SBIR-STTR Award

The U.S. Navy is searching for techniques and algorithms that allocate and assign beam frequencies in a manner that maximizes satellite bandwidth and throughput in both an efficient and optimal manner. The approach the Navy is taking to address these problems is two-fold. First, there is a desire to provide a technology that guides the communications planner in identifying optimal beam-carrier frequency assignments. Second, there is a desire to provide a quick planner that provides for a fast and efficient analysis of capabilities when designing a particular apportionment. For the Phase I effort, the RAM Laboratories-Accenture Team (RAM Labs Team) will develop a design for both the optimization algorithms and the quick planning algorithms. The optimization algorithms will investigate the use of genetic algorithms and simulated annealing approaches to drive an optimization approach that utilizes legacy frequencies apportionment algorithms as the central model-of-choice 0x9D . For the quick planning algorithms, the RAM Labs Team will take the legacy algorithms and investigate a variety of model abstraction approaches that can be used to develop the quick planning capability. A proof-of-principle will be demonstrated to the customer to illustrate the efficiency of our approach.

Benefit:
This effort will develop planning algorithms to support the management of communication links. While this SBIR targets the defense community and both users and operators utilizing this technology, the algorithms can also be applied to commercial industry as well. For instance, the technology can be provided to operators and users in any Web environment involving limited bandwidth including those in support of the consequence management, disaster recovery, or homeland security domains. RAM Laboratories product commercialization strategy for these planning algorithms involves a three-pronged approach that addresses (1) licensing, (2) technical services and custom development, and (3) product sales. Each of these elements is an integral part of our corporate growth strategy. The company will work with our partner Accenture to aggressively pursue patents for any technology resulting from this research in conjunction with this commercialization strategy. Our licensing approach involves providing our underlying technology to value-added system developers and operators for inclusion in their fielded platforms. Our stand-alone solution for managing MUOS links will investigate use of the technology to support Warfighters and sensor platforms requiring information management and information exchange for collaboration over networks that can be tailored or customized to meet their mission requirements. Our service-based approach will entail providing our customers with techniques and development services that can be used to host the algorithms in the MUOS Communications Planner.

Keywords:
multi-modeling, multi-modeling, MUOS, WCDMA, Mixed Resolution Modeling, Optimization, Communications Planning, frequency assignment, Model Abstraction

The Navy is searching for techniques that allocate and assign beam frequencies in a manner that maximizes satellite bandwidth and throughput for wideband tactical radios in traditional and non-traditional (i.e. consequence management, humanitarian relief, disaster recovery, extended maritime interdiction operations) settings. To gain access to MUOS satellite resources, users must submit satellite access requests (SARs) via the U.S. militarys SIPRNET to reserve resources before use. However users dont always have access to SIPRNET, and the approval process takes considerable time. To address this challenge, this effort will develop a Quick Planner, implemented in software, that runs on a PC laptop and/or PDA that provides a pre-qualifying 0x9D evaluation of a user-specified SAR that is within 80% of optimal in 15 minutes. The pre-qualification provides the user with informative graphical feedback for a specified SAR as to what factors impact its acceptability given the current state of the MUOS traffic load, allowing the user to make modifications to the candidate SAR to improve its likelihood of being approved. The process will save MUOS users time by allowing them to tune 0x9D a SAR for maximum likelihood of success before actually submitting the SAR to the SIPRNET for approval.

Benefit:
This effort will develop planning algorithms to support the management of communication links. While this SBIR targets the defense community and both users and operators utilizing this technology, the algorithms can also be applied to commercial industry as well. For instance, the technology can be provided to operators and users in any Web environment involving limited bandwidth, including those in support of the consequence management, disaster recovery, or homeland security domains. RAM Laboratories product commercialization strategy for these planning algorithms and the Quick Planner tool involves a three-pronged approach that addresses (1) licensing, (2) product sales for the Quick Planner, and (3) technical services. Each of these elements is an integral part of our corporate growth strategy. Our licensing approach involves providing our underlying technology to value-added system developers and operators for inclusion in their fielded platforms. A specific approach in this area will be to embed our optimization algorithms and our quick planning algorithms within MUOS Communications Planning. A second approach will involve tailoring our Quick Planner for use with other systems or programs. An example where this approach can be applied involves ARSTRAT satellite systems that require a quick planning capability. The third commercialization approach that we are pursuing is to use the quick planner as a technical differentiator in support of our Technical Services and Custom Services. In each of these areas, RAM Laboratories will work with our partner Accenture to aggressively pursue patents for any technology resulting from this research in conjunction with this commercialization strategy.

Keywords:
capacity, Wideband CDMA, Satellite, PDA, Optimization, Satellite Access Request, Planning, MUOS