USGS_Software_Radio_RFI_1.pdf

United States Geological Survey (USGS) Request for Information (RFI)

Ground System Software Radio & Associated Products

Ground System Software Radio RFI

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to conduct market research to learn about narrowband and wideband Software Defined Radios (SDRs) and associated products such as Telemetry and Command (T&C) Front End Processing (FEP) applications. This RFI does not constitute a request for quotes, proposals, or bids;

submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary; the Government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. Responses to this announcement are for planning purposes only. The results of the market research will contribute to the development of the requirement and guide acquisition decision-making.

The primary North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code to be used for this requirement is 334220, Satellite Communications Equipment Manufacturing.

Mission Overview / Background

Landsat satellites have continuously acquired multispectral images of the land surface since the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972. Landsat represents the world's longest continuously acquired collection of space-based moderate-resolution land remote sensing data. Five plus decades of these data provide a unique resource for those who work in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping, and global change research. Landsat images are also invaluable for emergency response and disaster relief. These data also support government, commercial, industrial, civilian, military, and educational communities throughout the United States (U.S.) and worldwide. Consistent with U.S. law and government policy stated in both the Commercial Space Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-303), and the Land Remote Sensing Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-555), the USGS partners with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in developing future Landsat capabilities. NASA develops the space segment (spacecraft and instruments) and provides the launch vehicle, while the USGS develops the ground system and operates the mission after on-orbit commissioning.

The USGS currently supports Landsat 7, 8, and 9 mission operations. Under the Landsat Ground Network (LGN), the USGS operates two antenna assets at the Landsat Ground Station (LGS) located at the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center in Sioux Falls, SD, and also works with other agencies or ground station service providers in the U.S. and Worldwide to achieve its objectives. The USGS currently uses Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based modems (narrowband and wideband) and a Government Off the Shelf (GOTS) application (narrowband only) to provide ground station capabilities such as (but not limited to) system control and monitoring, signal monitoring, baseband processing, frame synchronization, command uplink formatting, command echo checking, data stream recording, WAN transport of data streams, and general testing tools. The current modems and T&C FEP have served the LGN well for roughly fifteen years, but the USGS is interested in learning what emerging technologies may have to offer in terms of capabilities, performance, flexibility, scalability, cost, and deployment options.

RFI Purpose and Objectives

Obtain information pertaining to Commercially available Off-the-Shelf (COTS) or GOTS narrowband and/or wideband SDRs and L, S, X, and Ka-Band Digitizer products along with any associated or complementary applications or devices for ground station T&C processing and fast, reliable network transport of data streams LAN or WAN. There is no requirement for an integrated narrowband and wideband solution; they may be separate products. Solutions do not have to be limited to the ranges or modulation types listed below; the tables below are intended as a possible representative use case only.

Narrowband

NOTE: USGS narrowband communications baseline is S-Band. L-Band is for research purposes only.

Frequency Modulation Data Rate

S-Band Command Uplink 2025 – 2120 MHz BPSK 1 Kbps – 256 Kbps

S-Band Telemetry Downlink 2200 – 2300 MHz BPSK, OQPSK 1 Mbps – 4 Mbps

L-Band Command Uplink 1 – 2 GHz BPSK Up to 1 Mbps

L-Band Telemetry Downlink 1 – 2 GHz BPSK, OQPSK Up to 1 Mbps

Wideband

Intermediate Frequencies (IF)

Modulation Data Rate

Mission Data Downlink 720, 1200, 2400 MHz*

OQPSK, 8-PSK, 16-

APSK, 32-APSK

150 Mbps – 3.5 Gbps

* Input bandwidth equal to ± ½ the data rate centered on IF (example: 2400 MHz IF and 3.5Gbps rate would need 3.5 GHz of bandwidth plus margin so minimum IF input from 650 MHz to 4150 MHz)

Information Requested

USGS is seeking information on existing or planned software-based radios for narrowband and wideband data and baseband processing. Interested parties should submit a response with a written statement of interest or capability and a discussion of the following enumerated points:

1. Describe the architecture of your product(s)

a. Do you implement the Digital Intermediate Frequency Interoperability (DIFI) protocol/standard or any other standards? If so, describe the implementation.

b. What, if any, partitioning exists between FEC/demodulation/bit sync functions and CCSDS/baseband processing?

c. Describe the implementation of the digitizer and SDR products and include if they are integrated or separate.?

2. What are the specifications and capabilities of your product(s)?

a. List modulation and data/symbol rates supported (also constraints, i.e., lower data rates for high-order coding, etc.).

b. What frequency ranges do you support (RF and/or IF)?

c. Describe all supported Forward Error-Correction (FEC) coding (i.e., LDPC, DVB-

S2, SCCC, etc.)

d. Explain any measurement of Bit Error Rate (BER) performance in your product(s)

e. What adaptive filtering is implemented?

f. Describe CCSDS processing functions provided, and standards implemented.

g. Describe post-CCSDS handling for data files or data streams (routing, renaming, streaming out LAN port, etc.).

3. Describe any Radio Frequency (RF) recorder functions of your product(s).

a. Describe whether this can be done in parallel with demodulation and CCSDS processing.

b. What (file) format is the digitized RF/IF recorded in?

c. What playback functionality does your product(s) support?

4. What RF digitizers do you support?

a. Do your products use or accept VITA-49 format input files or data streams and/or other standards? Please specify supported formats.

b. Is there any specific or proprietary data formatting (i.e., embedded timing information, headers, etc.)?

5. Describe the host requirements for your product(s)?

a. What are the minimum requirements for CPU, memory, and storage performance?

b. What operating system(s) are supported?

c. Can your products be installed in a Virtual Machine (VM) or Cloud environment and can you specify the supported implementation standards?

6. Does your software/hardware support ranging? If so, describe the implementation and ranging systems supported (i.e., coherent doppler ranging, tone ranging, range code, etc.).

7. If your product line includes a front-end processor, what baseband transport interfaces does it support (e.g., TCP/IP, Fiber, etc.)?

8. What encapsulation/header format do you support? (e.g. LEO-T, SLE)

9. What type of interface and control (status and control) standards do you support?

10. What kind of test/simulation tools are built into your product(s), if any?

11. What kind of logging and reporting capabilities does your product(s) have?

12. Provide cost estimate/pricing and options/configuration information for the products, covering areas as listed below (as well as any other relevant information):

a. Base cost for the digitizer, S/W radio/processor, and other affiliated products

b. Options cost, along with option descriptions and suggested configuration

c. Cost for annual support or maintenance renewal, along with terms (approach) for ongoing support

d. Licensing constraints or limitations, e.g., does initiating another copy of the

S/W to replace a hung application require two separate licenses, or is this only a single license since there is only one copy of the application operating at a time

e. Costs and terms for implementing the S/W as a cloud-based application, i.e., is a separate floating license required, or will a single license suffice

f. Optional costs for additional technical support, if required, to implement the USGS application

13. What is your approach to product updates and lifecycle maintenance?

a. How are updates pushed to the customer?

b. Does a single code baseline exist for all customers, or is the software forked for different users?

c. What is the approach for adding features or bug fixes?

14. What security standards do your product(s) comply with? (e.g., NIST 800-161, NIST 800-171, etc.)

15. Describe your licensing, base warranty, and extended warranty/annual support structure.

a. Describe any constraints around the use of virtual machines and containerized hosts. (i.e., can a cold spare backup utilize the same license as a primary host since they would never be powered on simultaneously)

16. Is there anything else that you’d like us to know about your product(s).

a. Please include a product brochure, datasheet, manual, etc. if it’s helpful.

Instructions for Respondents

Respondents may submit questions for clarification. The Government recommends submitting questions as soon as possible following the RFI announcement. The Government will apply best effort in responding to questions within 7 business days. Responses to questions not already addressed in this RFI or it’s attachments will be posted on the System for Award Management

(SAM).

Please be concise in your response and limit the response to about 25 pages. Responses must be submitted via email by July 11, 2025, at 12:00 PM Eastern to the point of contact listed in this announcement. The subject line of the submission should include the announcement number and "RFI for USGS Software Defined Radio” and attachments should be in Microsoft Office or Adobe Acrobat compatible file formats.

The information is requested for planning purposes only, subject to FAR Clause 52.215-3, entitled "Solicitation for Information for Planning Purposes." Only material suitable for internal government distribution shall be submitted. Any restricted information should be marked accordingly. The U.S. Government will protect all restricted information received from respondents, and distribution of any material will be based on a strict need-to-know basis.

However, note that the submissions may be subject to review by experts outside of the civil service, including NASA, and USGS contractors, each of whom is bound to protect restricted data from unauthorized use or disclosure per their respective contracts. Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) will be executed as needed. No classified material should be provided. Submittals identified as containing such material shall be destroyed and not considered further. Any export-controlled information shall be marked.

The USGS shall not be restricted in, nor incur liability for, disclosure, use, and reproduction of any information provided which is or becomes publicly available other than by breach of the parameters above or which is known to the USGS at the time of disclosure; or which becomes known to the USGS from an independent source without breach of any agreement to the contrary; or which has no restricted markings.

This RFI is open to all types of organizations, including U.S. businesses, industry, universities, nonprofit organizations, federal centers, federally funded research and development centers, and other U. S. Government agencies.

It is emphasized that this RFI is for planning and information purposes only and is NOT to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contractual agreement, nor will the Government pay for information solicited. If the U.S. Government decides to proceed with a new procurement or announcement, the USGS will synopsize its intent on SAM.

Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary and will not in any way affect a firm's ability to submit a quote or offer, nor will it have any influence on the evaluation of any firm's response to a future solicitation, should one be issued.

Point of Contact:

Ty DeHart Contract Specialist tdehart@usgs.gov