66 -- ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATIONS AND DATA STORAGE BUOY SYSTEM AND ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATIONS MODEM PERSONAL COMPUTERS

Notice Date

September 13, 2001

Contracting Office

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL-SSC), Attn: Code 3235, Building 1007, Room 44, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-5004

ZIP Code

39529-5004

Point of Contact

Contract Specialist, Eric J. Sogard; Contracting Officer, Patricia A. Lewis, 228 688-5784

E-Mail Address

ERROR -- (esogard@nrlssc.navy.mil)

Description

This announcement is a pre solicitation notice open to all interested parties. The Government has a requirement for a number of Acoustic Communications and Data Storage (ACDS) Buoy systems and a number of Acoustic Communications Modem Personal Computers (Modem PC's). The ACDS is to be deployed from UNOLS, U.S. Navy, or commercial oceanographic vessels as autonomous acoustic communications and data collection systems. The ACDS buoy systems will serve as acoustic modem/repeaters that can receive, transmit, and record acoustic signals in an ocean environment for continuous operation up to 12 hours in duration. Each ACDS buoy system shall be deployed moored to the ocean bottom. ACDS buoy electronics will interface to a GFE payload providing it with conditioned acoustic signals, energy and will receive from the GFE payload analog signals for transmission. The system will be linked, using RF LAN technology, to a supporting vessel for command, system function control and retrieval of selected portions of data. Support vessel Monitoring/Control Station hardware and software will be provided to enable communication and exercise of the ACDS buoy command and control functions by the supporting vessel. A Pentium PC will be provided as GFE. Procured hardware will consist of vessel RF LAN equipment, a power supply to enable deck/shore side checkout of the buoy and a power cable to be used with the surface/sub-surface tether as an umbilical. Software will consist of that required to implement the RFP command and control functions in a GFE PC Pentium computer, running Windows 2000. The Modem PC's are to be deployed as signal-processing units in the ACDS buoy. The modem PC shall include custom application software that enables digital communications via the underwater medium. The Modem PC's shall perform analog-to-analog conversion, signal processing, digital-to-analog conversion, data storage, RF network communications and data transfer. It anticipated that commercial or nondevelopmental items could be incorporated at the component level of the systems described above, however, it is also anticipated that there will be substantial development in the configuration of these components as well as the software development for the ACDS buoy and shipboard monitor/control station (MCS) as well as the Modem PC's. In order to develop Technical Performance Specifications (TSP) that clearly establish the government's needs and convey the complexity of development of the systems, the government intends to conduct a pre-solicitation conference in the form of e-mail correspondence. As such, the government intends to send a draft copy of the current Technical Performance Specifications via e-mail in word format to all interested parties for comment. Interested parties who feel that they can provide meaningful feedback and innovation to the development of the TSP shall request a copy of the draft TSP(s) at esogard@nrlssc.navy.mil. no later than 20 SEP 2001. There will be no deadline for receipt of return comments; however, the Government intends to finalize the TSP for issuance of the solicitation on or about 26 OCT 2001. In order to uphold a fair competition to all future potential offerors, the government will not respond to any questions related to this notice. Interested parties who respond to this notice should be prepared to relinquish any claims to proprietary data related to there comments as may be used in the final version of the TSPs.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010917/66SOL008.HTM (W-256 SN50X571)