SOURCES SOUGHT
70 -- Next Generation Unattended Ground Sensors
- Notice Date
- 3/6/2002
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- Contracting Office
- Department of Justice, Immigration & Naturalization Service, Headquarter's Procurement Division, 425 I Street, N.W. Room 2208, Washington, DC, 20536
- ZIP Code
- 20536
- Solicitation Number
- Sensors
- Response Due
- 3/29/2002
- Archive Date
- 4/13/2002
- Point of Contact
- Rodney Gartrell, Contracting Officer, Phone 202-514-5626, Fax 202-616-2414, - Madan Kar, Contracting Officer, Phone 202-514-1420, Fax 202-616-2414,
- E-Mail Address
-
rodney.a.gartrell@usdoj.gov, madan.m.kar@usdoj.gov
- Description
- The U.S. Border Patrol is actively seeking information and solutions to improve its unattended ground sensor (UGS) program. Information is requested to evaluate current and new technologies that may be used to improve or replace the present system for future nationwide deployments. The Border Patrol has been using UGS systems since the early 1970s as a means to detect illegal entries into the United States. Many thousands of these devices have been deployed and are in use along the Country's borders. In order to maintain compatibility with existing equipment, the Border Patrol has kept with 25-year-old standards and specifications. These restrictive specifications have hindered the introduction of new technologies or innovations. In order to encourage new technology proposals, backward compatibility will no longer be mandatory. A typical UGS system as deployed by the Border Patrol consists of a detector/transmitter, a repeater, a receiver, and a computerized reporting system. The detector/transmitter classifies movement and direction of persons and vehicles and reports via wireless means to a distant location. The devices are required to be concealed from intruders and the general public and are therefore usually buried. The devices are required to operate for long periods of time without maintenance. At present, these devices are buried for periods up to and exceeding one (1) year before battery replacement is necessary. Detection technologies currently employed use seismic, passive infrared and magnetic phenomenologies. Distances between the detector/transmitter and receiver can be hundreds of miles with intervening mountains. Repeaters are used to overcome the problems caused by these distances and obstructions. The receivers are usually located at a Headquarters facility and sometimes at sub-office locations. Portable receivers are often used to assist in the installation of devices or for local monitoring purposes. Typically, the receivers located at the Headquarters facility connect to a dispatch reporting system that displays alarm information on a computer monitor. GUIDELINES: Offerors should use, but not be restricted by, the following guidelines for their proposals. The use of new concepts and technologies is encouraged. The Border Patrol wishes to detect and identify persons walking both singly or in groups, and land vehicles such as cars, trucks, and motorcycles. Direction information is desired. Watercraft detection capabilities will also be considered. Currently, seismic, passive infrared and magnetic phenomenologies are used to detect intrusions. Other detection methods and techniques are encouraged. Because of the nature of the operation, the ability to deploy these units in a covert manner is essential. For most installations, burying is the preferred method. The devices are required to operate for long periods of time without maintenance. In areas of extreme cold, it is not possible to access these devices because the ground is frozen for several months out of the year. Since the devices are intended for use throughout both northern and southern borders, they must be designed to resist the severe elemental extremes of these locations. The devices are typically exposed to extreme heat, cold, moisture, alkaline and acidic soils, insects and animals. Alarm reporting shall be accomplished using wireless techniques. New and emerging technologies, effective utilization of transmitter power, modulation techniques, size and weight are critical design parameters. Resistance to jamming, interference, and interception are very important considerations. When reporting an alarm, each device must be capable of being uniquely identified within a nationwide system and should have the ability to report operating parameters of the device. Because of the hundreds of miles that some of the reporting signals must travel, repeaters are often used. Often these repeaters are located in developed sites with available commercial power. Some are located in remote unprotected locations and must be concealed and powered by alternate power sources. The present system receiver communicates the sensor information via a serial communications port to an in-house dispatching system where it is correlated with a database for identification and statistical alarm reporting. The computerized dispatch system is a proprietary system developed and maintained by the Border Patrol and is not part of this inquiry. Use of commercial off the shelf (COTS) products are encouraged whenever possible. Responses should be detailed enough to illustrate the operational feasibility of the sensor system to include intrusion detection and transmission methods to a monitoring location. Responses should also indicate an existing ability to manufacture a fully functional system for evaluation. Responses to this request for information are not offers and cannot be accepted to form a binding contract. This synopsis is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, nor will the Government pay for the information solicited.
- Place of Performance
- Address: 425 I St., NW Washington DC
- Zip Code: 20536
- Country: US
- Zip Code: 20536
- Record
- SN00036815-W 20020308/020307124726 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |