N142-112 TITLE: Single-Transceiver Dynamic Spectrum Access (ST-DSA)

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Exchange of Actionable Information at the Tactical Edge

RESTRICTION ON PERFORMANCE BY FOREIGN NATIONALS: This topic is "ITAR Restricted". The information and materials provided pursuant to or resulting from this topic are restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which control the export of defense-related material and services, including the export of sensitive technical data. Foreign nationals may perform work under an award resulting from this topic only if they hold the "Permanent Resident Card", or are designated as "Protected Individuals" as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). If a proposal for this topic contains participation by a foreign national who is not in one of the above two categories, the proposal may be rejected.

OBJECTIVE: Provide existing and emerging single-transceiver radios with the ability to autonomously and dynamically access and manage spectrum to increase spectral efficiency and network throughput, thereby meeting information exchange needs in future naval communications networks.

DESCRIPTION: Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) is a process by which radio frequency users dynamically select available frequencies for transmission/reception from an allocated pool or as secondary users on a not-to-interfere basis. DSA has the potential to improve network performance by reducing self-interference and boosting spectral efficiency by reducing idle bandwidths.[1] DSA has been demonstrated on man-packable multi-transceiver radios. In DARPA�s Wireless Network after Next (WNaN) program, one transceiver senses the spectrum and coordinates with the other end of the link while the second transceiver transfers the data.[2] Although the DSA sensing and coordination are typically designed for in-band simultaneous multi-transceiver operation, the high-throughput man-packable naval radios to be fielded do not have this capability.

Implementing DSA on a network of single transceivers is challenging. The spectrum sensing must be integrated with the existing waveform management and payload traffic.[3] The conventional approach allocates a specific time in each frame for DSA sensing and coordination. In contrast, this SBIR topic seeks innovations for DSA systems to boost network performance and spectral utilization while operating in the same band as the network traffic. One approach exploits recent progress in single-aperture simultaneous transmit and receive (STAR) designs.[4,5] These STAR systems reduce the convergence time because the time allocation for in-band sensing is not required. However, link quality is degraded due to interference of the DSA system with the network traffic�both systems simultaneously operate in the same frequency band. Regardless of the DSA approach, this topic seeks DSA systems that deliver frequency selection and transitions within 500 ms while maintaining network performance on a MANET consisting of 20 or more nodes where each node is a single transceiver. A network scenario of particular interest is a platoon-sized dismounted patrol in an urban environment. Exceptional solutions will minimize transceiver power usage and latency while maximizing network throughput.

PHASE I: Develop a technical description and simulation of a DSA system operating on MANET where each node is a single transceiver operating in the same frequency band. Perform modeling and simulation to map the network performance enhancement that an ideal DSA system delivers in comparison to conventional network schemes (e.g., [6], [7]).

PHASE II: Extend the simulation of Phase I to address non-idealities of the DSA system and the degradation of the network performance. Develop prototype nodes with fixed links to serve as a laboratory testbed to assess the DSA algorithms and associated hardware. Down select from the DSA systems developed in Phase I accounting for the integration issues.

PHASE III: Integrate the prototype developed in Phase II with a 20 node MANET, test the complete system, and integrate into the FNT FY14-03 FNC program for transition into a tactical radio acquisition program.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Commercial Wireless Networks

REFERENCES:
1. G. Fend, A. Radhakrishnan, M. Y. ElNainay, Q. Chen, C. W. Bostian, and A. B. MacKenzie, "Software Radio-Based Decentralized Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks: A Prototype Design and Experimental Results," IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference., pp. 1-6, 2010.

2. J. Redi and R. Ramanathan , "The DARPA WNaN network architecture," Military Communications Conference., pp. 2258-2263, 2011.

3. F. Perich, E. Morgan, O. Ritterbush, M. McHenry, and S. `D�Itri, "Efficient dynamic spectrum access implementation," Military Communications Conference., pp. 1887-1892, 2010.

4. C. H. Cox and E. I. Ackerman, "Photonics for simultaneous transmit and receive," IEEE Microwave Symposium Digest., pp. 1-4, 2011.

5. C. H. Cox and E. I. Ackerman, "Demonstration of a single-aperture, full-duplex communication system," IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium., pp. 148-150, 2013.

6. Ozgur Oyman and Argyaswami J. Paulraj [2007] Power-Bandwidth Tradeoff in Dense Multi-Antenna Relay Networks, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 6(6).

7. Daji Qiao, Sunghyun Choi, and Kang G. Shin [2002] Goodput Analysis and Link Adaptation for IEEE 802.11a Wireless LANs, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Communications, 1(4).

KEYWORDS: Single-transceiver dynamic spectrum access; dynamic spectrum access; simultaneous transmit and receive; photonics

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between April 23 through May 22 you may talk directly with the Topic Authors (TPOC) to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting May 23, 2014, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

However, proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the DoD's SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS), in which the questioner and respondent remain anonymous and all questions and answers are posted electronically for general viewing until the solicitation closes. All proposers are advised to monitor SITIS (14.2 Q&A) during the solicitation period for questions and answers, and other significant information, relevant to the SBIR 14.2 topic under which they are proposing.

If you have general questions about DoD SBIR program, please contact the DoD SBIR Help Desk at (866) 724-7457 or webmail link.