MODIFICATION
A -- BAA Topic Number: S0801
- Notice Date
- 10/25/2013
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 541712
— Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Biotechnology)
- Contracting Office
- ACC-APG - Aberdeen Division B, HQ CECOM CONTRACTING CENTER, 6001 COMBAT DRIVE, ABERDEEN PROVING GROU, MD 21005-1846
- ZIP Code
- 21005-1846
- Solicitation Number
- W15P7T-13-R-A424
- Response Due
- 11/18/2013
- Archive Date
- 12/24/2013
- Point of Contact
- Michael Levy, 443-861-4615
- E-Mail Address
-
ACC-APG - Aberdeen Division B
(michael.w.levy7.civ@mail.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) / SOURCES SOUGHT (SS) NOTICE Solicitation Number: W15P7T-13-R-A424 Topic Number: S0801 Title: Development of VICTORY - Compliant RF Smart Switch Division: Antennas and Spectrum Analysis (ASA) Technical Contact: Michael Breckenridge, 443-395-7575, michael.j.breckenridge2.civ@mail.mil Alternate Contact: Henry Suoto, 443-395-7463, hien.c.suoto.civ@mail.mil Alternate Contact: William Schween, 443-395-7581, william.h.schween.civ@mail.mil THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) AND IS NOT A SOLICITATION. This RFI is solely for information and planning purposes and shall not be considered as an invitation for bid, Request for Quotation, Request for Proposal (RFP), or as an obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services. Your response to this RFI will be treated as information only. No entitlement to payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by the Government will arise as a result of contractor submission of responses to this announcement or the Government use of such information. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated, or received for this effort. The information provided may be used by the Army in developing its acquisition strategy, or performance work statements, or performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI. ***For information regarding Figure 1 diagram attachment please request from Michael Levy at Michael.w.levy7.civ@mail.mil*** INTRODUCTION The US Army Communications Electronics Research & Development Engineering Center (CERDEC) Space & Terrestrial Communications Directorate (STCD) is interested in receiving whitepapers for existing RF switching technology and/or commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products that can support in the application of terrestrial radio communications (comms) that have the capability of switching and controlling a number of combinations of distributed antenna apertures on terrestrial Army platforms. The switch, utilizing COTS sub-components, is intended to be capable of operating at high speed and high radio frequency (RF) power and will interface to the Vehicular Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY) data bus. The goal of this RFI is to identify vendors that can meet the specifications delineated and to understand their current technology designs and engineering tradeoffs that influences performance, size and form factor. PROBLEM STATEMENT In current US Army communications systems, the majority of the antennas, are single structures providing omni-directional RF coverage and are mounted in the same plane as other antennas on the top side of military platforms. Due to this Line of Sight (LoS) placement, co-site interference can occur between systems. In addition, current antennas are often vertical whips protruding on top of platforms creating high visibility and obstructions. CERDEC's previous development efforts to mitigate the visual signatures and the co-site interference developed distributed antenna systems. Previous efforts replaced the single omni-directional whip with multiple low-profile/conformal directional apertures and mounted these apertures on the sides of the terrestrial vehicle. By distributing the RF power equally amongst the apertures and placing them out of sight from the top side, omni-directional coverage could be achieved and the visual signature and the co-site interference issues alleviated. However, these distributed antenna systems are not without their own shortcomings. These antenna systems are passive and, as such, do not take full advantage of the benefits of the directional capabilities of the distributed antennas. By using directional apertures, the system resolves the intra-vehicle co-site interference issue but did not address the inter-vehicle co-site mitigation. Through the use of a passive splitter/combiner, the distributed system directs the RF radiation in an omni-directional pattern; however, as there is no active control of the RF path, the system does not make use of the benefits that distributed directional antennas provide such as directional networking, nulling, and increased effective isotropic radiated power. To enhance the capability of these distributed antenna systems, CERDEC intends to develop a Smart RF Switch to collect intra-vehicle information from other systems and direct the RF energy using decisions based on this information. This new Smart RF Switch will be compliance with the VICTORY standard and provide flexibility to these antenna systems. SCOPE OF THIS RFI For the purpose of this RFI, CERDEC is interested in gathering information in regards to technology available from the industry for developing a Smart RF Switch for inclusion in distributed antenna systems. The need for a Smart RF Switch has been identified in previous Army developments of distributed antenna systems and the need to gather on-platform information, process commands, and direct RF energy to a directive radiating aperture. To improve effectiveness and enhance the capabilities provided by these distributed apertures, a RF switch needs to be developed to control the RF path. CERDEC's vision is to build a Smart RF Switch that can receive information and provide and receive control through the VICTORY data bus. Based on this VICTORY provided information, the Smart RF Switch shall have the on-board intelligence to make decisions and process the distribution of the appropriate RF power levels dynamically to the corresponding apertures. For the development effort related to this RFI, CERDEC has provided the conceptual switch representation presented in Figure 1. The Smart RF Switch is broken into these functional components: 1. Victory Interface 1.1. The VICTORY interface of the Smart RF Switch shall be compatible with the VICTORY architecture and in compliance with the VICTORY Specifications. (i.e. for the Smart RF Switch to be VICTORY compatible, the design of the RF switch interface must follow the design philosophy and concepts of the VICTORY architecture. For the Smart RF Switch to be compliant with VICTORY, the interface design shall follow the VICTORY Specifications). 1.2. Inputs / Outputs 1.2.1. A single physical port shall operate as the input/output and be compliant with the VICTORY specifications. 2. Control Processing 2.1. The control processing component shall have the hardware devices to support the government furnished algorithm for controlling the RF switch matrix. This algorithm software will be developed by the government and will be housed in the control processor. Based on the decision made by the algorithm, the control processing component will control the RF Switch Matrix. 2.2. Inputs from: 2.2.1. VICTORY: Information from the systems available on the VICTORY data bus 2.2.2. RF Switch Matrix: Status of the switch. This may include but is not limited to the switch states, matrix health, and antenna health. 2.3. Outputs to: 2.3.1. VICTORY: Status of the Smart RF Switch. This may include but is not limited to the switch state, switch health, and antenna health. 2.3.2. RF Switch Matrix: Control for the RF switch matrix 3. RF Switch Matrix 3.1. The RF switch matrix provides a variable pathway between the single RF input and the four RF outputs. The matrix shall allow any 1:N combination of input-to-output paths and operate over 100 - 6000 MHz. It is the intent to use as many COTS sub-components within the switch matrix as possible. The switch matrix must be able to monitor the health of antennas attached to the output port and report if an antenna deviates from its typical health or operation. One such potential method is through voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) monitor however presentation of other methods is encouraged. 3.2. RF Inputs 3.2.1. Single RF input from radio 3.2.2. Must be a military standard interface 3.2.3. Can not contain any proprietary interfacing 3.3. RF Outputs 3.3.1. Four RF ports to distributed antennas 3.3.2. Must be a military standard interface 3.3.3. Can not contain any proprietary interfacing 3.4. Control Inputs/Outputs 3.4.1. Control inputs and outputs should follow guidance provided for the Control Processing Component and may use proprietary or open standard interfaces. The Smart RF Switch is to be used with a variety of radio systems and, as such, CERDEC intends to identify applicable technologies that operate over these conditions. It is understood that switching speeds, power handling, and bandwidth may be limitations and CERDEC wishes to receive information and trades between these and recommendations of technologies for inclusion. Another application of this switch that CERDEC is interested in would require multiple RF inputs able to connect to any combination of multiple RF outputs. An explanation of the applicability of the vendor's architecture and technologies shall be provided to include this capability. Additionally, CERDEC is interested in understanding existing sub-component level technologies (RF switch designs, low cost component manufacturing techniques, antenna tracking and control systems, etc) that can be used to develop the intended Smart Switch distributed aperture system. DATA SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Interested parties are requested to respond to the RFI by describing their technical capabilities, displaying experience developing similar RF switch technologies. Additionally, parties should have strong knowledge of VICTORY standard interface and show an understanding of design and manufacturing practices that have been used to reduce the costs of RF components. Interested parties are requested to submit: General: -Statement of capability -Statement of interest Qualifications: Description of Qualification: Demonstrated products, projects, and applicable experience in the design, development and manufacturing of RF switches, power level control, switching control, VICTORY-compliance, and prototyping. The qualification should be formatted into the following 4 sections as listed: -Component technology and capabilities (with alternatives) -RF switch matrix architecture -Mechanical specifications -VICTORY interfacing -Prototyping capabilities -Manufacturing Technology: 1) Describe the component technologies and capabilities that you propose (or alternatives) for a Smart RF Switch that has the capability of switching at high speed and high power and is controllable via VICTORY standard interface. Description of the system should include, but not be limited to: -Block diagram detailing the quote mark Smart RF Switch quote mark system architecture -Components type (Electromechanical, Solid State, etc...) -Functionality of each sub-component used in the architecture -Performance of each sub-component used in the architecture -Trades used in the applied technology (alternatives) -Functional description of interface (see VICTORY interface) -Control processing hardware components (GPP, memory types, etc...) (Note: Control processing algorithm will be developed by Government and will be provided for testing and system evaluation). 2) Description of RF switch matrix: -Describe actual RF switching paths -Provide a diagram showing switching architecture of 1:N matrix -Type of RF switch technology proposed -Frequency range (100MHz - 6GHz) -Switching speed and settling time ( s - ns range) -Power handling (preferred greater than 100 W) -Insertion loss, return loss, isolation, repeatability 3) Listing of components and system mechanical specifications: -Physical dimensions and weight -Operating temperature range -Storage temperature range -Shock/Vibration data -Identify connector type for each port (total 6) For any clarifications or questions regarding reference documents or RFI, please refer to the listed POC(s). The information received will not obligate the Government in any manner nor will the Government reimburse contractors for any costs associated with submittal of the requested information. This request does not constitute an Invitation For Bid or a Request For Proposal Responses to this RFI/SS. Responses are due to by close of business (COB) 18 November 2013. Respondents should identify their company's name, address, telephone number, point of contact, and whether they are a large or small business. All submissions shall be sent via e-mail. The electronic format may be in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) or compatible with Microsoft Office suite of software. The white paper response shall not exceed 30 pages. Responses shall be delivered in electronic format to the following addresses: POC(s): Michael Breckenridge michael.j.breckenridge2.civ@mail.mil (443) 395-7575 Henry Suoto hien.c.suoto.civ@mail.mil (443) 395-7463 William Schween william.h.schween.civ@mail.mil (443) 395-7581
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/notices/91525770a2636d53a5b44e7a35ccaa7a)
- Place of Performance
- Address: ACC-APG - Aberdeen Division B HQ CECOM CONTRACTING CENTER, 6001 COMBAT DRIVE ABERDEEN PROVING GROU MD
- Zip Code: 21005-1846
- Zip Code: 21005-1846
- Record
- SN03222454-W 20131027/131025233841-91525770a2636d53a5b44e7a35ccaa7a (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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