SPECIAL NOTICE
99 -- Low-Cost/Low Probability of Detection (LC/LPD) Waveform Radio
- Notice Date
- 2/24/2021 1:50:55 PM
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 5417
— Scientific Research and Development ServicesT
- Contracting Office
- US ARMY RAPID CAPABILITIES AND CRIT FORT BELVOIR VA 22060-5806 USA
- ZIP Code
- 22060-5806
- Solicitation Number
- W50RAJ-20-S-0001_SBIR_BAA_A214-004
- Response Due
- 4/21/2021 9:00:00 AM
- Archive Date
- 05/06/2021
- Point of Contact
- Emanuel Merulla, Dr. Ann Kathryn Rockwell, Phone: https://calendly.com/ann-kathyrn-rockwell-civ
- E-Mail Address
-
emanuel.j.merulla.civ@mail.mil, ann.k.rockwell.civ@mail.mil
(emanuel.j.merulla.civ@mail.mil, ann.k.rockwell.civ@mail.mil)
- Description
- DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM SBIR 21.4 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) Announcement ����������������������� February 24, 2021: ASO issued for pre-release March 25, 2021: Army begins accepting proposals April 21, 2021: Deadline for receipt of proposals no later than 12:00 p.m. ET � � � � � �� IMPORTANT Deadline for Receipt: Proposals must be completely submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, April 21, 2021. Proposals submitted after 12:00 p.m. will not be evaluated. The final proposal submission includes successful completion of all firm level forms, all required volumes, and electronic corporate official certification.� Classified proposals will not be accepted under the DoD SBIR Program. This BAA and the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP) sites are designed to reduce the time and cost required to prepare a formal proposal. The DSIP is the official portal for DoD SBIR/STTR proposal submission. Proposers are required to submit proposals via DSIP; proposals submitted by any other means will be disregarded. Proposers submitting through this site for the first time will be asked to register. The Small Business Administration, through its SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, purposely departs from normal Government solicitation formats and requirements and authorizes agencies to simplify the SBIR/STTR award process and minimize the regulatory burden on small business. Therefore, consistent with the SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, the Department of Defense is soliciting proposals as a Broad Agency Announcement. SBIR/STTR Updates and Notices: To be notified of SBIR/STTR opportunities and to receive e-mail updates on the DoD SBIR and STTR Programs, you are invited to subscribe to our Listserv by visiting�https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login�and clicking �DSIP Listserv� located under Quick Links. Help Desk: If you have questions about proposal submission using DSIP, please call the DoD SBIR/STTR Help Desk at 1-703-214-1333, or email DoDSBIRSupport@reisystems.com. The Help Desk is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET. Topic Q&A: From February 24, 2021 to March 25, 2021, this SBO is issued for Pre-Release with the names of the topic authors and their e-mail addresses. During the pre-release period, proposing firms have an opportunity to contact topic authors by e-mail to ask technical questions about specific BAA topics. Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic�s requirement. Proposing firms may not ask for advice or guidance on solution approach and you may not submit additional material to the topic author. If information provided during an exchange with the topic author is deemed necessary for proposal preparation, that information will be made available to all parties through DSIP Topic Q&A module. Once the Army begins accepting proposals on March 25, 2021, no further direct contact between proposers and topic authors is allowed unless the Topic Author is responding to a question submitted during the pre-release period. However, proposers may submit written questions through the DSIP Topic Q&A module at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login. The DSIP Topic Q&A for this BAA opens on March 2, 2021 and closes to new questions on April 7, 2021 at 12:00PM ET. Once the BAA closes to proposal submission, no communication of any kind with the topic author or through Topic Q&A regarding your submitted proposal is allowed. This Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) is issued under the Army Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for SBIR/STTR 21.4. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein will be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided under 21.4, found here: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/b79ded14dcf54451bcfb11bddf5cd259/view a. Eligibility The eligibility requirements for the SBIR/STTR programs are unique and do not correspond to those of other small business programs. Please refer to Section 3.1, Eligible Applicants, of BAA 21.4 for full eligibility requirements. b. Anticipated Structure/Award Information Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, provided in BAA 21.4 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility. For this ASO Department of the Army will accept Phase I proposals for the cost of up to $250,000. This includes a 3-month base period not to exceed $200,000 and a 2-month option period not to exceed $50,000.� At the completion of their Phase I period of performance, companies can submit a phase II proposal for the cost of up to $1,700,000 for an 18-month period of performance. Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission information, of BAA 21.4 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in BAA 21.4 and the research objectives of this ASO are considered non-conforming and therefore are not evaluated nor considered for award. Phase I proposals shall not exceed 10 pages and Phase II proposals shall not exceed 15 pages for the technical volume. Proposers can submit an optional slide deck of 10 slides in Volume 5: Supporting Documents. The slide deck can contain information on the technical approach, the team, commercialization plans, or relevant technology/research the proposers have developed, and it can contain additional/complementary�information to the technical volume. If a proposer elects to submit a slide deck, its information will be used in the evaluation process. Please refer to Appendix A and Appendix B of BAA 21.4 for detailed instructions on proposal preparation. Discretionary Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) will not be offered under this ASO c. Evaluation of Proposals Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, in BAA 21.4 provides detailed information on proposal evaluation and the selection process for this SBO. d. Due Date/Time Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, Price/Cost Volume inclusive of supporting documentation, Company Commercialization Report (CCR), optional slide deck in Supporting Information, and Fraud, Waste and Abuse documentation) must be submitted via the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website per the instructions outlined in BAA 21.4 Section 4.3 Electronic Submission no later than April 21, 2021 at 12:00pm ET. A214-004 Low-Cost/Low Probability of Detection (LC/LPD) Waveform Radio OBJECTIVE: Develop a low-cost LPD waveform for contested environments supporting multi-domain operations. The Army desires the development of a waveform with featureless properties that results in reduced susceptibility to detection and enables operation under extremely low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) conditions in both the time and frequency domain. The Army would like to use this LPD waveform for two primary functions: (1) Low data rate control functions to be paired with existing Army high data rate directional system(s), and (2) terrestrial transport for low data-rate applications such as text, chat, and terrestrial transport of position location information (PLI). DESCRIPTION: Current and future Army tactical operations occur in highly contested environments which significantly impairs the Soldier�s ability to communicate over a wireless network in a secure manner. The waveforms used for communications in these environments typically exhibit cyclic properties and have increasingly become more susceptible to detection and even classification by expert signal identification systems that use techniques such as cyclostationary detection. To overcome this impairment, waveforms must exhibit featureless properties under extremely low SNR conditions in the time and frequency domain for resilient Low Probability of Detection (LPD).� Additionally, a low-cost waveform is important to the Army as this LPD waveform will be paired with existing directional communications systems and must be affordable to the Army as a secondary or tertiary system. Of particular interest is a waveform that maintains LPD in the presence of sophisticated electronic support systems near the forward line of troops (FLOT). While directional systems can offer LPD, many existing directional systems use omnidirectional scanning modes and beacons to determine the spatial location of neighboring nodes. Using such techniques makes systems susceptible to detection by an adversary.� Pairing directional systems with a featureless waveform which supports out-of-band link management is highly desirable.� The waveform should be able to perform operations such as neighbor node discovery, network handshaking, waveform control messages, emergency chat, and emergency low data rate transfers. The waveform should be robust under severe interference and degraded (e.g. foliated, etc.) conditions and be able to be paired and synchronized with an existing Army directional system. The waveform should exhibit noise-like characteristics at very low Signal to Noise (SNR) ratios and be resilient against higher order cyclostationary detection techniques in the time and frequency domains.� Frequency bands of operation for this waveform could be anywhere from VHF through C-band.� Higher band operation may be considered, however propagation range of multiple kilometers is important and likely difficult to achieve at higher frequencies.� Low latency is also desirable to support on-the-move applications. The LPD waveform should not rely on external GPS for Position Location Information (PLI).� Lastly, the low-cost LPD waveform radio platform should add minimal SWAP-C to a vehicle host platform. The Army is interested in LC/LPD technologies with a constellation of features that can include but are not limited to the following: Metric � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Threshold (Objective) Range (km) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10 (20) End-to-End Latency (ms) � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� 30 (2) Simultaneous nodes/users � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� 50 (150) Throughput (aggregate network) (kbps) � � � � � 100 (750 adjustable/adaptive) System final cost (ROM) ($/radio) � � � � � � � � � � 5,000 (2,000) SWAP � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� Man-pack (Handheld, with a transition path for Phase III to ~8 oz. mountable on quadcopter) Directionality � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � Omni-directional (Omni-hemispherical) Spectrum emissions � � � � � � � � � � � � Government or unlicensed bands (transmission below regulatory levels necessary for approval) Communications types supported � � � � � � � � � PLI, chat, data (PLI, chat, data, voice) Network function � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � No hopping (multi-hop capable) Network type � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� Decentralized (no single point of failure and no infrastructure) Data Interface � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� 10/100 Ethernet (10/100/1000 Ethernet & USB) Mobility � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � On the Move up to 50 MPH PHASE I: Determine technical feasibility of a low-cost/low probability-of-detection system to include electronics, firmware, software, and packaging on a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) radio, evaluated for deployment in Army applications. Develop a preliminary system design, model key elements of the proposed radio, and identify subcomponents that demonstrate a clear path to achieving a competitive price point. Phase I will award $200,000 over a 3 month period. Deliverables should include a design review with expected device performance as well as bi-weekly status reports and a final report presenting Phase II plans. Proposals will be evaluated on a holistic basis for the value they can provide to the Army, allowing for solutions with a different constellation of features to be scored based on performance, size, weight, power, cost (SWaP-C), ease of integration into Army systems, modular architecture to allow for easy component upgrades, and/or handheld solutions. All commercial hardware and componentry, as well as open source software must be identified by country of origin and will be considered against applicable security requirements prior to Phase II. PHASE II: Develop and deliver viable products (TRL 6 prototypes) of an LC/LPD technology integrated onto existing Army technology to be provided as government furnished equipment (GFE). The total development cost should not exceed $1.7M over the 18 month period of performance. Over the 18 months, companies will be asked to validate performance of the proposed system in a controlled environment in the presence of Electronic Attack (EA) and general interference. At the end of the performance period, vendors will be asked to demonstrate the technology of the prototypes in a tactical environment in the presence of EA. In addition, companies will submit monthly performance reports and a final report not later than (NLT) 30 days from the end of the period of performance (POP). Demonstrations at the end of the design effort will be conducted at a location to be determined, so companies should include travel costs for these in their proposal. PHASE III: Improve waveform and radio to TRL 7 and document the final design. Deliver six (6) prototypes and demonstrate in an operational environment. Final demonstrations will be conducted at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, so companies should include travel costs in their proposal. Prototypes shall be in their final form factor, capable of being mounted on tactical vehicles, and may be subjected to environmental testing at the government�s discretion. (MIL-STD 810). Deliver final source code with porting instructions along with a Software Version Description (SVD) detailing all features and characteristics of the finished waveform. Provide all necessary technical data related to the final waveform, antenna, transmitter, and receiver required to complete an Application for Equipment Frequency Allocation (form DD 1494). The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with section 3.5 of the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. WEBINAR DATES: Wednesday Mar. 10, 2021 @ 1:00pm ET Tuesday Mar. 16, 2021 @ 1:00pm ET To learn more about this topic, and ask questions of Army stakeholders involved in the project register for a webinar: https://LC_LPD_webinar.eventbrite.com Links to video recordings of the webinars will be posted in the DSIP portal in the days following each. KEYWORDS: LC/LPD (low-cost/low-probability of detection), SWAP, radio, waveform, communications REFERENCES K. Kim, I. A. Akbar, K. K. Bae, J. Um, C. M. Spooner, and J. H. Reed, ""Cyclostationary Approaches to Signal Detection and Classification in Cognitive Radio,"" 2007 2nd IEEE International Symposium on New Frontiers in Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks, Dublin, 2007, pp. 212-215. Y. Lee, S.R. Lee, S. Yoo, H. Liu, S. Yoon, �Cyclostationarity-Based Detection of Randomly Arriving or Departing Signals,� Journal of Applied Research and Technology, Vol. 12, Issue 6, 2014, Pages 1083-1091. D. Allan, L. Crockett, S. Weiss, K. Stuart and R. W. Stewart, ""FPGA implementation of a cyclostationary detector for OFDM signals,"" 2016 24th European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO), Budapest, 2016, pp. 647-651. M. Barakat, W. Saad and M. Shokair, ""FPGA Implementation of Cyclostationary Feature Detector for Cognitive Radio OFDM Signals,"" 2018 13th International Conference on Computer Engineering and Systems (ICCES), Cairo, Egypt, 2018, pp. 215-218. E. Kjeldsen, �Chaos-Camouflaged Clandestine Communications Waveform Testbed,� Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) IRAD Journal, 2020. Rowe and I. Kerr, �A Broad-Spectrum Pseudorandom Gaussian Noise Generator,� IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Vol AC-15, No. 5, 1970, pp. 529-535.
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