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

Teaming/collaboration with prime contractors/original equipment manufacturers is encouraged to facilitate transition.

PHASE I: Investigate aperture for DF sensors that meet the above requirements. Perform modeling and simulation of the aperture. Identify DF algorithms to pair behind the aperture, and perform an analysis of the AOA estimation accuracy over frequency, polarization, and AOA. Develop transition plan.

PHASE II: Based on Phase I modeling, complete design, fabricate, and develop a prototype of the aperture. Obtain experimental measurements of the aperture and analyze DF performance using measured results. Provide a practical implementation of the DF algorithm suitable for real-time operation. Refine transition plan.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Fabricate and test a prototype DF sensor with performance tailored for end user to enable technology transition to the field.

REFERENCES:

1. Lipsky, Stephen E. Microwave Passive Direction Finding. SciTech Publishing, 1987.

2. Walter, Carlton H. and Campbell, Donn V., "Wideband Dual-polarized Multi-mode Antenna." U.S. Patent No. 5,164,738. 17 Nov. 1992.

3. Corzine, Robert G., and Mosko, Joseph A. Four-arm Spiral Antennas. Artech House on Demand, 1990.

4. Penno, Robert P. and Pasala, Krishna M., "Theory of Angle Estimation Using a Aultiarm Spiral Antenna." Aerospace and Electronic Systems, IEEE Transactions on 37.1 (2001): 123-133.

5. Kefauver, W. Neill, Cencich, Thomas P., and Filipovic, Dejan S. "On the Frequency-Independent Modes of a Four-Arm Modulated Arm Width Spiral." Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on 61.9 (2013): 4467-4475.

KEYWORDS: direction finding, spiral antennas, modeforming, wideband apertures

AF161-146

TITLE: V-Band Terminal Low Noise Amplifier

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 low noise amplifiers (LNAs) operating from 71 to 76 GHz with noise figures suitable for future satellite communications (SATCOM) ground terminal applications.

DESCRIPTION: Expanding the availability of battlefield information for better situational awareness to the warfighter will require increased satellite communications (SATCOM) capacity. Due to the present frequency allocation restrictions in existing SATCOM bands, there is a continually increasing need to exploit frequency spectrum available in nontraditional bands such as 81 to 86 GHz for uplinks and 71 to 76 GHz for downlinks.

In order to access this spectrum, a new generation of transmitter and receiver microelectronics, such as low noise amplifiers (LNAs), will be required, and the Air Force is interested in sponsoring LNA research to reduce power consumption, optimize noise figure (NF), and improve linearity to support bandwidth efficient modulation waveforms like 16-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation).

This topic seeks E-band LNA research supporting high performance SATCOM downlinks. Goals for the V-band ground terminal LNAs include NF less than 2 dB, small signal gain greater than 30 dB over 71 to 76 GHz and an operating temperature range -40 to +80 degrees.

PHASE I: Develop innovative E-band LNA designs with requisite NF, gain, bandwidth, operating frequency, and temperature ranges. Validate design through modeling and simulation.

PHASE II: Fabricate one or more prototypes and characterize performance in areas of NF, gain, bandwidth, operating frequency, and operating temperature range.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: A military amplifier can be used for terrestrial wireless communications and avionics to support next-generation satellite communications. Commercial applications include wireless communications.

REFERENCES:

1. W. Ciccognani, et al., “Millimeter Wave Low Noise Amplifier for Satellite and Radio-astronomy Applications,” 2012 IEEE First AESS European Conference on Satellite Telecommunications, Oct. 2012.

2. X.B. Mei, et al., “A W-band InGaAs/InAlAs/InP HEMT Low-Noise Amplifier MMIC with 2.5 dB Noise Figure and 19.4 dB Gain at 94GHz,” 20th International Conference on Indium Phosphide and Related Materials, IPRM Digest, May 2008.

3. K.Y. Lin, et al., “W-Band InP Based HEMT MMIC Low Noise Amplifiers,” JPL Technical Report Server, Nov. 2002.

KEYWORDS: low noise amplifier, E-band, noise figure, satellite communications

AF161-147

TITLE: High Performance Global Positioning System (GPS) M-Code Acquisition Engine

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 high-performance acquisition engine for direct acquisition of global positioning system (GPS) M-Code that can achieve time to first fix (TTFF) of 120 seconds with initial time uncertainty (ITU) of 10 ms and jamming/signal ratio of 51 dB.

DESCRIPTION: The traditional means of acquiring GPS signals for military users is the use of the coarse/acquisition (C/A)-code, which is used in nearly all legacy military GPS receivers. The C/A-code, which repeats every 1 ms, is exceptionally easy to acquire, yet vulnerable to jamming and spoofing. The P(Y)-code and M-Code signals are essentially infinite in length, making them difficult to acquire unless the ITU is very small.

Over the past twenty years, technologies have been developed to support implement direct acquisition of the P(Y)-code using large correlator arrays, Fast Fourier Transmitter (FFT) techniques and other approaches. Most of these techniques are applicable to direct acquisition of M-Code as well, although Betz showed (reference 1) that M-Code enables several efficiency enhancements compared to direct P(Y) acquisition.

The last major work on direct M-Code acquisition was completed in 2004, yielding a full acquisition engine implemented in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). This effort, documented in Ref. 1, used a bank of Code Matched Filters (CMFs) and an FFT to implement a high-performance acquisition engine. By optimizing sampling rates and quantization levels and using single sideband processing with noncoherent combining, the DIRAC chip was a suitable proof of concept for demonstrating what was achievable with modest technology.

This topic addresses specific performance goals based on the needs of future military users and advances in signal processing technology. The goal is to achieve 120 seconds TTFF when the J/S is less than or equal to 51 dB and the ITU is 10 ms or less. The type of jamming to be considered is a composite of multiple jammers yielding a Gaussian amplitude distribution and a power spectral density shape equivalent to M-Code. The 51 dB J/S should be referenced to signal power levels ranging from -158 dBW to -133 dBW.

During Phase I and Phase II, the developer may use the version of M-Code known as M-Prime, and documented in IS-GPS-700. Information assurance and anti-tamper considerations should be incorporated in Phase II to enable full capability development in Phase III.

PHASE I: Develop a preliminary design for the GPS M-Code acquisition engine utilizing the M-Prime M-Code.

PHASE II: Demonstrate the GPS M-Prime acquisition engine using a brassboard prototype with field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and/or software defined radio.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Develop M-Code acquisition engine ASIC using the Modernized Navstar Security Algorithm (MNSA) to implement full M-Code capability. Commercial: Potential application to space receivers or other high-sensitivity applications.

REFERENCES:

1. Betz, John W., Fite, John D., and Capozza, Paul T., "DirAc: An Integrated Circuit for Direct Acquisition of the M-Code Signal," Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2004), Long Beach, CA, September 2004, pp. 447-456.

2. Ta, Tung Hai, Shivaramaiah, N., Dempster, A., and Presti, L. L., ”Significance of Cell Correlations in GNSS Matched Filter Acquisition Engines,” IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, vol. 48, Issue 2, April 2012, pp. 1264 - 1286.

3. Li, Hong, Lu, Mingquan, and Feng, Zhenming, "Direct P(Y)/M-code Acquisition Based on Time-Frequency Folding Technique," Proceedings of the 21st International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2008), Savannah, GA, September 2008, pp. 167-173.

4. Barker, Brian C., Betz, John W., Clark, John E., Correia, Jeffrey T., Gillis, James T., Lazar, Steven, Rehborn, Kaysi A., and Straton, John R., "Overview of the GPS M Code Signal," Proceedings of the 2000 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Anaheim, CA, January 2000, pp. 542-549.

KEYWORDS: GPS, M-Code, direct acquisition, GPS jamming

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 efficient Q-band solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) for low-cost ground terminal applications.

DESCRIPTION: Efficient, high-power performance is required to support low-cost terminals for future military satellite communications (SATCOM) ground terminals. Power amplifier efficiency translates to the terminal’s dc power consumption requirements, as well as additional hardware/structures to address corresponding cooling requirements. Reductions in the size, weight, and power (SWaP) are critical to lowering ground terminal power consumption, footprint, and cost.

Innovative high-efficiency circuit techniques, in combination with high-performance power technologies, have the potential of producing efficient SSPAs to meet this low-cost terminal need. Improved power amplifier efficiency may be achieved with solid-state power technologies such as gallium nitride (GaN), while efficiency may be addressed with techniques such as envelope tracking. Selected approaches should also address low-loss power combining towards the demonstration of a fully integrated SSPA.

The overall approach should meet or surpass current state-of-the-art performance, while providing cost, size, weight, and power (CSWaP) improvements. Therefore, required performance for the Q-band SATCOM SSPA includes power-combined saturated output greater than 45 watts over 43.5 to 45.5 GHz, with power-added efficiency greater than 35 percent. The selected power amplifier approach should support reliable operation over the -40 degree to +80 degree Celsius operating temperature range.

PHASE I: Concept design and circuit simulations of the efficient Q-band monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifier based on a suitable, high-performance millimeter-wave transistor process, as well as the design of the higher-level SSPA.

PHASE II: Fabrication of the prototype high-efficiency Q-band power amplifiers (MMICs, power combiner, integrated SSPA) according to Phase I design. Characterization of the power amplifier and SSPA for output power and efficiency under typical signal and environmental conditions.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Military high power amplifier applications include ground terminal Q-band communications uplink electronics for advanced extremely high frequency (AEHF). Commercial Q-band high power amplifier applications include ground electronics where millimeter-wave power sources are required.

REFERENCES:

1. A. Brown, et al., “W-band GaN Power Amplifier MMICs," Microwave Symposium Digest, 2011 IEEE MTT-S International, Jun. 2011.

2. P. Khan, "A Ka-Band Wideband-Gap Solid-State Power Amplifier: Architecture Identification," IPN Progress Report 42-162, Aug. 2006.

3. F. Colomb and A Platzker, "A 3-Watt Q-Band GaAs pHEMT Power Amplifier MMIC for High Temperature Operation, Microwave Symposium Digest," 2006 IEEE MTT-S International, pp. 897-900, 2006.

KEYWORDS: solid state power amplifier, millimeter-wave amplifiers, satellite communications, Q-band, gallium nitride, envelope tracking

AF161-149

TITLE: Synergistic/Combine Radio Frequency/Electro-Optical (RF/EO) Processing for Synthetic Aperture Imaging (SAR)

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Sensors

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 synergistic signal processing hardware and algorithms for joint processing of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and synthetic aperture ladar (SAL) data that demonstrates both shared processing hardware as well as enhanced imaging performance.

DESCRIPTION: The current state of the art of fusing radio frequency (RF) and laser based systems are being developed independently for a wide range of military application. Many of the ladar systems including synthetic aperture ladar (SAL) and range profile imaging have followed earlier development in RF systems but implemented at optical wavelengths. As a result, there are significant overlaps in the data and the associated signal processing requirements. There are also significant differences based on collection requirements, processing time lines and effects such as atmospheric turbulence. In addition, a combined implementation of RF and electro-optical (EO) systems on small platforms such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be critically size, weight and power (SWaP) constrained. Finally, there is potential for both shared and synergistic algorithms to reduce overall hardware requirements, but more importantly potentially increase the performance of the sensor combination.

This research should begin by identifying current SAR/SAL processing requirements for a system including but not limited to RF and ladar synthetic aperture and range profile imaging as well as high resolution forward looking infrared (FLIR) imager. The commonalities and differences in the operating requirements, data and processing should be identified, as well as potential areas where either shared and/or synergistic processing could reduce the system SWaP by at least at factor of 2 or increase overall performance (increase in probability of target detection and identification).

Based on these requirements, develop a common, near-real-time processing concept and demonstrate feasibility of an innovative, algorithmic approach for providing significant improvements in common processing (reduction in number of algorithms and lines of code) for target search, detection, identification and characterization of targets.

This topic solicits development of innovative, combined RF/EO algorithms and processor concepts that can be shown to be amenable for implementation on small SWaP constrained platforms.

PHASE I: Develop shared and potentially synergistic processing algorithms including salient requirements for SAR and SAL imaging. Identify synergistic algorithms that provide enhanced RF/EO imaging. Develop a common, real-time processing concept and demonstrate the feasibility of the approach for providing significant improvements in common processing for high resolution imaging.

PHASE II: Develop shared/synergistic algorithms, a real-time processor, and demonstrate prototype shared RF-EO algorithms/processors for synthetic aperture and high range resolution imaging that meet desired goals as stated in the topic description. Validate with simulated and measured data that demonstrates the potential for joint processing to reduce hardware requirements, increased performance, and enable enhanced RF/EO sensing.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Military: Shared and synergistic RF/EO processing for multiple weapons systems. Commercial: Reduced cost and improved weather radar/lidar processing

REFERENCES:

1. E. Hesham Attia, “Data-Adaptive Motion Compensation for Synthetic Aperture LADAR,” 2004 IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, IEEEAC paper # 1189, 2004.

2. M. Schikorr, "High Range Resolution with Digital Stretch Processing," Radar Conference, 2008. RADAR '08. IEEE, pp.1-6, 26-30 May 2008. doi: 10.1109/RADAR.2008.4720945.

3. D. Blacknell, A.P. Blake, C.J. Oliver, and R.G. White, "A Comparison of SAR Multilook Registration and Contrast Optimization Autofocus Algorithms Applied to Real SAR Data," Radar 92. International Conference, pp. 363-366, 12-13 Oct 1992.

KEYWORDS: synthetic aperture radar, synthetic aperture ladar, image formation algorithms, fusion

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Information Systems

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 process for hardware assurance in the design and integrity of microelectronics across the life cycle that can be accessed by end-node users.

DESCRIPTION: The life cycle of microelectronics consist of several stages, from design through disposal, that provide access point(s) to insert malicious circuits and/or counterfeits into commercial and DoD supply chain. Current processes employed to mitigate this risk, use chain of custody, pedigree of suppliers, and/or paper certifications. The proliferation of counterfeits and/or modified microelectronics making their way into the supply chain, validates these processes are not working. Traditional methods of visual inspection augmented with electrical tests continue to lack in effectiveness when applied to advanced counterfeit parts. These advanced parts may perform and function extremely well when compared to known good parts, but may introduce reliability or failure concerns. There exists a need for the instantiation of quantitative technologies which can be applied to ensure the integrity of microelectronics components throughout the entire lifecycle.

The identification and development of techniques are sought that can be implemented and managed throughout the integrated circuit (IC) lifecycle. The aggregate confidence of techniques should be >90 percent based on statistically developed comparison metrics. With the emerging cloud computing market having demonstrated technical viability for web-based electronic design automation (EDA) Software as a Service (SaaS) for design of ICs, techniques are sought to significantly leverage current and previous investments in trustworthy microelectronics technology. Methods should focus on identifying, enhancing, and performing a feasibility demonstration of selected assurance techniques that have been tailored for a cloud implemented use case. Consideration should be given to integration of a metric framework such that trade-offs can be made based on performance, cost, and risk in microelectronics use and development.

Techniques are sought that can be implemented and accessed from a cloud web-based service, in a prototype configuration where DoD personnel, and DoD contractors, may gain access to develop and assess ICs using enhanced trusted technologies. These include evaluation of security protocols/metrics and defining the deployment methodology for transition to end node users as supply chain risk management (SCRM) technologies.