Posted by John Keller
NEWPORT, R.I., 11 April 2010.Submarine sonar experts at the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport in Newport, R.I., are asking industry to use open-systems commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology to craft wideband data transport links between hull-mounted sonar arrays and signal-processing computers.
NUWC researchers released a broad agency announcement (BAA 100339) Friday for the Adaptable Submarine Sonar Telemetry program, which seeks to use COTS hardware and open-systems software to make the sonar telemetry system applicable to a wide variety of domestic and foreign-made sonar and signal processing systems.
NUWC experts are asking industry to develop a state-of-the-art adaptable telemetry approach, which connects the acoustic sonar array sensors with inboard analog and digital signal processors, that is:
-- able to accommodate high-frequency (HF) and medium-frequency (MF) submarine sonar hull arrays with very large numbers of channels;
-- requires a minimum of application- and sensor-specific tailoring to maintain performance; and
-- uses open-systems commercial standards to ease multi-vendor and foreign-source integration.
Industry suggestions should emphasize open-systems commercial standards because this adaptable telemetry will be integrated with several different domestic and foreign-made acoustic sonar arrays and inboard processors.
Proposals should address:
-- application and interfaces to several different sonar systems;
-- use of open-systems commercial standards such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet, with no proprietary designs;
-- how to keep submarine hull penetrations to a minimum for cabling and connectors;
-- equipment size and weight sufficient place components behind the acoustic array;
-- power consumption of less than 0.3 Watts per channel;
-- adherence to MIL-STD-167-1 for vibration, MILS-901B for explosive shock, thermal shock, and other environmental guidelines; and
-- affordability.
White papers are due no later than 23 April 2010 -- just 12 days away -- and proposals are due no later than 22 June 2010.
For contracting questions or concerns -- and to send white papers and proposals -- contact the NUWC's Brett Griffin by phone at 401-832-2150, or by e-mail at [email protected], or by post at Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Code 11912, Brett Griffin, Commercial Acquisition, Simon Pietri Drive, BLDG 11, Newport, RI 02841.
More information is online at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DON/NAVSEA/N66604/N6660410R0339/listing.html.
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