[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 230 (Friday, December 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56980-56981]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25926]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[Docket No. USCG-2017-1032]


Cooperative Research and Development Agreement: Cellular Phone 
Geolocation Development

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice of intent; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard announces its intent to enter into a 
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with TriaSys 
Technologies Corp, to investigate the potential operational use of 
cellular phone direction finding technology. The intent to enter in a 
potential CRADA with TriaSys Corp is based on market research and 
visits to vendors with advertised expertise in this unique application 
of technology in the maritime environment for Search and Rescue. While 
the Coast Guard is currently considering partnering with TriaSys 
Technologies Corp, the agency is soliciting public comment on the 
possible nature of and participation of other parties in the proposed 
CRADA. In addition, the Coast Guard also invites other potential non-
Federal participants to propose similar CRADAs.

DATES: Comments must be submitted to the online docket via http://www.regulations.gov on or before January 2, 2018.
    Synopses of proposals regarding future CRADAs must reach the Coast 
Guard (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) on or before January 2, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments online at http://www.regulations.gov in 
accordance with Web site instructions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice 
or wish to submit proposals for future CRADAs, contact Donald Decker, 
Project Official, C4ISR Branch, U.S. Coast Guard Research and 
Development Center, 1 Chelsea Street, New London, CT 06320, telephone 
860-271-2701, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Public Participation and Request for Comments

    We request public comments on this notice. Although we do not plan 
to respond to comments in the Federal Register, we will respond 
directly to commenters and may modify our proposal in light of 
comments.
    Comments should be marked with docket number USCG-2017-1032 and 
should provide a reason for each suggestion or recommendation. You 
should provide personal contact information so that we can contact you 
if we have questions regarding your comments; but please note that all 
comments will be posted to the online docket without change and that 
any personal information you include can be searchable online (see the 
Federal Register Privacy Act notice regarding our public dockets, 73 FR 
3316, Jan. 17, 2008). We also accept anonymous comments.
    We encourage you to submit comments through the Federal eRulemaking 
Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. If your material cannot be 
submitted using http://www.regulations.gov, contact the Coast Guard 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). Documents mentioned in this 
notice and all public comments, are in our online docket at http://www.regulations.gov and can be viewed by following that Web site's 
instructions. Additionally, if you go to the online docket and sign up 
for email alerts, you will be notified when comments are posted or a 
final rule is published.
    Do not submit detailed proposals for future CRADAs to the Docket 
Management Facility. Instead, submit them directly to the Coast Guard 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).

Discussion

    CRADAs are authorized under 15 U.S.C. 3710(a).\1\ A CRADA promotes 
the transfer of technology to the private sector for commercial use, as 
well as specified research or development efforts that are consistent 
with the mission of the Federal parties to the CRADA. The Federal party 
or parties agree with one or more non-Federal parties to share research 
resources, but the Federal party does not contribute funding.
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    \1\ The statute confers this authority on the head of each 
Federal agency. The Secretary of DHS's authority is delegated to the 
Coast Guard and other DHS organizational elements by DHS Delegation 
No. 0160.1, para. II.B.34.
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    CRADAs are not procurement contracts. Care is taken to ensure that 
CRADAs are not used to circumvent the contracting process. CRADAs have 
a specific purpose and should not be confused with procurement 
contracts, grants, and other type of agreements.
    Under the proposed CRADA, the R&D Center will collaborate with one 
non-Federal participant. Together, the R&D Center and the non-Federal 
participant will collect information/data for performance, reliability, 
maintenance requirements, human systems

[[Page 56981]]

integration and other data on cellular direction finding technologies. 
After an initial installation and familiarization period, the Coast 
Guard plans to evaluate a designated platform outfitted with the 
communications technology for a period of one week.
    We anticipate the Coast Guard's contributions under the proposed 
CRADA will include the following:
    (1) Develop the Demonstration Pilot Assessment Plan to meet the 
objectives of the CRADA with a diverse set of real-life mission 
scenarios.
    (2) Provide the pilot demonstration support in and around 
Charleston, SC.
    (3) Coordinate Pilot demonstration from onboard a USCG cutter.
    (4) Collaborate with non-Federal partners to prepare demonstration 
documentation including equipment assessments, final report(s), and 
briefings.
    We anticipate that the non-Federal participant's contributions 
under the proposed CRADA will include the following:
    (1) Assist the R&D Center in the development and drafting of all 
CRADA documents, including the pilot demonstration assessment plan, 
equipment assessments, final report(s), and briefings.
    (2) Provide and maintain the direction finding equipment to ensure 
the system is usable.
    (3) Secure, with R&D Center assistance, Special Temporary Authority 
(STA) to employ the equipment within the desired frequency bands.
    (4) Provide technical support, training and maintenance throughout 
the period of performance to ensure maximum availability and utility of 
the networks.
    The Coast Guard reserves the right to select for CRADA participants 
all, some, or no proposals submitted for this CRADA. The Coast Guard 
will provide no funding for reimbursement of proposal development 
costs. Proposals and any other material submitted in response to this 
notice will not be returned. Proposals submitted are expected to be 
unclassified and have no more than five single-sided pages (excluding 
cover page, DD 1494, JF-12, etc.).
    The Coast Guard will select proposals at its sole discretion on the 
basis of:
    (1) How well they communicate an understanding of, and ability to 
meet, the proposed CRADA's goal; and
    (2) How well they address the following criteria:
    (a) Technical capability to support the non-Federal party 
contributions described; and
    (b) Resources available for supporting the non-Federal party 
contributions described.
    Currently, the Coast Guard is considering TriaSys Technologies Corp 
for participation in this CRADA. This consideration is based on the 
fact that TriaSys Systems has demonstrated its technical ability as the 
developer, manufacturer, and integrator of cellular direction finding 
equipment. However, we do not wish to exclude other viable participants 
from this or future similar CRADAs.
    The USCG's intent to enter in a potential CRADA with TriaSys Corp 
is based on market research and visits to vendors with advertised 
expertise in this unique application of technology in the maritime 
environment for Search and Rescue. The research includes employment of 
their antennas, equipment and graphical user interface (GUI) to 
establish direction and geo-location of cellular phones in an open-
ocean environment. Specifically, the equipment will provide both a Line 
of Bearing (LOB) and a Global Positioning System (GPS) location to a 
cellular phone in a search and rescue scenario. The equipment will be 
setup in locations with use in the open ocean environment. A Pilot 
Demonstration schedule has been proposed in which TriaSys Systems will 
provide their equipment. The Coast Guard Research and Development 
Center (R&D Center) will prepare a Pilot Demonstration Assessment Plan 
and TriaSys Systems will operate the equipment for exploratory 
development over a one week period to collect information on 
suitability, reliability, maintenance requirements, and ease of use.
    This is a technology assessment effort. The goal for the Coast 
Guard of this CRADA is to better understand the advantages, 
disadvantages, required technology enhancements, performance, costs, 
and other issues associated with cellular direction finding 
technologies. Special consideration will be given to small business 
firms/consortia, and preference will be given to business units located 
in the U.S. This document is issued under the authority of 5 U.S.C. 
552(a).

    Dated: November 14, 2017.
Bert N. Macesker,
Executive Director, Acting Commanding Officer, U.S. Coast Guard 
Research and Development Center.
[FR Doc. 2017-25926 Filed 11-30-17; 8:45 am]
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