Air force 16. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions

Regardless of the material, approach, or component proposed for improvement, the final product must meet or exceed all of the technical specifications of the current component or system i.e. structural loads, operating/survival temperature, radiation shielding, EMI/EMC, vacuum compatibility, launch/flight loads, storage requirements, etc. In addition, the proposed approach must be able to comply with the Air Force Instructions provided in the Reference Section. Demonstrating full compliance with these instructions is not required for the Phase I or II efforts, however, all materials, processes, and approaches must be compatible with these instructions.

PHASE I: During the Phase I effort, proposers shall identify current/future additive manufacturing capabilities and processes for multi-material components and/or additive materials offering RF/EMI/EMP shielding capability. Under Phase I, proposers shall develop approaches compatible with low-volume production and spare part fabrication. Hardware demos for proof-of-concept are preferred but not required.

PHASE II: Under Phase II, proposers will advance and mature concepts developed and/or demonstrated under Phase I with specific emphasis on manufacturing the identified parts, components, or subsystems. Parts produced under the Phase II will be tested for comparison to existing parts to verify they meet the same standards as the replacement parts. Hardware delivery of the additively manufactured parts/components is expected at the end of Phase II.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Commercial: Many possible applications including printed circuit boards in electronics and structural components and spares for automobiles and aircraft. Military: Build EMP-hardened hardware substantially cheaper than currently available and provide for long terms parts availability.

REFERENCES:

1. Gu Dongdong, Hongqiao Wang, and Donghua Dai. "Laser Additive Manufacturing of Novel Aluminum Based Nanocomposite Parts: Tailored Forming of Multiple Materials." Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering (2015).

2. AIR FORCE INSTRUCTION 63-125 NUCLEAR CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.

3. AIR FORCE INSTRUCTION 91-101 AIR FORCE NUCLEAR WEAPONS SURETY PROGRAM.

KEYWORDS: additive manufacturing, EMP, shielding, 3d printing

AF161-081

TITLE: Precision Spacecraft Instrumentation Booms

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Space Platforms

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 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil.

OBJECTIVE: Support communications, imaging, and space weather missions with development of medium-length, high precision spacecraft booms with compact packaging and deployment with low-cost mechanisms.

DESCRIPTION: Several technologies supporting communications, imaging, and space weather missions require dimensionally stable booms in a size and precision range currently unaddressed by off the shelf products. Low-precision booms are available in a wide range of lengths and offer favorable packing ratios. High precision booms are available up to 40 meters but require larger packaging footprints and more costly deployment mechanisms. Medium length, high precision booms that package compactly and deploy with low cost mechanisms are needed. These booms are needed to deploy and stabilize electrical field probes as part of a space weather suite or to support a tensioned phased array antenna as a compression column member. The mission applications include ionosphere characterization, global gap-filler communications, and deep space radio frequency imaging from a Low Earth Orbit small spacecraft (10-100 kg class). These boom elements are anticipated to be a significant cost to such missions. Therefore new low-complexity deployable boom concepts are needed that can be deployed reliable and repeatable on-orbit using minimal mechanisms and can be tested on the ground using straightforward approaches[1,2,3].

This opportunity is for a precision, dimensionally stable boom at least 10 meters in length that packages within a volume no larger than 10 cm x10 cm x 10 cm. The boom must include provision for multiple shielded conductors for potential tip-supported instruments. The preference is for embedded conductors, although other novel approaches are acceptable if kept to low cost and high reliability. Also very attractive if technically feasible would be including a conductor along the boom length to function as an antenna without experiencing RF interference from the boom structure. For a cantilevered configuration, all deformations including thermally-induced bending deformations must be kept within 1/10th of a degree tip deflection for temperatures plus/minus100 degrees C. Also in a cantilevered configuration, the boom should be capable of supporting tip masses up to 100 grams while maintaining a fundamental frequency over 0.5Hz. Boom performance should be compared to current state of practice using metrics such as the bending index[1]. System-level solutions are sought that include both the boom structure and the required deployment mechanisms.

PHASE I: The Phase I work should identify a boom architecture and prove the stiffness, deployment functionality, deployed precision, and estimated dimensional stability, and packaged volume feasibility of the concept. Hardware testing is encouraged. Proposers should also begin to form partnerships with payload or prime contractors that have potential to transition into military satellite systems.

PHASE II: Refine and implement design from Phase I. Conduct comprehensive testing and analysis with focus on representative environmental and deployment testing and analysis/measurement to prove stiffness, deployment functionality, deployed precision, dimensional stability, and packaged volume. Include flight qualifiable aspects to the boom design where possible. Form strong partnerships with payload or prime contractors that have potential to transition into military satellite systems.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Supply the instrument booms for military nanosatellites. The tech developed with enable low cost and low SWAP deployables on many missions Commercial: The system can be adapted for dipole antennas, antenna array structures, and instrument booms for commercial and academic nanosatellites.

REFERENCES:

1. Murphey, T., Booms and Trusses, Jenkins, C. (Ed.), Recent Advances in Gossamer Spacecraft, pp.1-43, Reston, VA, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2006.

2. Puig, L., Barton, A., and Rando, N., "A review on large deployable structures for astrophysics missions," Acta Astronautica, Vol. 67, 2010, pp.12-26.

3. Murphey, T., Francis, W., Davis, B., Mejia-Ariza, J., Santer, M., Footdale, J., Schmid, K., Soykasap, O., Guidanean, K., Warren, P., "High Strain Composites," 2nd AIAA Spacecraft Structures Conference, Kissimmee, Florida, AIAA 2015-0942, 5-9 January, 2015.

KEYWORDS: deployable booms, deployable structures, precision deployment

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

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 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil.

OBJECTIVE: Develop a space-qualified L-band analog-to-digital converter.

DESCRIPTION: Satcom signals are presently digitized only over the frequency channel of use. These channels are substantially narrower than the allowed frequency bandwidth. When frequency hopping is activated to prevent jamming, frequency de-hopping capability must be available at each receive terminal. The capability to digitize the entire frequency bandwidth will enable the frequency de-hopping capability to be activated at a centralized location. Frequency hopping/de-hopping capability is a critical capability that, when placed in a forward deployed unit, can jeopardize the security of the system. Analog-to-digital (A/D) converters are needed for the downlink receive ground terminals. Digital-to-analog (D/A) converters are needed for the uplink ground terminal transmitters. The dynamic range to mitigate the effects of jamming requires the Effective Number of Bits (ENOB) be 12. The A/D sampling rate should have a minimum of 2.4Gsps at 3W with a SFDR of -70dBFS. The D/A should have a 4.8Gsps minimum conversion rate at 2.5W and a broadband NRP at -15dB. The devices must meet the DoD directive for trusted manufacturing. Additionally the devices should have a path to become radiation hardened.

PHASE I: Propose and model designs for an L-band A/D converter and D/A converter to meet the performance goals mentioned in the description. Recommend a design for both an A/D and D/A converter to fabricate in Phase II, provide rationales for the recommended designs, and provide analyses to predict the A/D and D/A converter performances.

PHASE II: Fabricate and test the recommended A/D and D/A converter designs from Phase I. Reiterate the design, fabrication and test of the A/D and D/A converters, if needed, to meet performance goals.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Digitization of the full Intermediate Frequency (I/F) bandwidth will enable remote processing, eliminating potential security concerns for forward deployed units using local processing. A digitized bandwidth will result in improved data signal quality compared to present analog signals.

REFERENCES:

1. A.J. Vigil and Jarvis Hicks, “The Case for an All-Digital Military Satellite Communications Earth Terminal”, Military Communications Conference 2009, pp18-21, Oct. 2009.

2. Herald Beljour, Rich Hoffmann, Gerald Michael, Wayne Schoonveld, Joseph Shields, Imrul Sumit, Carl Swenson, and Andrew Wilson, “Proof of Concept Effort for Demonstrating an All-Digital Satellite Communications Earth Terminal”, the 2010 Military Communications Conference pp 2248-2252, 2010.

3. Todor Cooklev, Robert Normoyle, and David Clendenen, “The VITA49 Analog RF-Digital Interface”, IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine pp21-32, 4th Quarter 2012.

KEYWORDS: digital IF, waveform, converter, A/D, intermediate frequency, time stamp, timestamp, jitter removal, carrier reconstruction

AF161-083

TITLE: GNSS Jammer Location Using Multipath Exploitation

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Space Platforms

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 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil.

OBJECTIVE: Develop a ground-based GNSS Jammer Location capability utilizing a single GNSS receiver capable of estimating the position of a GNSS jammer within 100 meters, and estimating jammer position within 10 meters when networked with other sensors.

DESCRIPTION: Detecting and locating Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) jammers is a vital part of navigation warfare (Navwar), comprising the major thrust of Navwar Electronic Support (ES). Effective jammer detection and location 1) enables alternative means to mitigate jamming (such as kinetic attack), 2) supports mission planning, and 3) increases situational awareness.

Although many effective techniques exist, they primarily rely on airborne equipment, using either high demand, low density assets or dedicated aircraft such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). To enhance the future Navwar capabilities of DoD, a ground-based capability that can operate in urban canyons or mountainous terrain will provide a significant improvement to overarching Navwar capability. In some cases, jammers may be deployed on mobile ground vehicles in an urban environment, making them difficult to detect and track.

Although the multiple signal replicas caused by GNSS multipath degrade position, navigation, and timing (PNT) accuracy, the effects of jammer multipath can be exploited to improve emitter localization. Some recent research postulates that a single receiver can achieve a high degree of localization accuracy. When multiple receivers are networked together, accurate tracking of a mobile jammer may be attainable.

This topic will apply multipath exploitation techniques to the problem of GNSS jammer detection and location. The capabilities of a receiver both with and without a Controlled Radiation Pattern Antenna (CRPA) should be evaluated, as well as enhancements provided by networking two or more receivers together. Expected performance in an urban canyon scenario should be evaluated, along with the required hardware and software necessary to implement multipath exploitation. For purposes of this topic, the threat is a single 100-W mobile jammer located within 10 km of the user and radiating uniformly in the horizontal plane. Furthermore, assume the mobile jammer uses blanking techniques to decrease its probability of localization.

Four alternatives should be evaluated: 1) a single GNSS receiver without a CRPA, 2) a single GNSS receiver with a CRPA, 3) two or more networked receivers without a CRPA, and 4) two or more GNSS receivers with a CRPA. For each alternative, assess the location accuracy, cost (both recurring and nonrecurring), and suitability for integrating in a ground vehicle.

Proposers should clearly indicate in their proposals what government furnished property or information are required for effort success. Requests for other-DoD contractor intellectual property will be rejected.

PHASE I: Develop multipath exploitation techniques for GNSS jammer location utilizing both a single receiver (greater than 100 m accuracy) and networked receivers (greater than 3 m accuracy). Assess the performance, cost, and suitability.

PHASE II: The selected proposer will design and build a brassboard prototype GNSS jammer locator using multipath exploitation for testing in laboratory and controlled field environments.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The selected proposer will integrate a prototype GNSS jammer locator into a representative ground vehicle. Military application: GPS user equipment segment. Commercial application: Civilian (FAA) user equipment and FCC jammer/interference location.

REFERENCES:

1. O’Connor, P. Setlur, and N. Devroye, “Single-sensor RF Emitter Localization based on Multipath Exploitation,” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 10/28/2013.

2. Kupershtein, E.; Wax, M.; Cohen, I., "Single-Site Emitter Localization via Multipath Fingerprinting," Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on , vol.61, no.1, pp.10,21, Jan.1, 2013.

3. S.D. Coutts, “Passive Localization of Moving Emitters Using Out-of-Plane Multipath,” MIT Lincoln Laboratory Technical Report 1046, 30 September 1998.

KEYWORDS: GPS, GNSS, anti-jam, emitter location, localization, multipath, jammer

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Space Platforms

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 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil.

OBJECTIVE: Develop advanced VHF/UHF inter-satellite radio network utilizing dynamic spectrum access and non-directional antennas to achieve 1-2 Mbps average data rates, providing GPS autonomous navigation and near real-time command and control (C2).

DESCRIPTION: Crosslinks have been an integral part of GPS satellites since the early days of the program. With the Block IIR satellite, the role of the GPS crosslinks expanded to include an Autonomous Navigation (Autonav) capability. By using crosslink ranging and onboard computation of ephemeris and clock states, the Block IIR satellites have the ability to maintain accuracy for a specified period of time after loss of contact with the GPS control segment. Original plans for GPS III included directional crosslinks at a much higher frequency to support new capabilities. A fully populated GPS III crosslink network would have provided control of the constellation from a single Continental United States (CONUS) ground antenna, zero age of data availability with a single upload, and near real-time command and control. Due to the high Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWAP-C) of the directional crosslinks, this capability was deferred from the first ten GPS III satellites.

The current UHF/VHF crosslinks have a few advantageous features, such as low SWAP-C and non-directional antennas that simplify the network architecture. The primary disadvantage of UHF/VHF is the crowded spectrum, where GPS is a secondary user that must operate on a non-interference basis. New techniques in cognitive radio and Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) may permit reconsideration of UHF/VHF for enhanced GPS crosslinks. Fortunately, research into utilizing the television “white space” as permitted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may yield applicable techniques and technologies that can be exploited for GPS crosslinks.

This topic is focused on assessing the feasibility of enhanced UHF/VHF crosslinks for GPS using cognitive radio and DSA. The objective is to provide a 1-2 Mbps average data rate while ensuring that GPS crosslinks do not interfere with other users in the band. Using the existing crosslink antennas on GPS, the crosslink architecture should include spectrum sensing and Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) to utilize the band on a non-cooperative basis with other users of the band.

PHASE I: Create a model of existing UHF/VHF spectrum utilization in the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) environment. Develop an architecture, operational concept, and preliminary design for enhanced GPS UHF/VHF crosslinks, to include DSA technologies, network architecture, spectrum sensing, and information assurance.

PHASE II: Demonstrate enhanced UHF/VHF crosslinks with brassboard hardware and simulated interference environment.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Develop prototype UHF/VHF crosslink payload, suitable for flight experiment testing. Commercial: Application to commercial satellites and/or terrestrial use.

REFERENCES:

1. P. Brodie, “Evolution of the GPS Navigation Payload – A Historical Journey,” Stanford Center for Position, Navigation & Time (SCPNT), October 2009.

2. Sonntag, Henry E., "Block IIR UHF Crosslink Enhancements Study," Proceedings of the 1997 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Santa Monica, CA, January 1997, pp. 819-828.

3. Shellhammer, S.J.; Sadek, A.K.; Wenyi Zhang, "Technical challenges for cognitive radio in the TV white space spectrum," Information Theory and Applications Workshop, 2009, pp. 323,333, 8-13 Feb. 2009.

KEYWORDS: GPS, crosslinks, cognitive radio, dynamic spectrum access, UHF, VHF

AF161-085

TITLE: Improved Satellite Catalog Processing for Rapid Object Characterization

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Space Platforms

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 5.4.c.(8) of the solicitation and within the AF Component-specific instructions. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. Please direct questions to the AF SBIR/STTR Contracting Officer, Ms. Gail Nyikon, gail.nyikon@us.af.mil.

OBJECTIVE: Develop algorithms to enable rapid cataloging and characterization of space objects in support of space system threat indications and warning.

DESCRIPTION: Effective space control and situational awareness require continuous and accurate tracking of space objects with a limited number of sensing platforms. The Air Force Space Surveillance Network (SSN) is a critical foundation of U.S. space operations. It is a network of sensors scattered across the globe which provide both tracking and identification data on objects in Earth orbits. The SSN provides the information to the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), which has the mission to detect, track, identify, and catalog all man-made objects in Earth orbits. Approximately 500,000 individual observations are collected each day by the SSN. The SSN observations are used to maintain the satellite catalog, predict atmospheric re-entry of space objects, catalog new launches, detect satellite maneuvers, and safeguard important satellites, such as the International Space Station. Due to uncertainties in position determination and the inability to track objects continuously the problem of maintaining situational awareness of all space orbiting objects is challenging.