DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM SBIR 21.4 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) Army Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) Announcement April 1, 2021: ASO issued for pre-release April 14, 2021: Army begins accepting proposals May 20, 2021: Deadline for receipt of proposals no later than 12:00 p.m. ET IMPORTANT Deadline for Receipt : Proposals must be completely submitted no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, May 20, 2021. Proposals submitted after 12:00 p.m. will not be evaluated. The final proposal submission includes successful completion of all firm level forms, all required volumes, and electronic corporate official certification. Classified proposals will not be accepted under the DoD SBIR Program. This BAA and the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP) sites are designed to reduce the time and cost required to prepare a formal proposal. The DSIP is the official portal for DoD SBIR/STTR proposal submission. Proposers are required to submit proposals via DSIP; proposals submitted by any other means will be disregarded. Proposers submitting through this site for the first time will be asked to register. Effective with this announcement, firms are required to register for a login.gov account and link it to their DSIP account. See section 4.14 for more information regarding registration. The Small Business Administration, through its SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, purposely departs from normal Government solicitation formats and requirements and authorizes agencies to simplify the SBIR/STTR award process and minimize the regulatory burden on small business. Therefore, consistent with the SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive, the Department of Defense is soliciting proposals as a Broad Agency Announcement. SBIR/STTR Updates and Notices: To be notified of SBIR/STTR opportunities and to receive e-mail updates on the DoD SBIR and STTR Programs, you are invited to subscribe to our Listserv by emailing
[email protected]. Help Desk: If you have questions about the Defense Department's SBIR or STTR Programs, please call the DoD SBIR/STTR Help Desk at 1-703-214-1333, or email to
[email protected]. Topic Q&A : The Topic Q&A for this BAA opens on April 1, 2021 and closes to new questions on May 4, 2021 at 12:00 PM ET. Proposers may submit written questions through Topic Q&A at https://www.dodsbirsttr.mil/submissions/login or through the SBIR Mailbox at usarmy.pentagon.hqda-asa-alt.mbx.army-applied-sbir-program@mail.mil. In Topic Q&A, the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing. Once the BAA closes to proposal submission, no communication of any kind with the topic author or through Topic Q&A regarding your submitted proposal is allowed. Questions should be limited to specific information related to improving the understanding of a particular topic’s requirements. Proposing firms may not ask for advice or guidance on solution approach and you may not submit additional material to the topic author. If information provided during an exchange with the topic author is deemed necessary for proposal preparation, that information will be made available to all parties through Topic Q&A. Proposing firms are advised to monitor Topic Q&A during the BAA period for questions and answers. Proposing firms should also frequently monitor DSIP for updates and amendments to the topics. This Army Applied SBIR Opportunity (ASO) is issued under the Army Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for SBIR/STTR 21.4. All proposals in response to the technical area(s) described herein will be submitted in accordance with the instructions provided under 21.4, found here: https://beta.sam.gov/opp/b79ded14dcf54451bcfb11bddf5cd259/view?keywords=%22army%20sbir%22&sort=-relevance&index=opp&is_active=true&page=1. a. Eligibility The eligibility requirements for the SBIR/STTR programs are unique and do not correspond to those of other small business programs. Please refer to Section 3.1, Eligible Applicants, of BAA 21.4 for full eligibility requirements. b. Anticipated Structure/Award Information Please refer to Section 1, Funding Opportunity Description, provided in BAA 21.4 for detailed information regarding SBIR/STTR phase structure and flexibility. For this BAA, Department of the Army will accept Phase I proposals for the cost of up to $259,613 for a 6-month period of performance. Proposers should refer to Section 4, Application and Submission information, of BAA 21.4 for detailed proposal preparation instructions. Proposals that do not comply with the requirements detailed in BAA 21.4 and the research objectives of this ASO are considered non-conforming and therefore are not evaluated nor considered for award. Phase I proposals shall not exceed 5 pages. Phase I commercialization strategy shall not exceed 2 pages. This should be the last section of the Technical Volume and will not count against the 5-page limit. Please refer to Appendix A of BAA 21.4 for detailed instructions on Phase I proposal preparation. c. Evaluation of Proposals Section 5, Evaluation of Proposals, in BAA 21.4 provides detailed information on proposal evaluation and the selection process for this ASO. d. Due Date/Time Full proposal packages (Proposal Cover Sheet, Technical Volume, Price/Cost Volume, and Company Commercialization Report inclusive of supporting documentation) must be submitted via the DoD SBIR/STTR Proposal Submission website per the instructions outlined in BAA 21.4 Section 4.3 Electronic Submission no later than 12:00 p.m. ET, May 20, 2021. Army SBIR 21.4 Topic Index A214-034 Dismounted Device-to-Device (D2D) Communication Platform OBJECTIVE: Develop a Device-to-Device (D2D) squad-level communication platform that uses direct communications without network assistance of a radio access network (RAN). The D2D platform shall implement a cognitive agent controlling jamming mitigation strategies in contested electronic contested environments to provide increased resiliency and lethality for dismounted soldiers. DESCRIPTION: The current state of the art for dismounted soldier communications is the adoption of commercial wireless waveforms (e.g., IEEE 802.11x, LTE) or existing tactical radios. In the case of commercial wireless waveforms, the waveform provides high bandwidth throughput and scalability. However, commercial wireless waveforms are not developed to operate in electronic contested environments (i.e., Electronic Warfare). In the case of tactical radio waveforms, bandwidth throughput is minimal in comparison to commercial bandwidth speed. It does not support high bandwidth services or electronic warfare resiliency at the dismounted soldier level. In both cases, commercial and tactical radios, neither supports an evolving threat matrix or information-driven decision-making. Therefore, a solution is required that combines high-speed bandwidth throughput (i.e., commercial waveform) and resiliency in electronically contested environments. The Offeror is required to provide an innovative solution that encompasses commercial high bandwidth and scalability. Some of these innovative solutions could be LTE-A, an intelligent cognitive agent, power-efficiency, and jamming mitigation electronics in a lightweight form-factor for dismounted operations. The following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the said solution is below: The Dismounted D2D Node shall provide voice and data communications. Data communications are defined as Situational Awareness (SA), Command & Control (C2), and Video. The Dismounted D2D Node shall support Push-to-Talk (PTT) voice communications The Dismounted D2D Node shall use direct communications without RAN coordination The Dismounted D2D Node shall use discovery without RAN coordination The Dismounted D2D Node shall use a UMTS Subscriber Identify Module (USIM) for provisioning The Dismounted D2D Node shall use Cryptographic Algorithms for Bearer Channel Security The Dismounted D2D Node shall use Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP) for Media Channel Security The Dismounted D2D Node shall use licensed or unlicensed frequency bands The Dismounted D2D Node shall support multicast for one-to-many (Group) communications The Dismounted D2D Node shall support broadcast for one-to-many (Group) communications The Dismounted D2D Node shall automatically establish direct communications up to 1000 D2D Nodes within range The Dismounted D2D Node communication range shall be no less than 500 meters The Dismounted D2D Node communication throughput shall be no less than 300 Mbps The Dismounted D2D Node communications shall operate in degraded mode in contested environments The Dismounted D2D Node shall be Low Probability of Intercept & Low Probability of Detection (LPI/LPD ) The Dismounted D2D Node shall be Jam Resistant The Dismounted D2D Node shall implement Frequency Agility The Dismounted D2D Node shall implement Machine Learning for Signal Feature Extraction The Dismounted D2D Node shall implement Machine Learning to direct and control Jammer Mitigation Strategies The Dismounted D2D Node shall implement Decoy Signal(s) outside of the frequency band of operation(s) The Dismounted D2D Node shall implement Adaptive Antenna Technology The Dismounted D2D Node shall not exceed 6" x 2” x 3” in volume The Dismounted D2D Node shall not exceed 0.5 lbs The Dismounted D2D Node shall not exceed 2W budget The Dismounted D2D shall not exceed $500 The Dismounted D2D Node shall use USB for external communications PHASE I: The Offeror shall prepare and deliver a feasibility study at the end of phase 1. The feasibility study shall contain a proposed design concept, and implementation of a dismounted D2D communication platform based on system description and KPIs discussed and outlined in the description section. The proposed design concept and implementation shall be substantiated through modeling/simulation or other analytic means. When presenting modeling/simulation or analytic outcomes in the feasibility study, the offer shall include assumptions, caveats, and test data used substantiate conclusion(s) in the feasibility study. PHASE II: The Offeror shall provide 8-10 operational prototypes and demonstrate functionality at the end of phase 2. The network communication test scenarios shall consist of the following: 8-10 node network where voice quality and data throughput rates will be scrutinized. Verification and Validation of the 1-26 KPIs outlined in the description section above. PHASE III: The Offeror shall demonstrate the Dismounted D2D Communication Platform with a limited number of nodes that autonomously forms a network, processes Voice, C2, SA, and Video data traffic in support of dismounted soldiers. In terms of commercialization, the communications technology developed through this SBIR can be readily used in the IoT (Internet of Things) commercial market space. Several areas of the IoT include sensor networking and management, data off-loading for LTE (Long-Term Evolution) networks, and Smart Grid Communications. KEYWORDS: D2D; Jam Resistance; Frequency Agility; LTE REFERENCES: Liebhart, R. (2015). LTE for public safety. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Mumtaz, S., & Rodriguez, J. (2014). Smart Device to Smart Device Communication. Cham: Springer International Publishing. [SPEC] 3GPP TR 22.803 – Feasibility study for Proximity Services (ProSe). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://itectec.com/archive/3gpp-specification-tr-22-803/. Itectec.com. (2019). [SPEC] 3GPP TS 23.303 – Proximity-based services (ProSe); Stage 2 – iTecTec. [online] Available at: https://itectec.com/archive/3gpp-specification-ts-23-303/ [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019]. [SPEC] 3GPP TR 36.843 – Study on LTE device to device proximity services; Radio aspects – iTecTec. (2014). Retrieved November 2, 2019, from https://itectec.com/archive/3gpp-specification-tr-36-843/