack website.
Location technology landscape
Location data comes from many technologies, from software systems and optical workflows to passive tags, outdoor positioning, and precise indoor positioning.
Existing software
ERP, MMS, WMS, MES, SAP, and existing location platforms and hubs.
Optic systems
1D and 2D codes, OCR, and AI-based object recognition.
Unpowered tags and chips
RFID and NFC.
Outdoor positioning
GNSS, telematics, and fleet tracking.
Indoor positioning
UWB, BLE, Wi-Fi RTT, and related indoor positioning systems.
Cradle-to-grave tracking
Most systems only track assets for part of their lifecycle and in limited areas. Cradle-to-grave tracking needs location data from production and logistics through customer use to recycling or decommissioning.
AI for logistics and manufacturing needs context
AI systems in logistics and manufacturing need map context, live location flows, and system events in the same place. Open Location Hub is built to connect those inputs.
Accessible operational context
AI systems need a usable picture of facilities, fleets, flows, and constraints instead of disconnected location feeds.
Integrated workplace visibility
Open Location Hub connects workplace systems, indoor maps, and mixed tracking technologies so automation can work from one shared model.
Foundation for agentic workflows
A shared hub, semantic map structure, and reusable connectors create a better base for orchestration, monitoring, and AI-assisted decisions.
Built for teams across the location stack
Open Location Stack gives integrators, vendors, enterprise teams, and developers reusable software to start from instead of forcing each group to rebuild the same core pieces.
Solution Integrators
Deliver mixed-vendor location solutions faster by reusing shared hub, connector, and mapping components instead of rebuilding the same integration layer for every project.
Location technology vendors
Make your products easier to integrate into real customer environments with interoperable APIs, connectors, and better tooling.
Enterprise users
Reduce deployment and integration risk with a base that fits more naturally into existing enterprise systems and data flows.
Developers
Start with practical middleware and connector frameworks so teams can focus on application logic and delivery.
Latest news
Follow product and engineering updates as the repositories, docs, and releases evolve.
Indoor maps need to grow up
Why bitmap floor plans are technical debt for asset tracking, and why georeferenced vector maps and IMDF are a better path.
Open Location Hub 0.1.0 is out
Open Location Hub 0.1.0 is the first public release with full omlox API coverage for the current scope, plus MQTT, WebSocket, RPC, Docker images, and benchmark data.
Benchmarking Open Location Hub with OpenSky and replayed traffic
A repeatable Open Location Hub benchmark built from a five-minute OpenSky Germany capture, replay interpolation, and OTLP telemetry.
Standards alignment
Open Location Stack stays standards-aligned across hubs, maps, and live operational systems so mixed deployments can interoperate more cleanly.
OMLOX
open locating standard
OMLOX defines interoperable RTLS interfaces, including hub APIs and core-zone compatibility across vendors and applications.
OGC IMDF
Open Geospatial Consortium Indoor Mapping Data Format
IMDF is the structured indoor mapping model Open Location Stack uses for portable venue maps and spatial context.
MQTT
Message Queuing Telemetry Transport
MQTT is a lightweight transport for ingesting and distributing live telemetry, events, and updates around the map.
Help shape the next releases
Contact us with RTLS integration blockers, indoor mapping use cases, connector ideas, or partnership interest that should influence the next Open Location Stack releases.
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