BAA-13-29__Amendment_1_For_Posting.docx

23 April 2014

DARPA-BAA-13-29

Strategic Technologies Amendment #1

This notice informs potential proposers of specific topics of interest within DARPA-BAA-13-29 and establishes a date by which proposals are requested. The topics of interest are related to the Strategic Technology Office (STO) Advanced RF Mapping (RadioMap) program and the STO Shared Spectrum Access for Radar and Communications (SSPARC) program. Reference materials describing RadioMap are available online at http://go.usa.gov/WT44. Reference materials describing SSPARC are available online at http://go.usa.gov/2ZUx.

DARPA STO seeks proposals under DARPA-BAA-13-29 technical areas 1.1.2 (Communications and Networks), 1.1.3 (Electronic Warfare), and/or 1.1.4 (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance). Efforts are sought that will assist DARPA in planning future research investments. Therefore, efforts providing systems analysis and understanding of fundamental tradeoffs are of higher interest than those focused on maturing a specific design. Given DARPA planning timelines, studies of roughly six months duration will offer highest value. Notwithstanding the above, efforts of any focus and duration will be considered for funding.

A full proposal must be submitted on or before 4:00 pm, local time (ET), June 6, 2014 in order to be considered in the initial round of selections associated with this amendment. However, proposals complying with the requirements specified in DARPA-BAA-13-29 but received after this deadline will still be evaluated and may be selected contingent upon the availability of funds. See DARPA-BAA-13-29 for details regarding proposal format, submission methods, and other requirements.

Topics Related to the RadioMap Program

The RadioMap program intends to develop a software middleware called WALDO that enables applications to request remote radios and other RF devices to carry out transmission, reception, and signal processing functions. WALDO assures that these functions in support of remote applications are carried out without harm to the primary mission of the RF device. In prior work, the RadioMap program has investigated non-harming remote use of tactical radios and other RF devices to support mapping of spectrum usage, navigation in GPS-denied environments, and network traffic analysis. Proposals are desired that offer investigation of additional applications for this capability. Projects should evaluate performance of the proposed application given realistic assumptions about RF device performance, available network capacity, and operational scenario.

WALDO design and implementation is the subject of ongoing research within the RadioMap program. Information about the current WALDO design is not necessary for a successful project proposal under this Special Notice. Performers may assume a system exists that provides non-harming remote access to RF device capabilities. The remote access will be intermittent and unpredictable since the device's primary mission has priority. One desired output from the research is to identify requirements on WALDO performance or features needed for successful deployment of the application.

Topics Related to the SSPARC Program

Proposals are desired that offer investigation of creative systems concepts in which radar and communications functions are co-designed or integrated into a single system offering high spectral efficiency, high performance and new synergies. Proposals addressing one of the following two topic areas are of particular interest.

1. Sharing in a congested spectrum environment between military communications networks or data links and high power surface level radars.

2. Sharing in a contested spectrum environment between military communications networks or data links and airborne radars, which improves mission success in A2AD operations.

Several challenges complicate spectrum sharing; it is desirable for proposed approaches to address these challenges.

· Adversaries will seek to exploit the sharing mechanism and any information exchanged between the systems to support it.

· The spectrum shared between the radar and communications systems may also contain non-cooperative emitters, e.g. jammers.

· Communications devices may malfunction, for example due to software errors, misconfiguration, or miscalibrated transmitters or clocks. Malfunctioning communication devices easily cause harmful interference to sensitive radar receivers when sharing spectrum.

The opportunity to codesign the radar and communications system is expected to enable new synergies in which the radar and communications systems assist each other’s missions. Examples include using communications devices as multistatic radar receivers, using communications transmissions as radar illumination, and using radar receivers to assist in communications network rendezvous with disadvantaged communications nodes.

All other terms and conditions of DARPA-BAA-13-29 remain unchanged.