Army 8. Small Business Innovation Research (sbir) Proposal Submission Instructions

PHASE I: Perform a feasibility study, explore biomass upgrade concept designs and perform a systematic study on materials and process toward greater knowledge in biomass upgrade technology to meet the requirement of point of need generation of energy-dense chemical (30-40kJ/g) with energy efficiency between 15-20%. Phase I final report shall provide a technology path that would enable Phase II design of a biomass upgrade prototype unit with volume of 30 L and dry weight of 30 kg. And the unit shall convert at least 1 kg biomass per hour.

PHASE II: Design and fabricate a prototype biomass upgrade prototype unit based on the findings in Phase 1. Verification of design targets of improvement in energy density of indigenous biomass to energy-dense chemical. Such biomass upgrade prototype unit shall be less than volume of 30 L and dry weight of 30 kg. And the unit shall convert at least 1 kg biomass per hour to produce energy-dense chemical product with specific energy density between 30 and 40 kJ/g. The energy efficiency of biomass upgrade shall be demonstrated to be between 15-20%. At the end of Phase 2, the company shall deliver one prototype unit to Army Research Laboratory for evaluation.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Demonstrate electrical power generation with biomass feedstock by integrating the biomass upgrade prototype unit from Phase II with a commercial power generation technology such as, but not limited to, a solid oxide fuel cell or a small engine. Deliver one integrated system to Army Research Laboratory for potential transition to other Army stakeholders for evaluation. Commercial fuel cell or small engine technologies, as a result of this particular SBIR project, could potentially inserted into defense systems. The small business shall also transition the technology to industry such as, but not limited to, waste recycling and outdoor tools for potential commercialization.

REFERENCES:

1. Position Paper: Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) position on combat vehicle power and energy, Approved by MG Eric Wesley (19 January 2017)

2. H. Ben, A.J. Ragauskas, Influence of Si/Al Ratio of ZSM-5 Zeolite on the Properties of Lignin Pyrolysis Products, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 1 (2013) 316-324.

KEYWORDS: fuel,lignocellulosic biomass, biomass upgrade, energy, power

A18-017

TITLE: Same Frequency Simultaneous Transmit and Receive Radio for Military and Commercial Applications

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

OBJECTIVE: US Army RF systems, such as communication networks and radar, encounter an increasingly congested and contested electromagnetic spectrum. Increasing the spectral efficiency by utilizing Same Frequency Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (SF-STAR) Radios will greatly enhance Military and Commercial communications and radar systems.

DESCRIPTION: The United States Army and Joint Services utilize tactical communication systems that are adversely affected by the recent Advanced Wireless Service spectrum auction. These systems will be required to operate in more restricted frequency bands and therefore stand to lose capacity and throughput if technology is not developed to maintain and improve spectral efficiency (defined as bits per second per Hertz, or bits/s/Hz). Current tactical communication systems are unable to simultaneously transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) at the same radio frequency (RF), placing an inherent limitation on spectrum usage imposed by conventional duplexing and networking techniques. The purpose of this solicitation is to close this technology gap to enable more efficient use of available spectrum for affected systems in 1 – 6 GHz bands (or higher frequency bands up to and including mm-wave bands) by developing innovative prototype designs leading to mature, operationally-relevant tactical communication systems capable of same frequency full duplex functionality. Commercial systems (including WiFi, and fifth generation, 5G, systems) will benefit greatly from the development of SF-STAR radios given that spectrum is a scare resource. Developing a SF-STAR radio for commercial applications is an active research topic with no products currently available. Unlike commercial systems, Army systems operate in congested and contested hostile environments. For Army applications, SF-STAR radios require greater suppression of self-interference and external hostile uncooperative interference from jammers as well as greater bandwidth (above 80 MHz). This necessitates higher levels of linearity and dynamic range than commercial SF-STAR systems. Typically, interference suppression may be carried out in the digital domain using digital signal processing (DSP) or the analog domain. The focus of this solicitation are the analog domain techniques which can be realized using innovative multi-feed antennas, and novel RF frontend circuitry (including correlators, and non-magnetic circulators). The goal is to achieve greater than 70 dB of isolation between transmit and receive, as well as 20 dB suppression of uncooperative interferers in nearby (10% above the center frequency) bands, under practical operating conditions. DSP techniques (which are outside the scope of this solicitation) can be employed to enhance the isolation further. The SF-STAR operation should be achieved over a minimum of 100 MHz instantaneous bandwidth with a minimum transmitted output power of 23 dBm, a minimum receiver input IP3 of 10 dBm, a minimum Tx/Rx isolation of 70 dB, and a minimum jammer suppression of 20 dB in nearby bands. Higher the levels of integration are desired to reduce size weight and power (SWAP).

PHASE I: Investigate design space and define specifications; evaluate architecture choices and trade-offs for various approaches leading to SF-STAR. Simulate chosen solution and assess operating margins. Determine minimum and maximum attainable Tx/Rx isolation, transmitted output power, receiver sensitivity, linearity, and spurious-free dynamic range, signal bandwidth, frequency of operation, and potential for implementation (including sensitivity to component tolerances, and impedance mismatch). The SF-STAR design should achieve 100 MHz bandwidth or greater, 23 dBm output power or greater, a receiver input IP3 of 10 dBm or greater, a Tx/Rx isolation of 70 dB or greater, and a jammer suppression of 20 dB or greater in nearby bands. It should tolerate process and/or component tolerances, impedance mismatch, and noise leakage from the transmitter to the receiver chain.

PHASE II: Design, and prototype a SF-STAR radio using analog techniques based on phase I analysis, achieving 100 MHz bandwidth or greater, 23 dBm output power or greater, a receiver input IP3 of 10 dBm or greater, a Tx/Rx isolation of 70 dB or greater, and a jammer suppression of 20 dB or greater in nearby bands. The prototype should tolerate process and/or component tolerances, impedance mismatch, and noise leakage from the transmitter to the receiver chain. The prototype should be delivered to the Army at the end of phase II.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Design and build a radio demonstrating SF-STAR for a specific military or commercial system that satisfies the specifications of the specific application selected; transition technology to defense and commercial applications. Identify benefits and drawbacks of the SF-STAR radio over existing systems.

REFERENCES:

1. Harish Krishnaswamy and Gil Zussman, "1 Chip 2x Bandwidth,” IEEE Spectrum, July 2016.

2. B Debaillie et. al., “Analog/RF Solutions Enabling Compact Full-Duplex Radios,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Volume 32, Issue 9, Sept. 2014.

3. A Sabharwal et. al., “In-Band Full-Duplex Wireless: Challenges and Opportunities,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Volume 32, Issue 9, Sept. 2014.

KEYWORDS: Simultaneous Transmit and Receive,

Full duplex, and
Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits

A18-018

TITLE: Scalable, Power Efficient, Programmable, Wide Dynamic Range, Multi-Field - Programmable-Array Compatible Readout Integrated Circuit for Infrared Range Applications

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Electronics

OBJECTIVE: Current readout integrated circuits (ROICs) consume significant power and are custom-designed for a specific focal plane array (FPA) detector material (e.g. InGaAs). The goal is to reduce the cost of ROICs by designing and developing a general-purpose energy-efficient ROIC that works with a wide variety of FPAs, and provides wide dynamic range.

DESCRIPTION: The purpose of the foreseen read out integrated circuit (ROIC) is to cover a wide range of DoD applications and offer an on-demand component replacement for standard ROICs in multiple defense platforms. Traditionally, ROIC designs are optimized for specific Focal Plane Array (FPA) detector materials such as, InGaAs, InSb, or HgCdTe; varying the detector material enables coverage of a wide range of wavelengths and sensitivities. A fully flexible ROIC design will offer a combination of digital programmable

features, interchangeable fabrication mask-subsets, and different reticle exposure options to accommodate various photo detector materials in a scalable FPA. A variant of a mask-subset can be used to accommodate different pixel types or architectures enabling alternative set of pixel features. This is a new area of research. The ROIC’s ability to interconnect with different FPA materials will require circuit operation over a wide range of temperatures including the cryogenic
range. This adaptable ROIC should introduce resolution, frame rate, and power consumption trade-offs to enable optimization for use in multiple defense application platforms. The ROIC design will permit operation over a wide input dynamic range but be configurable to focus the circuit’s dynamic range within a region of interest in the input signal. Power efficiency is critical for high throughput applications where resolution (1-2 Mpix - 16 Mpix) and frame rate per second (10 - 100 fps) are increased. The foreseen ROIC will include options to allow for the power consumption to be adjusted programmatically as determined by the specific application or imaging mode. Additionally, the ROIC should consider incorporation of front-end signal processing such as compressive sensing to enable manipulation of the data bandwidth in both the analog and digital domains to further enhance power efficiency. A competitive design will achieve the highest dynamic range at the lowest power consumption and read-noise levels. State-of-the-art CMOS COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) image sensors can achieve 3-5 nJ/pixel and 3 electrons RMS read-noise while standalone ROICs are currently consuming 50-100 nJ/pixel at 30-50 electrons RMS read-noise. The target ROIC design should ultimately close the gap between monolithic and hybridized sensors by operating at both low power consumption and read-noise levels (5-10 nJ/pixel and 10 electrons RMS), and allow variable frame rates (10 – 100 fps), and resolutions.

PHASE I: Investigate design scope and define specifications; evaluate architecture choices and trade-off matrix for hardwired and programmable features; define pixel design options for different pixel pitches, for example: 10 um x 10 um versus 15 um x 15 um. Determine minimum and maximum attainable FPA resolution in a given process fabrication technology. Propose a practical solution that meets supports 2 – 16 Mpix, variable frame rate 10 – 100 fps, and exhibits low noise levels (< 20 nJ/pixel).

PHASE II: Design, fabricate, and test a ROIC sub-array prototype containing critical blocks such as pixels, column readout, ADCs, and IO variants for validation; evaluate the performance of each architectural choice against a trade-off matrix; determine the architecture for a full ROIC design.
A competitive design will achieve the highest dynamic range at the lowest power consumption and read-noise levels. State-of-the-art CMOS COTS (Commercial-Off-The-Shelf) image sensors can achieve 3-5 nJ/pixel and 3 electrons RMS read-noise while standalone ROICs are currently consuming 50-100 nJ/pixel at 30-50 electrons RMS read-noise. The target ROIC design should ultimately close the gap between monolithic and hybridized sensors by operating at both low power consumption and read-noise levels (5-10 nJ/pixel and 10 electrons RMS), and allow variable framerates (10 – 100 fps), and resolutions. The prototype should be delivered to the government at the end of the program.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Fabricate a full ROIC design; construct a camera test bench and characterize and evaluate the full ROIC. Provide a clear technology transition path commercial as well as DoD applications. Demonstrate sufficient technology readiness level (TRL) for the newly designed ROIC. Commercial and military applications should be addressed and targeted. The commercialization pathway would be collaborating with government or commercial end users to develop and fabricate a full ROIC design; construct a camera test bench and characterize and evaluate the full system. Use of the developed innovative ROIC should be made in conjunction with focal plane array detector. Potential commercial applications include various high-speed focal plane read-out, and high performance signal processing. Military Applications include integrated C4ISR optical systems, and image signal processing.

REFERENCES:

1. S. Kavusi, and A. El Gamal, “A quantitative study of high dynamic range image sensor architectures,” Proceedings of the SPIE Electronic Imaging, Vol. 5301, Jan. 2004.

2. P. Martin, A.S. Royet, and F. Guellec, G. Ghibaudo, “MOSFET modeling for design of ultra-high performance infrared CMOS imagers working at cryogenic temperatures: Case of an analog/digital 0.18 lm CMOS process”, Solid State Electronics Journal, Vol. 62, Issue 1, pp. 115–122, Aug. 2011.

3. E. Candes and M Wakin, “An Introduction to Compressive Sensing,” IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, vol. 25, no. 2, 2008, pp. 21–30.

KEYWORDS: ROIC Readout Integrated Circuit FPA Focal Plane Array

A18-019

TITLE: Development of a Turbocharger for Small Aviation Diesel Engines

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Air Platform

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a turbocharger for an aviation compression-ignition engine with a maximum power of 180 hp at sea level which provides reliable boost up to 30,000-ft altitude.

DESCRIPTION: Throughout the Department of Defense, there is a critical need for small, reliable, high-efficiency engines for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Such vehicles provide invaluable intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance directly to the warfighter. In alignment with Tactical Unit Energy Independence, the engines are multi-fuel capable to exploit local resources, and can provide extreme performance. However, there are very few propulsion system options in the 160-200 hp class available for aircraft application. Compression-ignition (CI) engines, also known as diesel engines, offer the high efficiency and low fuel consumption that the Army requires, but the existing engines were developed for automotive applications. Such engines exhibit a number of problems when operated at environmental conditions typical for the Army. The most serious problem resides in the boost system that the engine uses to force air into the cylinders, which is required to make sufficient power for the vehicle to maneuver in the low-density air found at altitude. Existing boost technology, such as turbochargers and superchargers, come directly from the automotive industry. At altitude, these automotive boost systems must run a shaft speeds outside of their design criteria, and they may dwell there for periods of time much longer than automotive applications. This can lead to unsafe operation because of resonant modes in the shaft and blades of the turbocharger. Because of this, the Army seeks to develop a new turbocharger system designed and optimized for aviation diesel engines. The primary goal is that the boost system be highly robust and reliable over the Army’s entire operating range. This includes altitudes from sea level to 30,000 feet, and temperatures from -60°F to 130°F. Significant resonances in the shafting of the system as well as compressor surge, which can reduce life or induce failure, must be avoided. The performance goal of the boost system should be to allow the engine, while operating at 30,000 feet, to provide 60% of the maximum power it provides at sea level. Through this SBIR process, it is expected that the boost technology that is developed could be commercialized. Besides the many applications in the Department of Defense, the technology will be of great value to the general aviation industry, and the rapidly expanding commercial ‘drone’ industry.

PHASE I: Provide turbocharger concepts that can deliver air quantities for a 180-hp CI engine at sea level and 60% power (i.e. 108 hp) at 30,000 ft. These concepts should avoid shaft and compressor/turbine blade resonances as well as compressor surge. Provide analysis results of the concepts including shaft vibration and compressor/turbine blade deflection. Provide CAD models to the Army to determine interface compatibility with the existing Army engines. The manufacturability of the proposed technology should be assessed, and methods and equipment capable of production should be identified. The success of Phase I will be judged based on the metrics of air flowrates, shaft vibration, and compressor/turbine blade deflections from sea level to altitude up to 30,000 ft. Other metrics include the theoretical hardware life of target 2,000 hours, mass of less than 15 lbs, and interface compatibility with the existing Army system.

PHASE II: Following the conceptual evaluation and analysis, the technology and manufacturing methods for a prototype should be developed and demonstrated. The prototype turbocharger should be assessed at critical operating points up to 30,000 ft altitude. The metrics will include required air flowrates to attain target engine power, shaft speed, shaft vibration, compressor/turbine blade deflections, surge, and interface compatibility with the existing Army engine. The prototype turbocharger should meet the reliability requirement of 100-hr endurance test. The turbocharger should also be affordable with a target cost less than $20K. Deliverables include a demonstration of prototype operation, formal test report, and comprehensive test and analysis results.

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Commercialization of the technology to the US Army and Air Force, as well as the civilian sector to solve turbocharger reliability issues at altitude for UAV applications. If the metrics assessed in Phase II exceeds the requirements of the Government for a specific application, the hardware could be incorporated into the Program of Record (POR) for future Unmanned Aircraft.

REFERENCES:

1. Szedlmayer, Michael, and Chol-Bum M. Kweon. Effect of Altitude Conditions on Combustion and Performance of a Multi-Cylinder Turbocharged Direct-Injection Diesel Engine. No. 2016-01-0742. SAE Technical Paper, 2016.

2. Kim, Kenneth, Szedlmayer Michael, and Kweon Chol-Bum M. “Altitude and Fuel Property Effect on Aviation Diesel Engine Combustion: A First Look.” Turbine Engine Technology Symposium, 2016.

3. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, “Report to Congress on Strategy to Protect United States National Security Interests in the Arctic Region.” OUSD Policy A-CE2489B, December 2016.

4. Tanya J., Gibson, “ARL opens unique combustion research lab, studies in JP-8 fuel could lead to "super engine" development.” U.S. Army Research Laboratory (http://www.arl.army.mil/www/default.cfm?page=1217), October 9, 2012.

5. Kech J., R. Hegner, and Mannle T. “Turbocharging: Key technology for high-performance engines.” MTU online, January, 2014.

6. Schweizer, Bernhard, and Mario Sievert. "Nonlinear oscillations of automotive turbocharger turbines." Journal of Sound and Vibration 321.3 (2009): 955-975.

7. Kirk, R. G., A. A. Alsaeed, and E. J. Gunter. "Stability analysis of a high-speed automotive turbocharger." Tribology Transactions 50.3 (2007): 427-434.

8. Holmes, R., M. J. Brennan, and B. Gottrand. "Vibration of an automotive turbocharger–a case study." Proceedings 8th International Conference on Vibrations in Rotating Machinery. 2004.

9. Gunter, Edgar J., and Wen Jeng Chen. "Dynamic analysis of a turbocharger in floating bushing bearings." ISCORMA-3, Cleveland, Ohio (2005): 19-23.

10. Wang, Zheng, et al. "Time-dependent vibration frequency reliability analysis of blade vibration of compressor wheel of turbocharger for vehicle application." Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering 27.1 (2014): 205-210.

KEYWORDS: unmanned aerial system, compression ignition, turbocharger, supercharger, altitude, aviation, boost, performance, reliability, heavy fuel, unmanned ground system, efficiency

A18-020

TITLE: Additive Manufacturing for RF Materials and Antennas

TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Materials/Processes

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to develop a multi-material additive manufacturing (AM) capability for fabrication, characterization, and printing of polymer/ceramic composite electromagnetic (EM) and conductive materials for antennas and other radio frequency (RF) devices. AM is a disruptive technology expanding the design space for RF engineers. The result is the ability to design and easily fabricate antennas and other RF devices not realizable via traditional manufacturing methods.

DESCRIPTION: As the Army moves towards multi-mission platforms, functionality of disparate radio frequency (RF) systems must be integrated into a single system. This requires planar and vertical integration of apertures, substrates, and feed networks to enable multiple modes of operation. Several different antennas and their feed networks consisting of transmission lines, amplifiers, filters, and switches will be incorporated into a single front end across wide bandwidths. The 3D and multi-material approaches needed to achieve these designs makes additive manufacturing (AM) critical to the future of Army RF systems.

While strides in AM demonstrate production of robust mechanical parts, less attention is paid to developing and characterizing RF properties of printed materials. Research is also needed in the area of conductive inks for AM. Current processes yield metal layers with low conductivity compared to bulk metal. Increased conductivity of printable inks enhances the power efficiency of RF components.

AM allows engineers to re-think the RF design space. Dielectric constants of commercial materials limits current antenna designs. AM facilitates complex designs that required properties not achievable by current manufacturing methods. One example is the Luneberg lens [1] which relies on a graded dielectric constant. AM achieves this previously unrealizable property producing a high gain antenna with a steerable beam and eliminates the large aperture and complicated feed network associated with electrically scanned arrays [2].

Increased versatility of AM in the RF design space requires high dielectric substrates. AM filaments with dielectric constants greater than 4 are not commercially available. However, techniques exist to extrude AM filaments [3] from polymer/ceramic composites with high dielectric constants [4-6]. The process disperses high dielectric ceramic particles into a polymer substrate where the volume fraction of ceramic particles to polymer matrix determines the dielectric constant of the filament [5,7]. These filaments are generally not characterized below X-band frequencies, and the dielectric constant of the printed substrate can deviate from that of the filament. Characterization of complex permittivity of printed dielectric substrates is paramount to this SBIR effort.