Department of the navy (don) 18. 1 Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions introduction

KEYWORDS: High Power Electronics; Thermally Conductive Electrically Insulating Composites; Adhesives; Underfills; Top Side Coatings

N181-079

TITLE: Learning Performance Models and Tactical Knowledge for Continuous Mission Planning

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Battlespace, Ground/Sea Vehicles, Information Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMS-495, PEO-LCS, Mine Warfare Environmental Decision Aid Library (MEDAL) Program

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 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.

OBJECTIVE: Develop machine learning approaches for automatically acquiring and continually updating asset performance models and tactical planning knowledge to improve the decision support by automated mission planning systems in highly dynamic environments, and to enable their maintainability.

DESCRIPTION: Automated planning tools are commonly used as decision aids for mission planners. Successful mission planning requires accurate and complete models of the performance capabilities of the assets, the environment including the behaviors of other agents in the environment, and mission goals and sub-goals. Current practice for planning in situations that change is to hand-code the changes in the models of capability, environment, and goals and then re-plan. This approach is slow and becomes infeasible in highly dynamic situations, particularly in tactical mission planning where the tempo of new information requires rapid changes in the models that may become inconsistent and obsolete faster than our ability to hand-code new models. This can severely degrade the quality and effectiveness of automated planning aids to a degree that they may not be used. This problem is further exacerbated by the introduction of unmanned assets if there are frequent changes to their sensing and autonomous capabilities. The Navy needs to develop methods that can rapidly and continuously plan as new information necessitates updating the models.

Machine learning is a promising approach for learning to continually update performance and the environment models for use in automated planning. The Navy wants to develop learning methods that can leverage and exploit mission performance data and user feedback including after action reports, as well as planning decisions and critiques of system performance. Recent advances in machine learning are applicable to these automated mission planning aids, and could allow them to automatically improve their performance with respect to new asset models, and incorporate new protocols appropriate to encountered situations. For instance, the ability to learn and update asset performance models has been demonstrated in certain domains [1]; which could prove useful in learning predictive asset performance models. Likewise, task model learning has been demonstrated with hierarchical task network learning [2][4] and explanation-based learning [3]. Applicable approaches for learning asset performance models and tactical knowledge for use in complex multi-domain, multi-asset mission planning problems that are scalable and robust are desired.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. Owned and Operated with no Foreign Influence as defined by DOD 5220.22-M, National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor and/or subcontractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances, in order to perform on advanced phases of this contract as set forth by DSS and ONR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material IAW DoD 5220.22-M during the advance phases of this contract.

PHASE I: To develop and evaluate the feasibility of the approach, proposers should specify a realistic application scenario and assets and their performance characteristics. For example, a scenario of interest is continuous planning for maritime mine detection and neutralization using unmanned vehicles. Conduct a study of machine learning approaches that could be used to acquire and update asset performance models and planning knowledge for automated planning systems. Assess the feasibility of selected approaches for incrementally and continually learning performance and planning knowledge in the context of multi-domain, multi-asset missions. Identify software interface and requirements for integrating learning algorithms with automated planning aids. Phase I should include plans for a prototype to be developed during Phase II.

PHASE II: Implement machine learning algorithms identified in Phase I into a software prototype. Evaluate the effectiveness of learning over multiple simulated scenarios and systems. Evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness using measures such as improvement in coverage, increased acceptance of planning recommendations and subsequent increase in mission measures of effectiveness and performance. Work in this phase may be done at the unclassified level; however, the ability to handle restricted databases would add flexibility.

It is probable that the work under this effort will be classified under Phase II (see Description section for details).

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Mature and extend the learning algorithms to operate effectively, be robust, and fault-tolerant to a range of government-provided data and constraints, in planning systems under their operating conditions. Coordinate with the program office to fully test and integrate into a potential program of record. Private sector commercial potential and dual-use applications include survey and first responder operations.

REFERENCES:

1. Ozisikyilmaz, Memik, Choudhary (2008). Machine Learning Models to Predict Performance of Computer System Design Alternatives. In Proceedings of 37th International Conference on Parallel Processing. http://cucis.ece.northwestern.edu/projects/DMS/publications/OziMem08B.pdf

2. Garland, Lesh, (2003). Learning Hierarchical Task Models by Demonstration. Technical Report TR2003-01, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories. http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~aeg/papers/garland.tr2002-04.pdf

3. Mohan, Laird (2014). Learning Goal-Oriented Hierarchical Tasks from Situated Interactive Instruction. Proceedings of the 27th AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). http://web.eecs.umich.edu/~soar/sitemaker/docs/pubs/mohan_AAAI_2014.pdf

4. Zhuo, Munoz-Avila, Yang (2014). Learning Hierarchical Task Network Domains from Partially Observed Plan Traces. Artificial Intelligence Journal. http://www.cse.lehigh.edu/%7Emunoz/Publications/AIJ14.pdf

KEYWORDS: Continuous Planning; Tactical Mission Planning; Automated Planners; Dynamic Environments; Machine Learning; Learning Performance Capabilities

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes, Weapons

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: ONR Solid State Laser Technology Maturation (SSL-TM), PEO-IWS 2-Surface Naval Laser Weapon System

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 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.

OBJECTIVE: Development of fiber coupled optical isolators with high power handling capability, low insertion loss, and high isolation, while minimizing volume and weight over current state-of-the-art. Higher power fiber-coupled isolators are needed to reduce required gain at each stage, enabling multi-kW output fiber lasers and enabling amplifiers suitable for laser beam combining, thereby reducing the number of beams required to be combined, and making overall system Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) requirement reductions possible.

DESCRIPTION: Scaling High Energy Laser (HEL) output power requires increasing the output power per fiber from the current values of approximately 1.5 kiloWatts (kW), and then combining several fiber laser sources to form a single monolithic laser beam. Multi-stage Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) architectures have been developed that mitigate the risks of damage to optical components by increasing fiber core diameter in each stage. Fiber-coupled isolators, which are required to limit back reflections between stages, are currently limited to less than 30 Watts (W) forward and 3 W backward propagating power handling capability. This requires final stage amplifier gains of greater than 20 decibel (dB) as output power per fiber is scaled to the 2 to 3 kW range. This could lead to parasitic lasing, increased Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE), and increased risk of damage to optical components. Higher power capable fiber-coupled isolators are needed to reduce the required gain at each stage, enabling multi-kW output fiber lasers and amplifiers suitable for beam combining, hence reducing the number of combined beams, and overall system SWaP requirements. This solicitation seeks improvements in the backward power handling capability to reach values greater than or equal to (=) 40 W. Also desired is a reduction by half in mass and volume over current state-of-the-art (currently 20x14x50mm, 57g), with an insertion loss of less than (<) 1.5 dB, and isolation greater than or equal to (=) 25 dB.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. Owned and Operated with no Foreign Influence as defined by DOD 5220.22-M, National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been be implemented and approved by the Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor and/or subcontractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances, in order to perform on advanced phases of this contract as set forth by DSS and ONR in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material IAW DoD 5220.22-M during the advance phases of this contract.

PHASE I: Phase I will include development and/or use of detailed modeling tools to analyze the performance of fiber coupled isolator suitable for use in fiber lasers/amplifiers suitable for beam combining. Issues that impact and limit the performance of the fiber-coupled isolators will be examined to determine specific figures of merit that improve the power handling capability, while improving insertion loss, and isolation. The results of this modeling will be used to develop prototype fiber-coupled isolator’s designs, with recommendations for the down-selection of a specific design or designs. Consideration shall also be given to reducing the volume and mass of the device. The deliverables will be a detailed technical report of all analysis including discussions on the power scaling limits, and expected performance in terms of forward and backward power handling capability, insertion loss, and isolation. Computer models, including and developed or modified analysis analytical codes, will be delivered on an accompanying CD/DVD. The analysis should consider the practicalities of any proposed material processing required to produce prototype fiber-coupled isolators, or other fiber laser modifications required. Included with the report shall be a detailed fabrication plan for fiber-coupled isolators for Phase II, with alternatives considered with documentation for technical risks, cost, and schedule. Recommended quantities of fiber-coupled isolator designs to be prototyped shall be included, with plans for testing and verification of analytical results. The Phase I final report shall include the fiber-coupled isolator development plan, fabrication and testing timeline, with performance goals and key milestones, for Phase II.

PHASE II: In the first year, based upon the results of Phase I analysis and the development plan reported, fiber-coupled isolator samples will be fabricated and subjected initially to low power (approximately 5 to 10 W) evaluation. Careful measurements of insertion loss and isolation shall be collected and compared to previous results from Phase I, along with any associated thermal performance data. In the second year, high-power fiber-coupled isolators shall be evaluated at a level of approximately 40 W and, if possible, higher powers. Data on resulting power handling capability, insertion loss, isolation, and thermal performance of the fiber-coupled isolators shall be collected, compiled into a provided database, and reported. The goals will be increasing of power handling capability, improving insertion loss and isolation, while minimizing volume and mass. Stable device performance shall be demonstrated for operating times of ten (10) minutes or more at stable continuous-wave (CW) high power levels. The final report shall include all data collected, and a discussion of any remaining steps required to develop a commercial version of the device.

It is probable that the work under this effort will be classified under Phase II (see Description section for details).

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The primary applications of high power fiber lasers are defense related. However, the techniques employed in fiber laser amplifiers can find use in applications such as high-speed laser cutting and welding, broadband communication, and free space satellite data streaming utilizing lasers with consistently high power lasers with excellent beam quality. The contractor in Phase III shall support the transition of resulting components and design efforts to a ship based laser system and shall further develop the laser technology to support system integration for surface Navy shipboard implementation. A shipboard laser system comprised of multiple fiber lasers which are beam-combined into a single militarily useful laser beam at a very high power levels is expected.

REFERENCES:

1. Augst, S. J., Goyal, A. K., Aggarwal, R. L., Fan, T. Y., and Sanchez, A. "Wavelength beam combining of ytterbium fiber lasers"; Optical Society of America (OSA) Optics Letters; Vol. 28, Issue 5, pp. 331-333; 2003; https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.28.000331

2. Paschotta, R., Nilsson, J., Tropper, A. C., and Hanna, D. C. "Ytterbium-doped fiber amplifiers," in IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 33, no. 7, pp. 1049-1056, Jul 1997; doi: 10.1109/3.594865

3. Padula, C. and Young, C. "5.4 - Optical isolators for high-power 1.06-micron glass laser system," in IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, vol. 3, no. 11, pp. 493-498, November 1967; doi: 10.1109/JQE.1967.1074385

KEYWORDS: High Energy Lasers; HELs; Fiber Lasers; High Power Lasers; Fiber Amplifiers; Fiber Laser Coupled Isolators

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics, Information Systems, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: 6.2 programs within ONR Code 31, building new HW systems in pre-FNC incubators

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 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.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this topic are to invent a device that can be manufactured in an arrayed geometry using whole wafer lithography techniques wherein anti-Stokes optical upconversion can produce net cooling at each device and wherein well-verified physics allows the upconverted photons to be caused to flow preferentially in predefined directions away from the localized heat sinks, independent of the local electronic temperature distribution.

DESCRIPTION: In most non-elemental solids, there are ground and excited state energy bands of the electrons that contain sub-bands separated by the energies of thermally excitable phonons of the crystal lattice. If one of the ground state electrons absorbs a photon that promotes it to such an excited state band and then it subsequently also absorbs a phonon, and if the excitation decays by emitting a photon, then the new photon will have more energy than the originally absorbed one. This is called the anti-Stokes process and the newly emitted photon will be blue shifted. The ability of this process to deliver net cooling of the solid is determined by the branching ratio between the emission of the upconverted photon and all other decay paths of the excitation and the likelihood that the upconverted photon will escape from the local environment which, for applications, we wish to cool. Most demonstrations of this physics have to date been done in bulk glasses where the re-radiated photons leave the object being cooled isotropically. Even if such devices could be made into a planar geometry suitable for incorporation in a 3D stack of electronics, this isotropy would mean that the vast majority of the upconverted photons would have to pass through the devices we wish to cool in the adjacent planes, many would be absorbed there, and the net cooling of the electronics would be dramatically reduced. What is needed is a way to cause the anti-Stokes photons to leave their point of origin headed in a controllable, specific direction and then to follow that path to a sink point which allows them to be removed from the 3D stack in a convenient manner, such as via a low loss optical fiber. Fully optimized versions of such cooling planes would allow vertical co-fabrication of the cooling structures and the active components being cooled, but for the purposes of the Phase I proposal of this topic it will be sufficient to define a device geometry and select materials to demonstrate net optical cooling from a clearly defined starting temperature, produce a technical approach that works to reduce the technical risk of the proposed device, and argues how the integratable cooling plane would be built if the individual device is successful in the materials chosen. If the approach proposed will be applicable to only a portion of the entire range of circuit operating temperatures of ~4K to 400K (-289C to +125C), those limitations should be discussed in the proposal.

PHASE I: The purpose of the Phase I effort is to refine the device concept presented in the initial proposal and amplify the supporting scientific evidence about the behavior of the selected materials to the point where the Phase II decision can be made with realistic expectations of the performance possible at the end of Phase II base. For example, if the original proposal indicates there are two or three candidate materials for use in the cooling volume, the Phase I should determine which is in fact most promising. Likely fabrication issues for the cooling devices should be explored. Detailed multi-physics simulations might be attempted. Demonstration of the method(s) proposed for controlling the upconverted photon outflow are very desirable. Fabrication of a first prototype single device and proof it cools would be ideal. The preliminary Phase II proposal prepared at the end of Phase I should include a discussion of the factors that could limit the energy efficiency of the chosen design and what could be done to mitigate these limits if Phase II is awarded.

PHASE II: The Phase II effort will have four goals: optimization of the thermal performance of the chosen single cooling device, planning the integration of a set of such devices into a first array/cooling plane demonstrator, and fabrication and test thereof, followed by further optimization. The first goal must be completed in the base portion of the award since the first option must be cost shared by a user who wants to utilize this method of cooling and they must be convinced it is no longer "high technical risk" work. Further follow on efforts will require user financial support and hence are expected to work toward the sponsor's specified temperature range, thermal lift, and specific application, and conceivably could become classified if the application is.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The central concept of this topic will, if successfully realized, be considered as enabling, have many different uses, and ought to qualify as "Dual use" for ITAR purposes. The military applications should range from cooling wiring and possibly power amplifiers in high-power transmitters (used for surveillance and electronic attack) to the sensing of chemical, biologic, or radioactive weapons at long wavelengths, to the provision of cryogenic cooling for electronics dependent on low temperature environments. However, the application of local or general cooling, integrable with 3D stacked electronics, has wide applicability in the consumer electronics fields where heat removal often dictates maximum processor density for laptops and forces strategies such as sequential depowering of circuit blocks to allow sufficient cooling time for the stack not to over-heat and-or catch fire.

REFERENCES:

1. Boriskina, S. V., Tong, J. K., Hsu, W. C., Liao, B. L., Huang, Y., Chiloyan, V. and Chen, G. "Heat meets light on the nanoscale", Nanophotonics 5 (#1), pp. 134-160, June 2016. (Open Access)

2. Nemova, G. "Laser cooling of solids", https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0907/0907.1926.pdf

3. Ruan, X. L. and Kaviany, M. "Advances in laser cooling of solids", Journal of Heat Transfer 129 (#1), pp. 3-10, Jan. 2007, https://engineering.purdue.edu/NANOENERGY/publications/Ruan_JHT_2007.pdf

KEYWORDS: Laser Cooling; 3-Dimensional Packaging; Anti-Stokes Radiation; Solid State Cooling; Cryogen Free Cooling; Reradiation Branching Ratio