RFI - Fingerprint Segmentation Software and Capture Analysis 04152025.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations, Biometric Entry-Exit Program

TITLE: Fingerprint Segmentation Software and Capture Analysis

PSC: 7A21

NAICS: 541511

ISSUANCE DATE: April 15, 2025

CLOSING DATE: April 22, 2025

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes; it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) nor a promise to issue an RFP. Furthermore, those who respond to this RFI should not anticipate feedback with regard to its submission, other than acknowledgment of receipt. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is not currently seeking proposals. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the expense of the respondent. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. All submissions become the property of the Federal Government and will not be returned.

1.0 Purpose of this RFI

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking detailed information from qualified vendors regarding fingerprint segmentation software that can process grayscale captured fingerprint slap images. The segmentation software should be capable of accurately detecting and segmenting fingerprint images. This RFI will assist us in determining the feasibility and suitability of different solutions for CBP specific needs.

CBP applications capture fingerprints at a CBP point of entry to register travelers and verify the identity of non-USA citizens. A normal fingerprint processing captures the four finger plain impressions from both left and right hands as well as the two thumbs. While the fingers are being captured, feedback is given to the Officer via the client application processing the fingers so that the Officer can guide the traveler on how to better place their fingers on the platen. Once sufficient image quality thresholds (e.g. NFIQ, angle, etc.) are met, the image of the four fingers is further processed to segment the fingers so that the fingers can be processed by other systems of record.

2.0 Background

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking information to support the following use cases for fingerprint capturing analysis software.

1. Officer determines whether a traveler needs fingerprints to be captured for registration or identity verification.

2. In the event the traveler is required to present his/her fingerprints, the Officer instructs passenger to place slap on a fingerprint scanner. The Officer is using a browser-based application to collect the fingerprints and process the passenger.

3. The fingerprint scanner performs preview analysis (e.g. collection type: flat/plain; right hand or left hand, number of fingers detected, etc.) on the slap to determine if the slap meets a quality threshold to be captured.

4. The CBP client application has 4 seconds or less to capture a good quality four finger plain impression. By good quality, we mean the fingers have passed thresholds from the finger software suppliers including items such as but not limited to NFIQ quality, angle assessment (no more than + or – 30 degrees), friction ridge definition, etc.

5. Handedness: When a slap, or plain finger impression is captured by the fingerprint reader, in addition to segmenting and providing bounding boxes for each finger segmented, we expect the finger capture software to determine and indicate, via messaging, if the image is a:

a. flat left four-finger image

b. flat left thumb image

c. flat right four-finger image

d. flat right thumb image

6. For the right and left thumb images, the finger capture software provided should be able to stitch these two images together. Please describe your software’s ability to perform this capability.

7. At a minimum, we expect the fingerprint segmentation software to generate the following data elements:

a. Bounding boxes (coordinates and actual drawn boxes) identifying recognized fingerprints in the slap.

b. Image quality values (e.g. NFIQ1/2, proprietary) scores for each identified fingerprint. Please describe what image quality values your software includes and how they are used.

c. If a left or right four-finger slap was indicated to perform fingerprint segmentation, hand recognition is determined. The hand is determined to be a left or right four-finger slap. If the hand cannot be determined, the fingerprint segmentation can indicate the slap is unknown.

d. Centroid calculation of the identified fingerprints.

e. Angle calculation of the identified fingerprints where the angle is in degrees. A value of 0 indicates vertical. A range of 1 to 180 indicates a left angle. A range of -1 to -180 indicates a right angle.

8. The officer may require the traveler to place his or her fingers on the platen multiple times due to poor placement (e.g. at an extreme angle), poor image presence (finger image too light), etc.

9. After each capture, the fingerprint segmentation is performed.

10. The officer determines if a recapture is necessary based on the image quality of the slap and the fingerprint segmentation that was generated.

11. Because CBP Officers process millions of passengers, the likelihood of an Officer having to annotate a finger as amputated or not printable is high. Please describe your software’s ability to handle annotations before and after segmentation.

12. The officer submits the captured slap with the fingerprint segmentation and any annotations to other systems for further processing.

3. CBP Fingerprint Segmentation Requirements

The segmentation software and the company producing the software shall adhere to the following requirements.

Requirement Number Description

1 The vendor provides an SDK for integration into other applications.

2 The software supports segmentation of right four-finger, right thumb, left four-finger, left thumb, and stitched thumbs.

3 The software supports the joining of two thumb-print grayscale images into a single dual thumb grayscale image.

4 The software supports bounding box generation to include bounding box dimensions (X and Y locations of upper left corner, and Width and Height in pixels) and the actual drawn bounding box for each finger segmented.

5 The software supports NFIQ1/NFIQ2 (NIST Fingerprint Image Quality) quality analysis.

6 The software supports handedness detection of a left four-finger or right four-finger slap. Undetermined handedness of a four-finger slap may be indicated as unknown.

7 The software supports handedness detection when one or more of the four fingers is missing. For example, please describe your software’s ability to determine handedness if an index or middle finger is missing.

8 The software supports WSQ (Wavelet Scalar Quantization) slap image conversion.

9 The software supports angle detection of fingers in a slap.

The angle is in degrees; 0 is vertical, positive 1 to 180 is to the left, -1 to -180 is to the right.

10 Ability to handle different fingerprint qualities (e.g., partial prints, moist, angled prints +30 or -30 degrees from vertical 0 degrees, snudged prints, low-resolution & high-resolution images).

11 The software can be integrated using C++ into a Microsoft Windows 64-bit service/application.

12 The software to segment and provide image quality is independent of the fingerprint scanner. For example, CBP employs several different fingerprint scanners in the field from different manufacturers.

13 The software produces bounding boxes for detected fingerprints above the distal area only.

14 The software generates bounding boxes having quadrant information within bounds of the platen.

15 The software produces bounding boxes with vertical rectangles. For example, if the finger is angled, it is expected that its bounding box is not angled, but vertical.

16 The software accepts input of a grayscale image of a slap captured by a fingerprint scanner.

17 The software does not store biometric data.

18 The software s contains documentation of their API.

19 The software contains sample applications demonstrating the integration of their fingerprint segmentation.

20 The vendor offers a site license model for distribution.

21 The vendor provides support for its fingerprint segmentation including email, phone or video conferencing support.

22 The software company provides update notices of their fingerprint segmentation software.

23 The vendor offers products that are consistent with the Buy America Act. https://www.gao.gov/products/105519

Acronyms

NIST NIST – National Institute of Standards and Technology.

https://www.gao.gov/products/105519

4.0 RFI Submission Guidelines

4.1 Address, in general, the following information in your response.

1. Detailed description of the fingerprint segmentation software.

2. Detailed description of the software’s architecture and functionality.

3. Key features and functionalities to fulfill Section 4 “CBP Fingerprint Segmentation

Requirements” outlined above.

4. Detailed description of the support and maintenance options.

5. Vendor’s experience, qualifications, and case studies.

6. Key features and benefits of your solution RFI Response Instructions

4.2 Address Limitations

Provide a detailed list of any known limitations, such as:

• Challenges in segmenting overlapping or low-quality fingerprints

• Sensitive to smudging or partial prints.

• Errors in distinguishing between multiple fingerprints in close proximity.

• Minimum system requirements for optimal performance.

4.3 Address Integration and Deployment

• Describe the integration capabilities of your software (e.g., SDK, API).

• Describe the supported operating systems.

• Describe the resource requirements (e.g., CPU, memory, storage).

4.4 Address Performance and Accuracy

• Provide quantitative data on the accuracy of your segmentation algorithm either in-house testing using labeled data, or if your company has participated in the NIST Segmentation tests, please indicate which test your company was involved in.

• Provide information on the processing speed of segmentation software (e.g., time to segment a single fingerprint).

4.5 Address Security

• Compliance with relevant security standards (e.g., NIST guidelines, ISO).

• Vulnerability scans will be conducted, and non-compliant issues must be resolved by the vendor.

• Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data cannot be stored on the workstation.

• PII data cannot be transferred off CBP network.

5.0 RFI Response Instructions

Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Electronic files larger than 10 MB shall be broken down into multiple files with no one file exceeding 10 MB. Each electronic submission shall include:

1. In the subject line of your email when submitting responses: RFI-Fingerprint Segmentation Software and Capture Analysis

2. The maximum number of pages per submission shall be limited to 15 pages excluding title page, table of contents, company information page and reference materials, if attached.

3. All content should be provided in Microsoft Word or PDF format.

4. The company information page shall include the following information:

• Company Name

• Socio-economic status

• DUNS # and CAGE code

• Point-of-Contact information for technical questions

• Point-of-Contact information for contractual questions

• Federal Contract(s) available for use

5. The file number and total files being submitted (e.g., File 1 of 4, File 2 of 4, etc.) in the subject line, if submission includes more than one electronic email.

6. Pricing & Licensing Structure Vendors should provide pricing details base on the tiers. For each tier, please include:

Pricing model (e.g. per workstation, flat rate)

Licensing type (e.g. subscription, perpetual, or usage-based)

Any additional costs (e.g. setup, support, upgrades)

Suggested Pricing Tiers:

License/Workstation Tiers License Type Price 0-500 Workstations 501-1000 Workstations 1001-1500 Workstations 1501-2000 Workstations 2001-2500 Workstations 2501-3000 Workstations 3001-3500 Workstations 3501-4000 Workstations 4001-4500 Workstations 4501-5000 Workstations

This notice is part of Government Market Research, a continuous process for obtaining the latest information on the commercial status of the industry. This RFI is for planning purposes, and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that a procurement action will follow.

CBP will use the information submitted in response to this notice at its discretion and will not provide comments to any submission; however, CBP reserves the right to contact any respondent to this notice for the sole purpose of enhancing CBP’s understanding of the notice submission. The content of any responses to this notice may be reflected in any subsequent solicitation.

In accordance with FAR 15.202(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with any voluntary response to this RFI, including any subsequent product demonstrations.

Questions on this RFI must be sent via email to the contract specialist, Lanette M. Barnes at Lanette.M.Barnes@cbp.dhs.gov and contracting officer, Claire A. Hamilton at Claire.A.Hamilton@cbp.dhs.gov by 5:00PM ET on Friday, April 18, 2025 In the subject line of your email when submitting Questions: Questions for Fingerprint Segmentation Software and Capture Analysis

Responses to this RFI shall be sent via email to the contract specialist, Lanette M. Barnes at Lanette.M.Barnes@cbp.dhs.gov and contracting officer, Claire A. Hamilton at Claire.A.Hamilton@cbp.dhs.gov by 5:00PM ET on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 In the subject line of your email when submitting responses: RFI-Fingerprint Segmentation Software and Capture Analysis mailto:Lanette.M.Barnes@cbp.dhs.gov mailto:Claire.A.Hamilton@cbp.dhs.gov mailto:Lanette.M.Barnes@cbp.dhs.gov mailto:Claire.A.Hamilton@cbp.dhs.gov