Low-Cost/Low Probability of Detection (LC/LPD) Waveform Radio

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. 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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: (**PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE THRESHOLDS/OBJECTIVES HAVE BEEN UPDATED ON 3/24/2021) Metric Threshold (Objective) Range* (km) 10 (20) End-to-End Latency (ms) 100 (30) Simultaneous nodes/users 32 (128) Throughput (aggregate network) (kbps) 100 (750) 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 PMP (MANET) Network type 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 *The LC/LPD system must operate in foliage and urban environments even if at a reduced range. 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.