Advanced Signal Analysis Techniques for Use on Non-Periodic Radio Frequency Signals
Navy SBIR 2019.2 - Topic N192-086
NAVAIR - Ms. Donna Attick - [email protected]
Opens: May 31, 2019 - Closes: July 1, 2019 (8:00 PM ET)

N192-086

TITLE: Advanced Signal Analysis Techniques for Use on Non-Periodic Radio Frequency Signals

 

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform, Battlespace, Information Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA234 Airborne Electronic Attack Systems

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 section 3.5 of 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 advanced signal analysis tools for utilization on non-periodic radio frequency (RF) signal sources that have the capability to detect, process, generate and classify non-periodic RF signals that do not exhibit sinusoidal characteristics such as Ultra Wide Band (UWB), Noise Radars, and Low Probability of Detection (LPD)


Radio Frequency (RF) waveforms.

 

DESCRIPTION: Create a set of Analog-to-Information (A2I) tools, suitable for use on embedded (FPGA Virtex7/Stratix10 class) and General Purpose Computer (GPC) systems (Intel Core/Xeon class), that have the capability to detect, process, generate, and classify non-periodic RF signals that do not exhibit sinusoidal characteristics such as UWB, Noise Radars, and LPD RF waveforms through the innovative use of advanced signal analysis techniques, which can include wavelet analysis, deep learning, multifractal analysis, cepstrum coefficients, Compressive Sensing (CS) and/or other feature extraction techniques. One of the goals of this effort is to leverage and adapt the current state-of-the-art developments from signal domains related to telecommunications, image processing, marine mammal monitoring, and structural health monitoring to enhance current technological development efforts related to modern spread spectrum and non-traditional signals encountered during military operations. This is as much a needed capability as the ability to detect and classify unknown signals is critical to operations in contested environments. It is expected that this effort would build upon and complement the previous work in other signal domains such as acoustic and image processing.

 

The proposed solution will be evaluated on the ability to detect, process, generate, and classify non-periodic RF signals that do not exhibit sinusoidal characteristics such as UWB, Noise Radars, and LPD RF waveforms. The specific waveforms will be a combination of both known waveforms to establish baseline performance and unknown waveforms that will be used to characterize performance.

 

It is anticipated that the hardware elements such as mixers, signal generators, signal analyzers, and Software Defined Radio kits required to develop, test and demonstrate performance already exist. Therefore, the proposed effort should focus on developing the algorithms, techniques and A2I tools and utilize Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) equipment as much as practical.

 

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 DoD 5220.22-M, National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor and/or subcontractor must be able to acquire and maintain a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances, in order to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DSS and NAVAIR 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 IAW DoD 5220.22-M during the advanced phases of this contract.

 

PHASE I: Design and analyze an approach to develop advanced signal analysis tools for utilization on non-periodic radio frequency (RF) signal sources. Evaluate candidate algorithms and validate the approach in a high-fidelity modeling and simulation environment. Include the development of models and simulations in order to validate the approach, demonstrate feasibility and reduce technical risk for Phase II. The Phase I effort will include prototype plans to be developed under Phase II.

 

PHASE II: Further refine and optimize the Phase I technical developments and implement algorithms and software into an embedded and GPC demonstration system for characterization of performance for detecting, processing, classifying and generating UWB, Noise Radars, and other signals. Develop a transition plan for Phase III.

 

Work in Phase II may become classified. Please see note in Description.

 

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Support integration and demonstration of technology as a capability enhancement for the Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) technology on the EA-18G (REAM FNC). Final testing would include demonstrating the suitability of any hardware and software for application into an airborne environment. Although the basic concepts and techniques that will be developed could advance numerous commercial applications, this effort is not intended for the private sector domain.

 

REFERENCES:

1.   Liu, Y., Zhang, X., and Yu, Y. �Classification of Vessel Targets Using Wavelet Statistical Features�. 5th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing. Chongqing, 2012.


https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6469636/

 

2.   Miao, M., Wang, A., Zhao, C., and Liu, F. �EEG Pattern Recognition Based on Dual-Tree Complex Wavelet Transform and Particle Swarm Optimization�. 10th International Conference on Sensing Technology (ICST), Nanjing, 2016. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7796311/

 

3.   Pelissier, M., and Studer, C. �Non-Uniform Wavelet Sampling for RF Analog-to-Information Conversion�. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers, 2017, pp, 471-484. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8015153/

 

4.   Guarin, G., Gardill, M., Weigel, R., Fischer, G., and Kissinger, D. �Ultra-Wideband Compressed Sensing Radar Based on Pseudo Random Binary Sequences.� 2015 German Microwave Conference (GeMiC) 2015, N�rnberg, Germany. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7107796/

 

KEYWORDS: Wavelet; Classification; Non-Periodic; Radar; Analog-To-Information; Multifractal

 

 

** TOPIC NOTICE **

NOTICE: The data above is for casual reference only. The official DoD/Navy topic description and BAA information is available at https://www.defensesbirsttr.mil/

These Navy Topics are part of the overall DoD 2019.2 SBIR BAA. The DoD issued its 2019.2 BAA SBIR pre-release on May 2, 2019, which opens to receive proposals on May 31, 2019, and closes July 1, 2019 at 8:00 PM ET.

Between May 2, 2019 and May 30, 2019 you may communicate directly with the Topic Authors (TPOC) to ask technical questions about the topics. During these dates, their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting May 31, 2019
when DoD begins accepting proposals for this BAA.


Help: If you have general questions about DoD SBIR program, please contact the DoD SBIR Help Desk at 800-348-0787 or via email at [email protected]