N252-115 TITLE: Low Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) Phased Array For Vehicle Tracking Using Signals of Opportunity

OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Hypersonics;Integrated Network Systems-of-Systems;Microelectronics

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 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 a state of the art (SOTA) low size, weight, and power (SWaP) phased array capable of increasing positional accuracy of a vehicle in a hypersonic regime using signals of opportunity.

DESCRIPTION: Phased Array Tracking is currently being used for fifth generation (5G) cell towers. The tracking is done with stationary active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs) and targets slow moving people or networks to send information. The Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) Program would like to use a passive phased array that tracks signals of opportunity (SoOp) to give real-time position updates/corrections to a hypersonic vehicle. Given a known position of a radiating system, the phased array can track the angle of arrival (AoA) of a radiated signal. With the AoA and known position of the stationary system, the position of the vehicle can be estimated. This allows corrections to the inertial measurement unit’s (IMU’s) drift error. The phased array may use any low earth orbit (LEO), GPS, or stationary high power SoOp. The trade space between range and size of the phased array is a significant consideration for design. This project will transition to defense contractors for high-speed weapons and space systems. To meet these needs, maturation and packaging of the technology to meet practical size, weight, and power constraints will be required. Extreme environments may require special considerations to conform to airframe shape and shielding from the aerothermal environment.

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 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and SSP 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 during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part 2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

PHASE I: Conduct a feasibility study to show the use of a passive phased array to track a SoOp and give real-time estimations for the hypersonic vehicle’s position. The technology shall show improvements in positional accuracy with varying distance and incident angles from the SoOp, resistance to power saturation of noisy environment, while minimizing SWaP. The use of modeling and simulations is recommended with limitations on budget for hardware in Phase I. Technical merit and competence is evaluated based on the use of models and simulations, algorithms, and technical plan of action. The Phase I Option, if exercised, will include the initial design specifications and capabilities description to build a prototype solution in Phase II.

PHASE II: Demonstrate software and algorithms with the use of the passive phased array to locate a vehicle’s current position with the use of the SoOp as an external reference point addressed in the Phase I. The Phase II Statement of Work (SOW) should identify a work plan that provides proof of concept that the technology has the potential to meet the military performance goals, highlighted in Phase I. Work should focus on the increase in accuracy consistency, and reliability. A prototype, modeling and simulation, and/or software shall be provided with intent to be integrated into test assest(s) for verification and validation of the technology by the end of the Phase II.

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: If the demonstration in Phase II is deemed to be of high interest to the Government, support the Government in transitioning the technology for Government use. The transitioned product is expected to be able to support current and future weapon and space systems, as well as a wide range of other air, land, and sea-based systems.

Commercial applications should be considered for transition (i.e., 5G, navigation systems, and tracking systems).

REFERENCES:

1. Wei, Teng and Zhang, Xinyu. "mtrack: High-precision passive tracking using millimeter wave radios." Proceedings of the 21st Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking, 2015. https://xyzhang.ucsd.edu/papers/TWei_MobiCom15_mTrack.pdf
2. Karanam, C. R.; Korany, B. and Mostofi, Y. "Magnitude-Based Angle-of-Arrival Estimation, Localization, and Target Tracking."17th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Information Processing in Sensor Networks (IPSN), Porto, Portugal, 2018, pp. 254-265, doi: 10.1109/IPSN.2018.00053
3. Hashemi, H.; Guan, Xiang; Komijani, A. and Hajimiri, A. "A 24-GHz SiGe phased-array receiver-LO phase-shifting approach." IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 53, No. 2, Feb. 2005, pp. 614-626. doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2004.841218

KEYWORDS: Phased Array; Passive; Angle of Arrival; Radio Frequency; Radiation; Signals of Opportunity; Hypersonic; Tracking; Fast Tracking; Low Latency; Algorithm; Tracking Algorithm; Passive Electronically Scanned Array; Active Electronically Scanned Array; Signal

TPOC 1: SSP SBIR POC
[email protected]

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