[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12564-12565]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05247]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION


GPS Adjacent Band Compatibility Assessment Testing

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, 
Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice; Request for voluntary participation.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Transportation, through the Office of the 
Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R), will begin 
testing Global Positioning System/Global Navigation Satellite System 
(``GPS/GNSS'') receivers this April pursuant to the DOT Adjacent Band 
Compatibility Study (``the Study'') test plan published with this 
notice. Device testing will take place at the U.S. Army Research 
Laboratory at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) facility in New 
Mexico.
    The Study provides for testing categories of receivers that include 
aviation (non-certified), cellular, general location/navigation, high 
precision, timing, networks, and space-based receivers. DOT seeks to 
include a broad range of devices used in rail, aviation, motor vehicle, 
maritime, and space transportation safety systems, among a number of 
other applications of GPS/GNSS. The goal of the Study is to evaluate 
the adjacent radio frequency band power levels that can be tolerated by 
GPS/GNSS receivers, and advance the Department's understanding of the 
extent to which such power levels impact devices used for 
transportation safety purposes, among other GPS/GNSS applications.
    The Study will involve testing of receivers provided by government 
agencies. In addition, to maximize diversity in the devices tested and 
breadth of relevant data collected for analysis in the Study, the 
Department requests voluntary participation in this Study by any 
interested GPS/GNSS device manufacturers or other parties whose 
products incorporate GPS/GNSS devices. Such participation could involve 
provision of GPS/GNSS receivers to DOT for use in testing, provision of 
data on receiver design to facilitate data collection pursuant to the 
test plan, and/or on-site commitment and support from manufacturers and 
other entities providing GPS/GNSS receivers for testing. DOT expects 
that any onsite commitment and support would take approximately one 
work week.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Any GPS device manufacturer interested 
in providing such assistance for the adjacent band study should contact

[[Page 12565]]

Stephen Mackey at the DOT/OST-R Volpe National Transportation Systems 
Center at [email protected] or 617-494-2753 by March 18, 2016.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final Study test plan published with 
this notice reflects input the Department obtained from broad public 
outreach over the past year that included four public meetings with 
stakeholders on September 18 and December 4, 2014, and March 12 and 
October 2, 2015, public issuance of a draft test plan on September 9, 
2015 (see 80 FR 54368), and comments received regarding the test plan.
    In addition, recognizing that providing support for the Study may 
involve sharing information with the Department that GPS/GNSS 
manufacturers may consider to be confidential business information or 
otherwise protected from disclosure to the public under the Freedom of 
Information Act, the Department on November 20, 2015 circulated for 
review by GPS/GNSS manufacturers and other stakeholders a draft Non-
Disclosure Agreement (``NDA'') that manufacturers could enter into with 
the Department. With this notice the Department also is publishing a 
revised NDA that takes into account comments submitted by stakeholders. 
Under this NDA, information the Department receives from GPS/GNSS 
manufacturers for use in the Study may be shared with other federal 
agencies and will be protected from unauthorized disclosure or use in 
accordance with applicable confidentiality laws, such as the Trade 
Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. 1905, and may be exempt from disclosure to the 
public, to the extent permitted by the Freedom of Information Act.
    The documents referenced in this Notice and further background can 
be viewed at: http://www.gps.gov/spectrum/ABC/.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of comments 
received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review a 
Privacy Act system of records notice regarding our public dockets in 
the January 17, 2008 issue of the Federal Register (73 FR 3316).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 3, 2016.
Gregory D. Winfree,
Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2016-05247 Filed 3-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-9X-P