Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Contracts Management Office (CMO), 3701 N. Fairfax Dr., Arlington VA 22203-1714

A -- FREE SPACE OPTICAL INTERCONNECT ACCELERATOR (FSOIA) SOL BAA 96-31 DUE 110496 POC Dr. ANIS HUSAIN, DARPA/ETO, fax (703) 696-2206. PROGRAM OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting proposals for technical research in the area of Free Space Optical Interconnect Accelerators (FSOIAs). Free space optical interconnects (FSOIs) promise to provide the capability of lower power, higher I/O density, higher bandwidth and global interconnectivity between chips, MCMs and boards. Applications of particular interest to DARPA include, but are not limited to: reconfigurable routing and switching for future multi-processor systems in the 0.1, 10Tbit/s which is an order of magnitude reduction in power-volume product, rapid parallel memory access to ROM electronic or optical memory where one may achieve the access speed of RAM but with Gbyte capacity, I/O intensive signal/data/2-D image processing transforms where order of magnitude throughput improvements are considered possible, and combinations of the above. The FSOIA is considered an effective application for evaluating the inherent advantages of combining the advantages of optics for communications and topological transformations with the density and computational power of electronics. The use of FSOIs is anticipated to enable orders of magnitude improvement over conventional electronic techniques in future military and commercial information processing systems. Program emphasis will be on applications that are expected to most clearly demonstrate the advantages of a free space optical interconnect-based accelerator to demonstrate one or more specific functions including (but not limited to): reconfigurable routing and switching for future multi-processor systems, rapid parallel memory access to/from electronic or optical memory, and I/O intensive signal/data/2-D image processing. There are three major areas of interest: (I) FSOIA SIMULATOR: This area of interest seeks to model the performance of the FSOIA for a specific application. The FSOIA simulator will facilitate, for the selected high-payoff application(s), the rapid development, design and assessment (performance and cost analysis) of alternative FSOI architectures relative to conventional 2-D and 3-D electrically-based implementations of the selected functions, (II) FSOIA COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT: This area of interest addresses the analysis of the critical components required to realize the FSOI accelerator. Of particular interest are the relative costs/benefits of various component options: optical emitter-based or modulator-based architectures, choice of holographic optical elements or micro or macro optical distribution schemes, the choice of detector elements in silicon or III-V material, the choice of packaging scheme for the optical to electronic integration, such as liftoff, fusion/thermal bonding, or bump bonding. DARPA anticipates a program which will be able to not only make design tradeoffs at the component, architecture and systems level but also be capable of fabricating critical components and eventually producing a prototype FSOI accelerator for the selected application(s), and (III) FSOIA DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION: This area of interest addresses developing and demonstrating FSOI technology in a way which will enable high-payoff military and commercial applications in the area of information processing. It is anticipated that FSOIs can be applied to several levels of interconnects including (but not limited to): board-to-board, MCM-MCM or even down to the chip-to-chip level. Analog optical processing approaches are not the subject of this solicitation nor are digital optical computing approaches (where the optical processing elements are optical). DARPA is interested in a program that will result in a core set of building blocks of optoelectronic components and packaging technologies that can be applied across several of the above applications. Additional information on these areas of interest is provided in the Areas of Interest Section of the BAA 96-31 Proposer Information Pamphlet described below. PROGRAM SCOPE: Collaborative efforts based on vertically integrated research teams are strongly encouraged. Vertical integration refers to close collaboration among component developer/manufacturers, sub-system developers and system integrators (users), and researchers (e.g., Universities). Proposed teams should have expertise and experience as optoelectronic component industrial developers/producers, users and relevant researchers. The offerors should be capable of developing and demonstrating the FSOIA developed under the program for high-payoff applications in information processing, with the potential if successful (not under this program) of commercializing the results. The program scope does not include a field insertion but rather a concept demonstration. Offerors must propose as one cohesive program all of the areas of interest. Awards totalling approximately $20,000,000 over four years are expected to be made during the first quarter of calendar year 1997. Multiple awards are anticipated. Cost sharing is strongly encouraged. The technical POC for this effort is Anis Husain, fax (703) 696-2206, email: ahusain@darpa.mil. GENERAL INFORMATION: Proposers must obtain a pamphlet, BAA 96-31 Proposer Information Pamphlet, which provides further information on areas of interest, the submission, evaluation, and funding processes, and proposal and proposal abstract formats. This pamphlet may be obtained by fax, electronic mail, or mail request to the administrative contact address given below. Proposals not meeting the format described in the pamphlet may not be reviewed. In order to minimize unnecessary effort in proposal preparation and review, proposers are strongly encouraged to submit proposal abstracts in advance of full proposals. An original and nine (9) copies of the proposal abstract must be submitted to DARPA/ETO, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 (ATTN: BAA 96-31), on or before 4:00 P.M., September 9, 1996. Proposal abstracts received after this date may not be reviewed. Upon review, DARPA will provide written feedback on the likelihood of a full proposal being selected and the date and time for submission of a full proposal. Proposers not submitting proposal abstracts must submit an original and nine (9) copies of the full proposal to DARPA/ETO, 3701 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714 (ATTN: BAA 96-31), on or before 4:00 P.M., November 4, 1996, in order to be considered. This notice, in conjunction with the pamphlet BAA 96-31 Proposer Information, constitutes the total BAA. No additional information is available, nor will a formal RFP or other solicitation regarding this announcement be issued. Requests for same will be disregarded. The Government reserves the right to select for award all, some, or none of the proposals received. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a proposal which shall be considered by DARPA. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Institutions (MI) are encouraged to submit proposals and join others in submitting proposals, however, no portion of this BAA will be set aside for HBCU and MI participation due to the impracticality of reserving discrete or severable areas of research in FSOIA. All administrative correspondence and questions on this solicitation, including requests for information on how to submit a proposal abstract or proposal to this BAA, should be directed to one of the administrative addresses below, e-mail or fax is preferred. DARPA intends to use electronic mail and fax for correspondence regarding BAA 96-31. Proposals and proposal abstracts may not be submitted by fax or e-mail, any so sent will be disregarded. EVALUATION CRITERIA: Evaluation of proposal abstracts and proposals will be accomplished through a technical review of each proposal using the following criteria, which are listed in descending order of relative importance: (1) overall scientific quality, technical merit, and realism, (2) potential contribution of the proposed effort in terms of its level of impact on existing or future information systems and how well the impact is quantified and relevance to the DARPA mission, (3) effectiveness of the management plan, and, if applicable, the team structure and team composition, (4) offeror's commitment to commercialization, (5) offeror's capabilities, key personnel, past performance, related experience, facilities and techniques or unique combination of these that form integral factors for achieving the proposal's objectives, and (6) cost realism. Note: cost realism will only be significant in proposals which have significantly under or over-estimated the cost to complete their effort. The administrative addresses for this BAA are: Fax: (703) 351-8616 (Addressed to: DARPA/ETO, BAA 96-31), Electronic Mail: BAA96-31@darpa.mil, and Mail: DARPA/ETO, Attn: BAA 96-31, 3701 N. Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA 22203-1714. This announcement may be retrieved via the WWW at URL http://www.darpa.mil/ in the solicitations area. (0180)

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