SOURCES SOUGHT
99 -- REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) FOR SMALL, RECONFIGURABLE DATA LINK RADIOS
- Notice Date
- 4/22/2011
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 423690
— Other Electronic Parts and Equipment Merchant Wholesalers
- Contracting Office
- Other Defense Agencies, Virginia Contracting Activity, Virginia Contracting Activity (ZD50), 200 MacDill Boulevard, Post Office Box 46563, Washington, District of Columbia, 20035-6563
- ZIP Code
- 20035-6563
- Solicitation Number
- RFI04122011
- Archive Date
- 6/4/2011
- Point of Contact
- Karen Mumford, Phone: 703-907-0730
- E-Mail Address
-
susan.mumford@dia.mil
(susan.mumford@dia.mil)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- UNCLASSIFIED//UNCLASSIFIED 1. (U) INTRODUCTION (U) The Virginia Contracting Activity (VaCA) is requesting information from industry to identify candidates to fill a potential need for a small, reconfigurable data link radio. 2. (U) PURPOSE (U) This document serves as the RFI of the VACA contractor community pursuant to FAR 15.201(e) "Exchange with industry before receipt of proposals". Responses to this RFI will be assessed to identify sources that are considered best qualified to meet future requirements. Best qualified sources are those sources which demonstrate the greatest depth and breadth of skills, experiences and knowledge relevant to the mission, goals, and objectives of the VACA. 3. (U) BACKGROUND (U) The VaCA is seeking information on the potential application of current technology to flexible radio field set operation in areas where system retrieval is impractical. The devices of interest must exhibit remote reconfigurability that enables fundamental operational changes without any on-site user intervention. (U) The primary system requirement is a size, weight and power profile that enables unattended, embedded sensor operations. The focus is on the core radio functionality, not on particular antenna or power amplifier solutions optimized for an application. Respondents are encouraged to provide relevant information on compelling system performance tradeoffs, even if these result in one or a few unmet requirements. Responses should address off-the-shelf capabilities that are currently available. For off-the-shelf items information on catalogue prices may be submitted. (U/FOUO) Depending on the responses to this RFI, VaCA may decide to move forward with a Request for Proposal in FY12 for a program to develop and acquire flexible field equipment for DoD use in both attended and unattended operations. 4. REQUIREMENTS (U) Information on equipment that provides the following capabilities is requested: • (U) Support one half-duplex transmit / receive channel. • (U) As a threshold, support operation in at least two of the following RF bands: UHF band (225 - 400 MHz), L band, S band. As an objective, support operation in the frequency range 225 - 2500 MHz. • (U) As a threshold, support information rates of 50 bps to 100 kbps. As an objective, support information rates of 10 bps to 1 Mbps. Asymmetric rate configurations with higher transmit rate capability are permissible. • (U) As a threshold, support a transmit output power of +10 dBm (10 mW). As an objective, support a transmit output power of +30 dBm (1 W). A 50 Ω interface that allows additional external RF power amplification is required. • (U) Support a remote wireless reconfiguration capability to load transceiver waveforms in the field. • (U) Support a low power sleep mode. • (U) Support a power-efficient digital data interface consistent with a common digital communications standard (non-proprietary). • (U) During transmitter operation, consume no more than 6 W as a threshold and 3 W as an objective. • (U) As a threshold (excluding any battery or antenna), occupy a volume of no more than 10 cubic inches. A 5 cubic inch volume is an objective. (U) Information on the following system reconfigurability parameters is requested: • (U) The use of a specific software radio communication architecture standard or compatible operating environment (SCA, etc.) is not required. • (U) Information on the equipment's ability to load a waveform to initialize, or alter built-in functions to achieve, configuration parameters should be addressed and may include: 1. Modem functionality for BPSK, QPSK, DBPSK, and OQPSK at symbol rates consistent with the information rates stated above. 2. Forward error correction for common coding rates and families. 3. Direct sequence spread spectrum with chip rates of 1 Mcps to 5 Mcps. 4. Programmable carrier frequency within the channel bandwidth. 5. Framing, interleaving, pulse shaping and other formatting functions. 6. Transmit output power level control in 1.0 dB steps across a 16 dB range. It is desired that transmit power efficiency remain similar over this range. 7. AES 256-bit transmission security. 5. (U) INFORMATION DESIRED (U) In each proposed solution, discuss to what extent the product(s) satisfies the above requirements. If certain minimum requirements are not met, identify those cases and address either how the differences may be resolved or what performance gains will be achieved by relaxing the requirement. Focus each discussion on the system size, weight and power consumption implications. (U) Summarize any previous equipment use in related operations, if applicable. 6. (U) SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS a. (U) All capability statements submitted in response to this RFI are to be received no later than 1600 Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 20 May 2011. To aid the Government review, submissions are limited to no more than 20 pages. A page is defined as each face of a 8-1/2 x 11 inch sheet with information contained within an image area of 7 x 9 inches. Type size shall be a 12-point proportional font. Briefings and/or briefing charts in lieu of written responses are not desired. Tables, charts, graphs, diagrams and figures shall be used wherever practical to depict organizations, systems and layout, implementation schedules, plans, etc. These displays shall be uncomplicated, legible and shall not exceed 8-1/2 x 11 inches. Foldout pages shall not be used. For tables, charts, graphs and figures, the text shall be not smaller than 12-points. Elaborate formats, bindings or color presentations are not required. Elaborate brochures or documentation, binding, detailed art work, or other embellishments are not required nor are they desired. Classified responses are acceptable but not required. Respondents should provide their responses in softcopy form. b. (U) This notice is for information and planning purpose only and does not commit the Government to any contractual agreement. This is not a request for proposal. The Government does not intend to award a contract based on responses under this announcement nor otherwise pay for preparing any information sent for the Government use. Any proprietary information should be so marked. c. (U) Submissions shall only be transmitted via email to susan.mumford@dia.mil 7. (U) QUESTIONS (U) All questions are to be submitted to the Contracting Officer, Ms. Karen Mumford. The Government will endeavor to respond to all valid questions submitted. UNCLASSIFIED//UNCLASSIFIED
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