SEMCOR, Inc., Suite C100, 65 W Street Rd., Warminster, PA 18974

59 -- SOLID STATE DATA STORAGE AND BUFFER UNIT SOL SSDR/DARO/RDF. Due 112696. Contact Point, Richard DeFrancesco, SEMCOR, 215/674-0200. The Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office is seeking information on the state of the art for approaches that the industry recommends for advanced, high data rate, data storage for Airborne applications. The intent of this search is to leverage commercial Off-the-Shelf solid state memory components, i.e., DRAM and Flash, to provide for high performance, high capacity, reliable, low-cost avionic packages for multiple Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance applications. Cost achievability at almost an order of magnitude lower than Spaceborne hardware cost, is paramount consideration of this request. Technologies other than solid state, which the respondent believes will satisfy the following attributes will be reviewed. The general attributes (in conjunction) to meet anticipated needs are: a) 500 Gbits to 1,500 Gbits of storage, b) architecture to allow for adding memory capacity and/or reducing board count gracefully as chip density improves, c) 0.25-10 Gbps (inclusive) input and output rate burst and sustained on each of several asynchronous channels, d) rapid (microseconds) random access to any file, e) rapid (seconds) erasure of stored information, f) non-volatility with removal of aircraft power, g) no sensitivity to the type of data stored, h) error rate 10 exp-14 or better, I) nominal size 1.5 cu.ft. with no dimension exceeding 18 inches, j) power less than 100W with no special cooling, k) weight less than 50 lbs. In order to formulate a technology development program and to establish budgets, concise comments are invited on: l) the development needs that each respondent believes is appropriate to bring solid state (or other) technology into successful low cost avionics production (assuming a rate of 25-35 units per year) starting in FY2002, m) component chip prices and trends, n) the viability of the low cost avionics concept and the best way to achieve the end result, o) schedules to produce a testable set of units with the appropriate attributes and architecture in FY1999, p) data compression specifically addressing its affect on a variety of data types, e.g., image, Synthetic Aperture RADAR, computer, navigation, voice, signals, etc., q) expected reliability, r) considerations for modular construction, s) data output methods and concepts for high speed data extraction post-flight, t) risks to meet these targets, u) other technologies that are critical to the success of the data storage unit, v) compatibility with existing systems and associated performance upgrade path, and w) leveraging of applicable commercial technologies and envisioned dual-use applications. A two-stage fact finding process is envisioned. The first is submission of technical information in either text or viewgraph format. After that respondees may be invited to attend individual unclassified briefing sessions for approximately 2 hours in duration. These are anticipated to be held the week of the 9th of December in the Washington, DC area. The exact time, date and location are yet to be determined. Potential sources are requested to provide general approaches on how these targets may be met. Partial responses are acceptable. Elaborate responses are neither necessary nor desired. 5) Responses to this announcement should be marked as responding to ``SSDR/DARO/RDF''. Fax responses may be submitted to 215-443-0474. This is for information purposes only. This is not a solicitation. No contract will result from this announcement. (317)

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