18 May 2010

A sends (converted from DOC to HTML):

ACA WSMR DOC [ACA White Sands Missile Range Document]
Author: parnhamje
Last Saved by: ACS
Version: 2
July 19, 2005

Section A

Statement of Problem/Objective

1. Goals of Spectrum Efficient Technologies for Test and Evaluation

The purpose of the SET focus area is to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate technology components and capabilities necessary to enable Department of Defense (DoD) flight and ground test telemetry operations. These technology developments are 6.3 level S&T efforts. This means that they result in the demonstration of a technology in preparation for engineering development. The program was initiated in FY2002 and has nine focus areas, six of which are currently active. One of the active focus areas is SET.

Two of the main challenges facing the test and evaluation telemetry community are loss of RF spectrum available for flight test telemetry and providing reliable transmission to a growing number of simultaneous high bit rate users of the telemetry bands. The SET projects have been advancing spectrally efficient signal modulation techniques, which improve telemetry performance, and modulation techniques in the L and S Bands where much spectrum has been allocated to commercial use. The T&E/S&T Program is now in its 4th year investigating current L & S telemetry bands, augmentation of current telemetry bands with operation in the super-high frequency (SHF) range (3-30 GHz) and alternative technologies such as optical communications.

The primary frequency bands under consideration above 3 GHz are 4.7 GHz, 6.3 GHz, and 15 GHz. The major program goals include: (1) systematic identification of technical and economic challenges to operation in the SHF range, and (2) identification and development of practical solutions to these challenges.

The overall approaches to exploring SHF operation are to (1) develop an accurate and realistic set of mission requirements that address current applications and anticipate selective migration to burst mode, network oriented data transmission; (2) develop a set of associated parameter data sets or knowledge bases satisfying the mission requirements to set research priorities and evaluate advances in each technical area; (3) research and develop promising approaches to distinct aspects of augmentation to SHF in order to advance significantly the state-of-the-art; and (4) evaluate these approaches using the set of associated parameter data sets.

The specific science and technology goals of this effort are to accomplish one or more of the following:

a. Develop spectrum efficient subsystems and components for field experiments and/or tests in a simulated environment appropriate for the proposed system application

b. Integrate spectrum efficient subsystems and components into prototypes for field experiments and/or tests in a simulated environment appropriate for the proposed system application

c. Demonstrate spectrum efficient concepts and technologies.

Items may be form, fit and function prototypes or scaled models that serve the same demonstration purpose.

2. Scope of Requirement

Area 1) Network Links in an Airborne Environment

The Central Test and Evaluation Investment Program (CTEIP) has initiated a project to develop Integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET). In its first stage, iNET will augment current point-to-point telemetry systems with a wideband radio frequency (RF) network. Safety of flight and flight critical data will be transmitted using traditional telemetry and test data will be transmitted over the wideband network. This will allow test directors and engineers to make modifications to data acquisition systems and test profiles during a T&E event. The iNET Program Management Office (PMO) is near final selection of a Lead System Integrator (LSI) to conduct the systems engineering and design. The design and development of system procurement specifications is scheduled to take eighteen months. Detailed requirements and descriptions of the iNET are available upon request and will be provided via e-mail.

With the DoD aeronautical telemetry community migrating to a network solution for command, control, and transfer of test data comes the need for optimized physical, data, and network link layers. This topic intends to research these areas and provide potential solutions for this dynamic environment. Further technology improvements to iNET have been identified in the areas of:

- Transceivers and communications protocols in the stressed aeronautical environment

- Communications management

iNET documents summarize these two areas as: Two components that have not been tested for operation in the aeronautical RDT&E environment are the burst modem and the Time Division Mulitiple Access (TDMA) controller with its associated Quality of Service (QoS) management software. This includes the following:

o The investigation and testing of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) variants that are specifically optimized for aeronautical RDT&E.

o Mobile, multi-hop, ad-hoc routing protocols offer an opportunity to effectively provide capabilities for relays, for support of multiple test articles operating as an integrated system.

Solutions should be non-proprietary and consistent with DoD operations.

Area 2) Free Space Optical Communications

Initial studies indicate that optical communications technologies are sufficiently mature to develop prototype systems for air vehicle flight testing. Proposals to develop and provide an optical communication system for flight testing are solicited. The optical communications system must support a maximum data rate of 100 Mbs at a minimum distance from ground station to flight vehicle of 200 kilometers.

Area 3) Power Spectrum and Detection Efficient Modulation

A. Non Linear Amplifier (NLA) Compatible Modulation

The DoD flight test community recently introduced constant envelope, and pseudo?constant envelope, filtered offset quadrature phase shift keying (OQPSK) to the Range Commander's Council (RCC) standard IRIG-106. These modulation waveforms are notable for compatibility with non-linear amplifiers (NLAs), good coherent detection efficiency, good power spectrum efficiency when NLAs are employed, and good adjacent signal interference performance when compared to the digital frequency modulation that has been used in flight test telemetry for many years.

NLA compatibility is considered crucial to modulation schemes in this application arena because complete transmitters, including power amplification to 5 and 10 Watt power levels must be packaged in boxes occupying as few as 6-10 cubic inches. This must also be accomplished with reasonable prime power conversion efficiency.

The DoD flight test community seeks power spectrum efficiency at least 1.5 times that offered by the filtered OQPSKs while retaining detection performance not far inferior to the same waveforms described in the IRIG-106 standard. Specific goals of this research include:

-Transmission of at least 3 bits per symbol in the same "required bandwidth" used to transmit 2 bits per symbol with the filtered OQPSKs (these metrics refer to revenue bearing bits, i.e., sans coding, and required bandwidth shall be measured in accordance with the criteria described in IRIG 106-04 Telemetry Standards available at http://jcs.mil/rcc/PUBS/oldoc.htm [dead link]

- Non Linear Amplifier (NLA) compatibility.

-Detection performance loss (in additive noise) no greater than approximately 4 dB, relative to the filtered OQPSKs (at a bit error probability of 1x10-6).

-Scalability to higher order for applications that can tolerate greater detection loss.

In addition to transmitted waveform design, include simulation of both the transmitter and companion receiver (with an option to build a prototype). The goals for receiver characteristics include:

-Reasonable implementation complexity when designed for operation with source bit rates in the range of 5-40 Mb/s.

-Signal acquisition speed and re-synchronization speed at least consistent with existing filtered OQPSK detection products.

-Irreducible bit error rate floors no worse than 1X10-10.

B. Improved Linear Power Amplifier Efficiency

High order linear modulation techniques have been shunned in the aeronautical telemetry arena, largely due to the fact that conventional linear power amplifiers must be operated well below their rated 1 dB compression power ratings to accommodate high peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR) present in the RF signals. The following characteristics are desired in an improved linear amplification technique:

- Solid state wideband RF power amplification (5-20 Watt range)

- Significant reduction in amplifier drive back-off required when operated with high order modulation like 16 or 32 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and coded orthogonal frequency division modulation (COFDM). An alternative description of significant reduction in amplifier drive back-off requirement is: 10 Watt output linear amplifier dynamic range of 20 dB minimum with a maximum of 10 percent intermodulation distortion measured per procedures in IRIG 118-03, Vol I Test Methods for Vehicle Telemetry Systems, Chapter 5 Test procedures for Telemetry Transmitters, Section 5.18 Two Tone Intermodulation Test and IRIG 118-02, Vol II Test Methods for Telemetry RF Systems and Subsystems, Appendix A Intermodulation Products and Intercept Point (can be downloaded at http://jcs.mil/rcc/PUBS/oldoc.htm [dead link]). The design goal is 20 Watt output linear amplifier dynamic range of 30 db minimum with a maximum of 3.2 percent intermodulation distortion.

- Broad range of transmission bandwidth (1-40 MHz, minimum)

- Amplification efficiency independent of modulation type

- Compatibility with migration to burst mode transmission

Responses should propose development and demonstration of prototype amplifiers.

Area 4) Antenna Technologies.

A. Broadband Airborne Transmitting Antennae

The DoD flight test community currently implements streaming, point-to-point, air-to-ground telemetry operations in three frequency bands: 1435-1525 MHz, 1755-1850 MHz, and 2200-2400 MHz. In addition, there is an ongoing initiative to expand telemetry operations to an as yet undetermined SHF "augmentation" band.

To date, considering typical physical installation and aerodynamic constraints placed upon antenna selection and antenna placement upon vehicles, the most effective airborne transmitting antennae for these applications are linearly polarized blades and buttons. While available blades are inexpensive, small, and easily packaged for use on supersonic airframes, they do not provide sufficient bandwidth, in terms of impedance matching and efficiency, for operation in more than one of the aforementioned frequency bands. A variety of factors threaten to render these antennae obsolete:

-RF spectrum congestion is creating pressure to build transmitters and antennae capable of changing operating frequency to any of the available bands on a mission to mission basis. Ultimately, the flight test community needs the flexibility to change operating frequency, on the fly, to any frequency in any available band.

-Receiving site infrastructure cost can benefit from use of circular polarization transmission, both in terms of complexity and possible multipath propagation mitigation opportunities. However, existing circular polarization technology is not compatible with the physical characteristics and radiation patterns desired in general airborne test installations.

-Antenna gain is increasingly desirable in the airborne segment to offset detection performance lost to increased signal bandwidth and to atmospheric losses in potential higher frequency augmentation bands, and to enable geographic reuse of spectrum.

-Other factors that may ultimately render existing blade designs obsolete is increasing bandwidth of the transmitted signals and migration to more sophisticated modulation techniques. Specifically, in addition to impedance matching concerns, time dispersion that might be created by narrowband antennae could become a limiting factor in link performance.

This BAA topic seeks implementation approaches that can be systematically applied to an evolutionary progression from satisfaction of short term needs to achieving longer term goals. Development focus and the order of precedence for attacking the airborne antenna problem are:

(1) An omni-directional, linearly polarized antenna capable of operating over the range 1435-1525 MHz, 1755-1850 MHz, and 2200-2400 MHz that exhibits

a. Radiation patterns similar to, if not improvements upon those of existing blade antennae.

b. Well behaved broadband impedance matching and transmission efficiency (relative to existing blades).

c. Time dispersion characteristics compatible with linear, high-order single and multi-carrier modulation techniques spanning 20-40 MHz in bandwidth

(2) A simple beam forming array capable of delivering the performance in item (1) above that provides gain and directivity, for example, a three or four element array capable of providing a steer-able cardioid pattern (or better) with good front-to-back ratio.

(3) A single or multi-band, omni-directional, circularly polarized antenna that can provide radian angle coverage comparable to today's linearly polarized blades.

B. Automatic Antenna Tracking Efficiency System

With the increase in frequency the beamwidth of the antenna becomes smaller and tracking becomes a more critical operation for reception of telemetry data. Inadvertent side lobe acquisition is a serious problem for existing parabolic antennas. An additional low gain antenna for side lobe detection has not provided sufficient improvement. The intent for this area is to detect incorrect or off the main beam tracking then to position the antenna automatically on the main beam. Two solutions may be required with one for existing autotrack antennas and feed and a second for new antenna designs such as new feeds.

C. Aircraft Antenna Nulls

Current aircraft top and bottom antennas exhibit antenna pattern nulls causing serious data losses. Provide a solution to prevent these data losses and demonstrate its improved performance through test. Publish the comparison results against current antennas in a report.

Area 5) Global Reach for Telemetry

For many current flight vehicle tests multiple ranges must combine acquisition resources and in addition, often deploy mobile assets to cover areas outside the fixed coverage range assets. During the past three decades there has been limited success in using space based tracking and data relay with the NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS); low rate data relay from mobile tracking systems via commercial satellites like INMARSAT, Iridium and through cellular phones. But many more links at higher data rates from many vehicles at widely separated locations are required to meet T&E requirements. Direct relay of very low rate two way or full duplex data to and from system under test to a data center has been demonstrated with Iridium and Globalstar for aircraft, rockets and long duration scientific balloons to eliminate the cost of ground based tracking systems.

This topic area seeks to expand the number of simultaneous telemetry point-to-point links at higher bit rates at wider locations. Full two way or duplex operation of the links is the desired goal for extension of this capability for the iNET described in area 1) above. The evolution into the desired iNET configuration will take years. Innovative methods for synergy of existing commercial and/or military systems for near term use to support. telemetry point-to-point transmissions are solicited. Proposals are not limited to the areas listed below.

A. Antenna

Build a prototype Ku/Ka band antenna for an airborne vehicle and demonstrate communications through any commercial K-band, NASA TDRSS satellite or other available non-DoD K-band satellite. TDRSS frequency ranges and other specifications are available at http://defiant.gsfc.nasa.gov/tdrss/tdrsshome.html [dead link] and http://defiant.gsfc.nasa.gov/tdrss/ant.html [dead link]. The proposal will identify the satellite or satellite service for the demonstration and estimated costs for the demonstration. Antenna size must include small size such as a 14 inch diameter sounding rocket and be scalable for larger vehicles such as aircraft and orbital and suborbital launch vehicles.

B. Transceiver

Establish flight communications hardware that will enable the transition from Ground Based to airborne and/or Space Based implementation of communication and metric tracking functions. Metric tracking is generally considered to provide range, range rate and precision pointing information (also referred to as Time-Space-Position-Information) like a radar that provides no communication data. Develop cost effective, expendable, spectrum efficient flight transceivers and antenna systems that can support the data rate requirements up to 40 Mbs that are presently supported via the existing ground based infrastructure. Proposed systems must be compatible with existing and evolving government and commercial spaced based assets. The proposed systems are required to support nominal flight of both non spinning and spin stabilized vehicles. Reliable communications must be provided for anomalous flights with unpredictable attitude with respect to the airborne or space based communications relay craft.

C. Over The Horizon (OTH) Video Transmission

Near real time (less than one second) spectrum efficient transmission of video from an OTH small airborne vehicle such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is required.

Develop and qualify a flight prototype unit and demonstrate the end-to-end capability to capture and display near real time remote images. This is an expendable state of the art OTH, space based, airborne communications system capable of providing low resolution video images coupled with GPS based positional data in the TCP/IP format for potentially expendable UAVs. The intended use is for the instrumentation of small UAVs with wingspans of a few feet.

Interested sources are encouraged to submit White Papers and a completed Attachment 1 Proposal Summary Form found at the website http://www.wsmr.army.mil/docpage/pages/sol_stat.htm

B. WHITE PAPERS AND PROPOSALS:

To save in preparation costs and resources offerors should submit a white paper consisting of: (1) a summary concept paper (not to exceed ten (10) pages in length) which succinctly illustrates the proposed technical approach, as well as its rationale and objectives, methodology, expected results, and potential contribution to T&E/S&T Program's Spectrum Efficient Technology focus area; (2) Rough Order of Cost Magnitude (ROCM); (3) a suggested period of performance, and (4) a description of the offerors capabilities, relevant experience, and facilities.

The summary concept should include a title page and an abstract, not part of the ten (10) pages of the concept paper. The cover page shall contain: BAA number, white paper title, organization submitting the white paper, type of business, e.g. Large Business, Small Disadvantaged Business, Small Business, Emerging Small Business, Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institutions, Other Educational, or Other Non-Profit, teaming companies (if applicable) and type of business for each, the technical point of contact with address and telephone numbers, e-mail address, the administrative point of contact with address, and telephone, e-mail address, and the date the white paper was prepared. The abstract should be no more than a half page summary of the white paper.

Offerors should submit a electronic copy on a CD-ROM of the completed white papers and the proposal summary form, prior to 30 Sep 2005, to the Sual Oritigoza, Executing Agent, Specturm Efficient Technologies, 412 TW/ENTI, 307 E. Popson, Edwards AFB, CA 93521.

White papers should be submitted in a clearly readable PDF file or Microsoft word format for Windows. White papers submitted by fax or electronic mail are not acceptable and will not be considered. White papers received after the closing date and time will not be considered. The page format shall be 12 point type, single spaced, one inch margins (left/right/top/bottom), single sided, 8.5 by 11 inch pages. White papers must be UNCLASSIFIED. Telephone inquiries concerning the status of white papers will not be entertained. Following the evaluation of the white papers, the Government reserves the right to request a proposal from any, all, part of, or none of the white paper offerors.

In the event a white paper is favorably considered, the offeror will be invited to submit a complete proposal, within 30 calendar days of notification by the Contracting Officer. Such notification will confirm that the offeror's white paper addresses an area of interest and the offeror has a reasonable chance for an award based on subsequent evaluation of the offeror's full proposal. There will be no debriefings of white papers. Proposals not meeting the described format may not be reviewed. White papers not favorably considered will not be returned but will remain in the BAA file. White papers and proposals will be selected based on the availability of funding and the evaluation procedures outlined.

C. EVALUATION CRITERIA/PROCEDURES:

White papers and proposals will be selected through a formal procedure encompassing a technical/scientific and T&E/S&T Program decision review process. Proposers are advised that white papers and proposals may be reviewed or evaluated by non-government personnel such as consultants, each of whom will have accepted the terms and conditions of a non-disclosure agreement and an Organizational Conflict of Interest statement. All reviewed and evaluated white papers and proposals may not be funded due to budgetary or program constraints. White papers and proposals will be evaluated with respect to the following factors: (1) the relevance of the technology or application to the T&E/S&T Program's Spectrum Efficient Technology focus area, to include maturity and level of risk. (2) the scientific excellence and innovative quality of the proposed technology or application. (3) the offerors capabilities, relevant experience, and facilities. (4) appropriateness of the proposed effort for 6.3 S&T funding. (5) transition potential of the proposed technology to a T&E capability. (6) estimated cost effectiveness (the ROCM). For ROCM, demonstrate the ability to prepare and submit a cost proposal to enable accurate evaluation and understanding of the proposed cost by the Government.

Evaluations may take up to 30 days from receipt of White Paper to complete.

D. OFFEROR INFORMATION:

Numerous awards may result from this BAA and will depend upon the quality and merit of white papers and proposals received and available funding. If the Government decides to pursue a concept with regard to this BAA a formal proposal will be requested. Award of any contracts are anticipated to occur in FY 2006. If selected, you must be registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) (http://www.ccr.gov/) in order to receive the award. If you are not in the CCR at the time we are ready to make the award, you will be disqualified. Issuance of this BAA does not obligate the Government to fund any white paper, pay any proposal preparation costs, or to award any contract. All responsible sources capable of satisfying the Government's needs may submit a white paper, which will be considered. No portion of this announcement is set aside for historically black colleges and universities (HBCU's) or minority institutions (MI's); proposals are invited from all sources. The Government reserves the right to select for award, all, some, or none of the white papers or proposals received in response to this announcement.