SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO FREQUENCY (SDRF) WAVEFORM DEVELOPMENT KIT (WDK)

REQUEST FOR INFOMATION (RFI) FOR SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO FREQUENCY (SDRF) WAVEFORM DEVELOPMENT KIT (WDK) FEB 2021 Solicitation Number: RFI-RIK-21-02 Notice Type: Special Notice Synopsis: Requests for Information (RFI) For Software Defined Radio Frequency (SDRF) Waveform Development Kit (WDK) FEDERAL AGENCY NAME: Department of Air Force, Air Force Materiel Command, AFRL - Rome Research Site, AFRL/Information Directorate, 26 Electronic Parkway, Rome, NY, 13441-4514 1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue a RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Air Force is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the Beta SAM website. It is the responsibility of the potential offerors to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this requirement. 1.2 FEEDBACK. Submission of an abstract is voluntary. Respondents are advised that AFRL is under no obligation to provide feedback with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. 1.3 REGULATORY GUIDANCE. This publication constitutes a Request for Information (RFI) as defined in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.201(e), - RFIs may be used when the Government does not presently intend to award a contract, but wants to obtain price, delivery, other market information, or capabilities for planning purposes. Responses to these notices are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. 2.0 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) The Air Force Research Laboratory, Information Directorate (AFRL/RI) is seeking information to better understand existing vendor offerings and the landscape of research and development (R&D) from organizations who are developing techniques to accelerate the development of software defined radio frequency (SDRF) communications waveforms, in general, and with a special interest in waveforms operating primarily above 3 GHz, with minimum data rates of 10 Mbps up to 300 Mbps and higher, with digital signal processing (DSP) implemented in C/C++ software executing on a General Purpose Processor (GPP) such as the Intel Core or AMD Ryzen 7th generation, or better processor. In addition, this RFI seeks to obtain technical concepts, approaches, and merits of ideas or work on affordable Waveform Development Kits (WDKs) for SDRF. Further, it seeks to obtain information about pricing, delivery, and other market information or capabilities for possible use in an upcoming Industry Day and Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). This announcement is not a request for proposals; therefore, responses to the RFI are not considered offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Technical Challenges: Shorten the typical schedule for communications waveform development by a factor of 4x; e.g. from 9-12 months for initial prototype demonstration, to 9-12 weeks. Implement all waveform digital processing in real-time software on a GPP instead of using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) for the DSP functions. The acquisition development of new waveforms takes too long and requires special expertise in FPGA development that is in limited supply. FPGA programming is too complex, requires expensive tools, and is less flexible than C/C++ software development on a GPP. The AFRL SDRF Team developed an innovative approach to implement the digital signal processing (DSP) of complex waveforms using optimized software running on a general purpose processor (GPP) that is common in Laptop and Desktop computers. Case studies showed real-time performance of Line-of-Sight (LOS) data link waveforms and satellite communications (SATCOM) waveforms supporting 10-150 Mbps data rate achieved with all the DSP functions performed in software. This GPP-based software radio development approach exhibited 4x-8x shorter development time than the typical approach using firmware on a FPGA. In addition to the faster development time, the GPP-software can take advantage of Moore's law with simple recompiles when upgrading to newer GPPs. AFRL case studies relied on Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) SDR hardware in two configurations for a Waveform Development Kit (WDK) with a tuning range up to 6 GHz. WDK1 was the low-cost version based on the Ettus B200mini [1] connected via USB to a laptop. WDK1 supports up to 56 MHz RF bandwidth. WDK2 was the mid-range version based on the Ettus X300/UBX [2] connected via 10 GbE to a desktop computer. The X300/UBX supports up to 160 MHz RF bandwidth. AFRL is seeking industry input on GPP-software development, and any other techniques in software/hardware for accelerating the development of communications waveforms. What signal processing hardware are you using in your radio data link designs? FPGA, GPP, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or other. Please describe your approach. If using a GPP-software DSP approach, please provide details on your accomplishments, products, productivity, lessons learned, experiences, risks, and recommendations. If using a FPGA-based approach, please provide details on your tools and techniques for reducing development time. If using a hybrid approach or other techniques or designs, please describe them in sufficient detail for AFRL to assess your approach. What waveforms are you developing with your approach? Do you have a WDK? If yes, please describe the hardware, and if it's COTS or custom. Would you be interested in a government/industry ecosystem for collaboration and agile development of legacy and new data link waveforms? Please share your thoughts and ideas. Who are your current customers, users, and partners across academia, industry, and government? References. [1] Ettus X300 SDR, www.ettus.com/all-products/x300-kit/ [2] Ettus b200mini SDR, www.ettus.com/all-products/usrp-b200mini/ 3.0 REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ABSTRACTS 3.1 CONTENT AND FORMAT NO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE RFI RESPONSE. Section A: A cover page identifying the company or organization, street address, and the names, emails and telephone numbers of the point of contact. In the case of partnerships, please provide the appropriate information for the lead POC. Also provide a short summary statement of the company's or party's experience/capabilities and a short summary of the organization's experience in the areas described above. This section is not included in the page count. Section B: Technical Summary. The Government is assessing the current state-of-the-art and future of software-based waveform development for high capacity data links, and other waveforms. Please address the questions listed in section 2. Summarize technical concepts, associated technical challenges as well as approaches to address the enumerated technical challenges. Respondents are encouraged to be as succinct as possible while providing sufficient detail to adequately convey the technical concepts, challenges and approaches. The abstracts shall be limited to 6 pages. All abstracts shall be single spaced with a font no smaller than 11 pt font. All responses to this announcement must be addressed to the POCs, as discussed in Section 6.0 of this announcement. Respondents are required to submit responses in Microsoft Office Word. 3.2 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. The submitted documentation and content thereof becomes the property of the U.S. Government and will not be returned. It does not commit the Government to reply to information received. 3.3 PROPRIETARY INFORMATION. This notice is part of Government market research. Information received as a result of this request will be considered as sensitive and will be protected as such. Any company or industry proprietary information contained in responses should be clearly marked by paragraph, so that publicly releasable and proprietary information are clearly distinguished. Any proprietary information received in response to this request will be properly protected from unauthorized disclosure. The Government will not use proprietary information submitted from any one source to establish the capability and requirements for any future acquisition, so as to inadvertently restrict competition. 4.0 SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS. Multiple abstracts within the scope of this RFI announcement may be submitted by each responder. 5.0 SUBMISSION. RFI abstract due date is 9 MAR 2021. 6.0 AGENCY CONTACTS. Verification of government receipt or questions of a technical nature can be directed to the cognizant technical points of contact (TPOCs): Primary TPOC: Robert DiMeo, contact@example.gov, +1 (555) 000-0000. Questions of a contractual/business nature shall be directed to the cognizant Contracting Officer, as specified below: Amber Buckley Email: contact@example.gov