SBIR-STTR Award

Spectrum Attenuation Reporting Sensor System
Award last edited on: 2/5/2021

Sponsored Program
STTR
Awarding Agency
DOD : AF
Total Award Amount
$1,149,947
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
AF18B-T005
Principal Investigator
John Swartz

Company Information

0 Base Design LLC

5107 Unicon Drive
Wake Forest, NC 27587
   (919) 533-9460
   N/A
   0basedesign.com

Research Institution

Wireless Research Center of North Carolina

Phase I

Contract Number: FA8750-19-C-0050
Start Date: 2/6/2019    Completed: 2/6/2019
Phase I year
2019
Phase I Amount
$149,947
The radio frequency (RF) spectrum from frequencies below 100 kHz to over 95 GHz has become a crowded workspace for many commercial and military communications, navigation, and sensing applications. Across the spectrum, attenuation and noise levels determine channel and band usability, dynamically impacted by atmospheric physics, lightning, solar activity, unintended interferers, and, in hostile scenarios, jammers, EMP and HEMP events. Maintaining communications in a dynamically changing RF environment requires the characterization of RF spectrum attenuation and channel use. The WRC and 0BD propose a Spectrum Attenuation Reporting Sensor System (SARSS) that employs compressed sensing coupled to an array of ultra-wideband antennas, to perform precise, non-periodic sampling of the RF spectrum, characterizing the broadband spectrum attenuation, and disseminating, to local users or across a mesh network, an estimation of the usable channels.

Phase II

Contract Number: FA8750-20-C-1027
Start Date: 8/6/2020    Completed: 11/6/2021
Phase II year
2020
Phase II Amount
$1,000,000
The Phase 2 development will yield a prototype Cognitive Data Sampling (CDS) system for 2 RF bands to fully demonstrate the capability of the underlying technology. This will include the development of RF antennas, RF signal conditioning for the bands, CDS analog to conversion module and a processor module. The processor module shall be comprised of a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) module that includes a CPU, GPU and FPGA. This system will enable measuring large instantaneous RF bandwidths (from 3 MHz to over 60 GHz) with minimal down conversion and channelization and provide reduced signal representation for high data throughput and real-time processing. This innovative system is based on mature technology and adapted for efficient RF detection at a significant reduction in cost of ownership. The system will provide complete RF spectral monitoring over extended bandwidths of interest and operate under real-time constrains. By operating at the sensor level and sampling intelligently, this system will reduce bandwidth constraints to downstream processing within the mesh network while maintaining complete coverage of the RF environment. This technology has application to a broad range of RF and optical systems including Identification Friend or Foe, Radar Warning Receiver, Laser Warning Receiver, IR Missile Warning System, Direction Finders, Anti-radiation Missiles, Directional Infrared Countermeasures (DIRCM), Countermeasure Dispenser System (CMDS), Jammers, Self-protection EW Suite, Electromagnetic Shielding/Hardening, Emission Control, Interference Mitigation and Counter UAV Systems.