Army 18. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions

Potential Commercial Applications: A number of commercial companies (e.g., Amazon and Chipotle) have expressed a need for mobile agents for delivery of small packages. Additionally, these systems could be used to establish mobile networking infrastructure, which is a active research area for many companies (i.e., Google and Comcast).

REFERENCES:

1. Position Paper: Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY2013-2038, Approved by Admiral James A. Winnefld, Jr., Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense (AT&L) (2013).

2. R. Hansman, “Design and Development of a High-Altitude In-Flight-Deployable Micro-UAV”, MIT International Center for Air Transportation (ICAT), ICAT-2012-05, June 2012.

3. V.V. Vantsevich, M.CV. Blundell, “Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Design for Severe Environments”, published by IOS Press, Oct 20, 2015.

4. http://www.dji.com/mavic; accessed 06/01/2017

5. http://www.dji.com/spark; accessed 06/01/2017

KEYWORDS: Autonomous unmanned sensor platform, mobile sensor, relocatable sensors, remotely delivered sensors, unattended ground sensor (UGS), sensor deployment and relocation, imaging sensor

A18-023

TITLE: Controlled Plasma Reactor for Bulk Production of Extended Solid Materials

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: To develop and demonstrate a controlled low temperature plasma reactor capable of large scale, high volume production of extended solid materials with precisely engineered chemical and physical properties.

DESCRIPTION: Extended solids are polymorphs/phases of otherwise simple molecules (e.g., CO2, H2, N2, N(H)x, CN) that are typically formed under ultrahigh pressure conditions (e.g., >10 GPa) where strong intermolecular bonding and tight crystal packing can be induced, which results in dramatic changes in physical, mechanical, and functional properties. Examples include superior structural (high strength, high thermal conductivity), energetic (propellant) and functional (e.g. ferroelectric, magnetic, optical) properties. The high pressures currently required to produce these materials is the major hurdle for large quantity productions and limit the per-reaction-yield to, at most, the microgram scale. However, the Army is currently developing new fabrication methods using advanced plasma techniques that permit access to these ultrahigh pressure polymorphs/phases without the experimental conditions which are currently required. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactors, which deposit the new material directly onto a substrate from the gas phase, have demonstrated viability [1]. The resulting material can manually be removed from the substrate after completion of the experiment and collected for follow-on testing and evaluation. However, existing laboratory-scale systems are disadvantageous in that the resultant product varies from batch to batch and, in general, such designs have low deposition rates. These limitations lead to low overall yields as a result of both the limited reactor dimensions and high degrees of user involvement in processing (reactor setup and taking down, deposit removal, and ex-situ characterizations) [2-4]. Moreover, the ability to fabricate the vast array of potential extended solid materials is predicated on precision control of the plasma parameters, such that they mimic the complex processes otherwise occurring in the high-pressure multistep synthesis and stabilization strategies. In order to acquire large-scale quantities of promising materials with high purity, the new plasma reactors must demonstrate significant advancements in the deposition rate, understanding of kinetics, and overall yield with satisfactory reproducibility, precision, with minimal human interference. Several technical barriers must also be overcome for large scale production including, but not limited to, variations in the gas flow kinetics, substrate material, and control of other environmental conditions.

Current plasma deposition research efforts have primarily centered on the discovery of novel materials and plasma chemistries. In contrast, relatively little effort is devoted to bridging the scales from small-area deposition to large quantity production of materials with homogenous properties. It is not clear that techniques for plasma coatings can successfully translate to material production, which is the focus of this effort. The key issue (problem) has been the lack of knowledge on the significantly more complicated engineering formulations and process design necessary for scale-up, rather than the fundamental scientific understanding beyond the lab scale. The development and demonstration of a controlled low temperature plasma reactor capable of large scale, high volume production of extended solid materials (10s of grams to kilograms per day) with precisely engineered chemical and physical properties could widely advance Army systems. The commercialization of the plasma reactor for the manufacture of extended solids would be pervasive.

PHASE I: Develop a conceptual design for a system that maximizes the deposition rate. This should be accomplished through control of the temperature and plasma power during the deposition process. Tunability of the system is also required and while this is dependent on electrode design and gas pressure, parameters should be on the 3-5 kV/mm range or sufficient to reach breakdown voltages in gases similar to nitrogen and air. The electrode and deposition temperatures must remain between 0 and 30°C, while deposition rates should be a minimum of 400 mg per 8 hours, with larger amounts preferred. The conceptual design will address the issues of reproducibility and user support while providing an avenue for further scalability. The focus in this phase is to identify the hurdles that prevent large scale production and address them with appropriate solutions.

PHASE II: Application of conceptual design to generate larger scale quantities. Specifically, the concepts explored in Phase I should be practically implemented with a prototype reactor and demonstrate the uniformity and quantity of the produced material. The reactor should be capable of production ranging from a minimum of 20 grams to hundreds of grams of material in a period of 8 hours while maintaining the controls in the material properties that are identified in Phase I. In-situ diagnostics should be included in the design to monitor the deposition conditions and plasma phase chemistry should allow for increased automation tuning of deposited material, releasing the operator from constant monitoring of plasma conditions.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Technology will be transferred to the Army. Commercialization of the design should be pursued. Potential commercial avenues include carbon sequestration and novel chemical synthesis. Successful production of large amounts of material provides avenues to plasma assisted chemical synthesis not currently available.

REFERENCES:

1. U. Kogelschatz. Dielectric-barrier Discharges: Their History, Discharge Physics, and Industrial Applications, Plasma Chem. and Plasma Process. 23 (2003) 1 (46 pp).

2. R. Geiger and D. Staack. Analysis of solid products formed in atmospheric non-thermal carbon monoxide plasma, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 44 (2011) 274005 (13 pp).

3. I. Belov, S. Paulussen, A. Bogaerts. Appearance of a conductive carbonaceous coating in a CO2 dielectric barrier discharge and its influence on the electrical properties and the conversion efficiency, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 25 (2016) 015023 (13 pp).

4. I. Belov, J. Vanneste, M. Aghaee, S. Paulussen, A. Bogaerts. Synthesis of micro- and nanomaterials in CO2 and CO dielectric barrier discharge, Plasma Process. Polym. 2016, DOI: 10.1002/ppap.201600065

KEYWORDS: Plasma, Energetic Material, High Voltage, Scale-Up, Dielectric Barrier Discharge, Glow Plasma Discharge, manufacturing process, manufacturing materials, manufacturing efficiency

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Human Systems

OBJECTIVE: Develop innovative methods and software tools that simulate a Cyber OPFOR within the architectures used by the Army’s current LVC&G Simulation Systems. The OPFOR should be able to both offensively attack and defensively counter Blue Force (BLUFOR) attacks.

DESCRIPTION: As the Army continually develops a force capable of meeting the challenges of 2025 and beyond, the domain of Cyberspace is exponentially important. The U.S. Army Operating Concept states, “Enemies and adversaries collaborate as contests in space and cyberspace extend to and affect tactical operations.” The realization that Cyberspace is a warfighting domain has simulation and training program managers struggling to identify the best solution to implement cyber warfare effects into the training domain. Current training simulations among the LVC&G domains lack a cyber implementation. Some prototypes that provide basic cyber effects in LVC&G simulations exist, but they lack the ability to represent an OPFOR that can both attack and defend in the cyber environment.

The Combat Training Centers leverage Army Cyber expertise to execute cyber training pilots that integrate cyber effects into the operational environment, largely for and/or against Brigade Combat Teams. These exercises use actual cyber or electronic warfare systems to demonstrate potential BLUFOR Mission Command System (MCS) compromise or provide the BLUFOR with offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. These scenarios are groundbreaking in that they force trainees to recognize system compromise while simultaneously planning defensive and offensive operations of their own. However, Army LVC&G systems lack a simulated training environment of this nature at all echelons. This includes the ability of an intelligent OPFOR that can both attack and defend providing a robust training event.

A common mantra in our research is a desire for a BLUFOR trainee who is the subject of a cyberattack to have the ability to react, make decisions to affect the effects of the attack, and, in certain scenarios, conduct a counter attack to affect the OPFOR. The focus of this SBIR topic is to research innovative approaches to implement OPFOR cyber effects (both offensive and defensive) in training simulations with the goal of being part of an overall architecture and strategy that the Army’s various LVC&G training simulations could follow. An initial starting point could be current work that is taking place on operational system cyber testing and how these approaches could become more flexible and scalable to accommodate new training missions within the existing training system architectures. The potential scope of this research includes tactical OPFOR cyber effects on MCS, kinetic effects of Computer Network Attacks , Electronic Warfare Attacks, and cellular/satellite networks. Currently, none of the Army’s major Constructive and Virtual simulations have an approach or strategy to implement a Cyber OPFOR across their systems. Another great challenge of the cyber simulation area is that the training requirements of different training audiences are either not defined or sketchy at best. This makes it impossible for the major LVC&G programs to move forward in adding the Cyber environment. It is probable that the cyber learning requirements/goals will vary by user; leaders in Constructive simulations may want training to identify the basic effect of attacks and delegate orders to develop contingencies whereas Live operators may want to directly train on range equipment. The system should allow the detection, response, and recovery processes to cyberattacks to be effectively practiced/rehearsed by the trainees. The goal of this SBIR’s prototype is to provide a Cyber Operations (CyberOps) training capability to the Army training community that shows them the potential methods to incorporate the injection of CyberOps effects via an intelligent Cyber OPFOR into their training solutions so that the trainees can recognize cyber-attacks and make recovery decisions accordingly. Cyber range events often compromise Information Assurance (IA) requirements. However, the proposed system must maintain the IA compliance requirements necessary for training systems.

PHASE I: Conduct an analysis of current Army LVC&G simulations and architectures and determine innovative solutions to create a simulated OPFOR that can conduct offensive and defensive CyberOps against the BLUFOR. Identify the training audience in the simulation and mission related events. This design will allow the trainees to make proper decisions to maximize the scenario’s outcome. Select an LVC&G system to be the focus of your prototypes. Determine how cyber events can be effectively trained on the selected LVC&G systems you have selected to focus on. Look at current Red Team strategies in the systems development and develop a concept to replicate them in your prototype. Develop a system design that includes requirements, specifications, operational training concept, interface designs, and graphical interfaces. Provide a report on design approach and overall system design.

PHASE II: Develop a prototype of the OPFOR cyber simulation design. Test and verify its usability to add cyber training effects to the selected LVC&G simulation. Metrics include the system’s ability to conduct OPFOR cyber operations and simulate a training audience’s wide variety of possible cyberattacks (e.g. malware attack, EW jamming, hacking, social engineering, insider threat, kinetic attack etc.) providing realistic effects to a training audience so they can determine the nature of the attack and react/counterattack as appropriate. The OPFOR should react in a intelligent manner. Show how the prototype design could have the ability to be a training architecture that would allow for simulated OPFOR cyber effects across the LVC&G training domains.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This research has enormous dual use potential. Commercial organizations could potentially use many of the cyber simulations to training their cyber and management teams to protect from cyberattacks. They all need a red teaming strategy that provides trainees with a robust training environment. Presently, there is a large market need for training commercial sector systems operators in cyber-related activities. Depending on the approaches taken, the models and simulations generated by this effort have the potential to meet the needs of this market.

REFERENCES:

1. TC 7-100.2 Opposing Force Tactics, December 2011, Headquarters Department of the Army, Chapter 7 Informational Warfare.

2. Shakarian, P et al, “Introduction to Cyber-Warfare” A Multidisciplinary Approach”, Syngress/Elsevier, 2013

3. Marshall, H et.al. “Development of a Cyber Warfare Training Prototype for Current Simulations” Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Fall 2014

4. PEO STRI Public website http://www.peostri.army.mil/

KEYWORDS: Cyber, Cyber Warfare, Cyber Offense, Cyber Battlefield Operating Systems (BOS), Cyber Defense, Computer Network Attack (CAN, Training, Mission Command Systems (MCS), Live–Virtual-Constructive (LVC)

A18-025

TITLE: An Adaptively Covert, High Capacity RF Communications / Control Link

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

OBJECTIVE: Exploit the variable RF path loss near 60 GHz to develop and demonstrate an adaptive, covert, high bandwidth, full duplex, jam resistant communications / datalink.

DESCRIPTION: The radio frequency (RF) transmission near the 60 GHz (V-Band) oxygen absorption line provides a high capacity RF path in which the path loss can be varied approximately 10 dB / km (see ref. 1) by changing the carrier frequency over a relatively small spectral range. This presents the opportunity to develop high bandwidth RF datalinks and/or networks designed to work only within a limited geographical sector as the frequency, transmission power, and antenna pattern are adaptively controlled to insure connectivity and achieve covertness. The 60 GHz path loss due to the absorption by oxygen in the atmosphere has an exponential behavior and provides an additional degree of freedom to control transmission range. This behavior enables the structuring of an operational sector, which exhibits high transfer rates and robust digital connectivity. At ranges beyond, the RF signal level decreases exponentially below minimum detection levels over a relatively short distance to provide covertness. By automatically tuning the transmission frequency in real time using a feedback mechanism, the physical volume of the operational sector can be adjusted to counteract changes in path loss due to movement of communications platforms or atmospheric conditions. By automating a process for selecting appropriate transmission frequency, transmission power, and antenna pattern, one can optimize in real time the datalink conditions necessary to balance the tradeoff between robust connectivity and covertness in the link or network. Such a dynamic datalink based on 60 GHz technology provides a solution to Army and military needs to increase bandwidth availability for short range communications while minimizing its potential exposure to cyber threats by hostile surveillance or jamming.

There are a number of research efforts which have focused on short-range, high data rate communications at 60 GHz, relying on the exponentially varying path loss for covertness. However the frequency adaptive path loss has not been exploited for adaptive geographical coverage in the 60 GHz region. Furthermore, the telecommunication industry has invested in the development of electronically steered 60 GHz antenna arrays for indoor datalink application. A successful link will require a highly innovative electronics architecture to use continuous link feedback to control the size and range of the operational sector in real time while minimizing size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C). The challenges include the frequency, power, and antenna array control circuitry and the determination of trade-offs between path loss, power, and antenna circuit complexity. Due to the small wavelength associated with the 60 GHz region, small antenna elements can provide high gains on a small physical array footprint. The control problem is further complicated by the inhomogeneous frequency dependence of the path loss as the carrier frequency is adjusted up and down the oxygen absorption line. As an initial demonstration of these concepts, this SBIR topic addresses the development and demonstration of a full duplex communications / control link between two transceivers. This link will exploit the oxygen path loss at 60 GHz for a wireless real time adaptively covert link to replace the control wire of a wire controlled anti-tank missile or for a ground control / communications link to a UAV. Additionally, dynamically controlled RF power, antenna gain, and beam steering solutions shall be addressed for one of the transceivers, while the other transceiver may be limited to frequency agility only (fixed spectral output power and bore-sight fixed antenna pattern). The same technology will have applications as a basis for commercial or military wireless networks (see for example refs. 2-6). The emerging concepts for 5G wireless networks consider a millimeter wave local area network to distribute digital information in localized areas. The military concern with covertness and jam resistance translate to commercial concern for channel interference. The adaptive nature of this link will accommodate changes due to weather and atmospheric conditions. The link envisioned will have potential usage for fixed or mobile networks or for inter-vehicle communications within a swarm of autonomous UAV’s. With the extensive commercial attention (see ref. 6) and with advances in DoD research programs, the component technology needed for the hardware is available and will advance to higher performance and lower cost as industry plans for 5G networks progress.

PHASE I: Design a two way RF link described above with its general goal to replace the control wire of a wire guided anti-tank missile (see for example refs. 7-8). The line of sight datalink should operate near the 60 GHz atmospheric absorption line for oxygen and with the capability of tuning over the line sufficiently fast to accommodate the changing geometry of the line of sight missile path, with the missile traveling at up to 250 m/s. The link capacity should accommodate at least 5 Gbps. The path length should be variable between 0 - 5 km using frequency, power, and beam pattern agility. It is expected that higher antenna gains (beamwidth of a few degrees) are necessary for longer transmit distances, while low gain patterns (+/-45 degrees) should be achievable at short transmit distances. A bit error rate of 10E-6 should be guaranteed within the operational sector and increase rapidly outside the operational range. The transceiver exhibiting output power and antenna pattern agility in addition to frequency agility shall be located at the missile launcher, while the less expensive transceiver exhibiting frequency agility only is located at the rear end of the missile pointing towards the launcher transceiver. The transceiver unit on the missile should have a form factor of roughly 8 cm X 8 cm X 4 cm. This form factor is a rough goal, not an absolute requirement. Analyze the tradeoffs between transmit power, frequency, and antenna directivity and their adjustability in maintaining an optimum operational sector over the full flight path in various atmospheric conditions (rain or dust). Analyze the effect of required bandwidth of the signal when operating along the asymmetric oxygen absorption line. Develop the software required to support the link. Design a suitable digital modulation technique for such a datalink.

PHASE II: Develop, demonstrate, and deliver the hardware and circuitry required for the datalink, with the metrics described above and proposed at the end of Phase I. Demonstrate the adaptive operational sector over the flight path by static measurements at different path distances coupled with analysis or simulation that the circuit will support the geometry changes at flight speed of 250 m/s. Demonstrate by simulation the adaptive operational sector under different atmospheric conditions. Analyze the jamming resistance of the link by calculating for different positions along the flight path, the maximum distance for effective jamming from outside the “bubble”.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Explore additional developmental funding from the OSD RIF program, other DoD programs, or industrial funding from DoD prime contractors to integrate the missile transceiver onto an operational missile and demonstrate under field conditions. Explore the application for an adaptive secure networks for autonomous UAV swarms or for tactical headquarters on the move. Explore modifying the link for applications to commercial 5G wireless systems. Approach commercial wireless companies for development funding and potential partnering. Transition the technology to commercialization for commercial and/or military applications such as secure links for anti-tank missile or UAV control, secure communications in a tactical headquarters or mobile network, low interference communications in a commercial 5G network, or secure military or commercial mobile communications.

REFERENCES:

1. http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/dmrc/files/2014/09/Bruce_wallace_darpa_web.pdf

2. E. Parhia, C. Cordiero, M. Park, and L. Yang, “IEEE 802.11ad: Defining the Next Generation Multi-Gbps Wi-Fi,” IEEE CCNC Proc. 2010. Doi:10.1109/CCNC.2010.5421713.