REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: MODEM VIRTUALIZATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION

DESCRIPTION. This is a non-personal services FY24 requirement to provide system development, demonstration, test, and technical support services in support of integration efforts for Satellite Communication (SATCOM) Modernization – Modem Virtualization, Product Manager Unified Network Capabilities Integration (PdM UNCI). This section describes the general requirements for this effort; the following sub-sections provide details of various considerations on this effort.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Army is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. Please note, the information received from this RFI is used to help the Government refine the requirement and help identify areas of ambiguity so that, if released, the RFP is well defined. Any feedback/questions as a result of this RFI, will not be responded to directly and will be addressed in the final RFP if the Government deems necessary.

BACKGROUND.

The Department of the Army, Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications, Tactical (PEO C3T), at Aberdeen Proving Ground, is seeking information in support of an effort to increase functionality and streamline the tactical Army’s satellite modem product line. Currently, the Department of the Army procures and utilizes separate satellite modems from multiple vendors, each having a proprietary waveform and hardware platform. The Army currently utilizes these satellite modems in a point-to-point, full mesh, or hybrid manner while at-the-halt, at-the-quick-halt, or on-the-move. The Army intends to reduce its logistical footprint and continue to streamline satellite modem operations with less hardware, increased use of virtualization, or a combination of both, while still preserving the ability to operate in a dynamic tactical battlefield environment.

SUMMARY OF REQUIREMENTS

With this effort, PdM UNCI will be looking for solutions for software waveforms including Enhanced Bandwidth Efficient Modem (EBEM), Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Extension (DVB-S2X), and/or DVB – Second Generation Return Channel Satellite (DVB-RCS2) to be hosted on generic Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) compute platform(s). PdM UNCI is also interested in recommendations on other Army relevant waveforms that could be provided as a virtual waveform.

Solution Basic Requirements Description

The Army is interested in a software solution that is hardware agnostic and capable of being installed and operated on a variety of standard hardware platforms. The Army intends to utilize the EBEM, DVB-S2X, DVB-RCS2 software waveforms and requires them to be interoperable with existing COTS / Government modems and other virtual modem instances. The waveforms should align to various open standards such as ETSI, MIL-STD, Digital IF, Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), etc. With the delivered solution the Army expects to retain Government Purpose Rights to support ongoing additions of new capabilities and integration with future requirements. The capability should begin with at least Technology Readiness Level 7 maturity, leverage open Application Programming Interfaces, and support use at multiple Army echelons to include the tactical edge and central hubs. Finally, the Army is interested in what hardware requirements are needed to support the virtual SATCOM waveform(s).

· Full interoperability while over-the-air between existing COTS / Government modems and other virtual modem instances.

· Waveforms hosted in containers to support multiple instantiations of waveforms on a single compute platform.

· A common user interface based on open Application Programming Interface (API) for the operator to simplify operations and training as well as reduce the complexity of integration new waveforms.

· Exportability and/or access to active (real time or near real time) Network Performance metrics.

· Monitoring through RESTful API and/or Simple Network Management Protocol version 3 for performance monitoring parameters such as packet error counts, modem Es/No, modem receive signal power, modem data rate and terminal EIRP, etc.

· Alignment to emerging Unified Network Operations (UNO) and Enterprise SATCOM Management and Control (ESC-MC) requirements.

· Identification of required hardware resources and/or components, for tactical edge and hub-centric platforms, to include any compute platform, digitizer, cabling, switch, routers, etc. required for interoperability between existing COTS / Government modems and other virtual modem instances.

· Standards and Certs. Applicable to the solution: EBEM waveform compliant with MIL-STD-188-165B.

· DVB-S2X waveform compliant with ETSI EN 302 307-1 and -2.

· DVB-RCS2 waveform compliant with ETSI TS 101 545-1 and -3, ETSI EN 301 545-2, and ETSI TR 101 545-4 and -5.

· Developed to and capable of meeting all required tests and arrangements for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) certification per Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-3 requirements.

· Developed to and compliant with IEEE-ISTO Std 4900-2021: Digital IF Interoperability Standard, v1.1 – August 9, 2022.

· Developed to and capable of meeting all required test and arrangements for Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) Certification for transmission over WGS satellites IAW WGS Modem Certification Requirements.

REQUESTED INFORMATION

STANDARD QUESTIONS.

1. Describe your company’s core business. Please include the following:

· Organization name/address

· NAICS code(s), current business size status and small business program status (WOSB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone, 8A, etc) under the RS3 Contract

· Website

· CAGE Code/DUNs number

· Point of Contact Name and email address

2. Please provide any questions, comments, and feedback on the requirements section above.

3. Does your company consider this a Firm Fixed Price or Cost Plus Fixed Fee effort?

4. Does the Background and Summary of Requirements sections have enough information in it to make your company feel confident enough to want to submit a bid? If not, what other information would you need?

5. If a request for proposal (RFP) is solicited will your Company propose on this effort? Yes or No?

a. If yes, please indicate the amount of time required to develop a proposal, 7, 14 or 30 days.

b. If not, please explain why not.

Vendor Capability Questions.

1. Describe your company capabilities/experience or experience through a business arrangement to: perform / support development, test, and evaluation of possible platforms and equipment such as vehicles, radios, etc.

2. Describe your company capabilities/experience or experience through a business arrangement in providing architecture development, plans & documentation inclusive of networking, SATCOM, Network Transport, Software (SW), Network Operations (NetOps), specifically:

- SATCOM waveform / modem development

- Network and Other Capabilities

3. Describe your company capabilities/experience or experience through a business arrangement with generating and delivering system documents, diagrams, performance docs/specs, Interface Control Documents (ICD)s etc.

4. Describe your company capabilities/experience or experience through a business arrangement with software specifically for satellite waveforms, in areas such as software design, software development, software qualification testing, software test plan, software test report, software version configuration, software installation procedures, software product specification, etc.

5. Describe your company capabilities/experience or experience through a business arrangement with providing fabrication of equipment prototypes (hardware/software) to assess interface, interoperability, and other technical requirements.

6. Describe your company capabilities/experience or experience through a business arrangement with providing engineering design services to include mechanical, electrical, safety, logistic and manufacturing support, system engineering and testing.

7. Describe your company capabilities/experience or experience through a business arrangement with supporting the Government in resolving reliability and/or survivability issues that may arise (e.g. Validation, Verification and Resolution of Failure Modes).

8. Is your company able to obtain clearances up to the Secret level to perform the type of work described in the Summary of Basic Requirements above?

9. Does your company intend to prime or subcontract this effort? If your company intends to team to prime this effort, please briefly describe.

10. Are there other waveforms that your company sees as feasible to be included? If so, which one(s)?

WRITTEN RESPONSES. Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI. Written responses shall be in Microsoft Word for Office 2000 compatible format. Responses shall be limited to 10 pages for the entire submission (including company information, supporting documentation, etc.). Respondents are requested to address the questions in paragraphs above and may provide supporting documentation along with the response. Responses are due NLT 24 APR 2023, 1600 EST and must be submitted via e-mail only with SUBJECT Line “Modem Virtualization RFI Response – (Your Company Name)” to the below Government Point of Contacts (POCs):

Brandon Norwood (Acquisition Specialist) – brandon.l.norwood3.civ@army.mil

Melody Thomas (Contract Specialist) – melody.s.thomas.civ@army.mil

Thomas Lynn (Contracting Officer) – thomas.e.lynn23.civ@army.mil

Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information (included in the page limit). Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

Respondents may provide supplemental information such as product brochures, specification sheets, photographs, illustration and technical descriptions that describe your company’s current products that most closely match these capabilities described above. Contractors are encouraged not to include marketing informational materials that do not relate to the products recommended for consideration, as they will be discarded. However, responses may include universal resource locater (URL) links to technical documentation materials (i.e., technical data sheet).

QUESTIONS. Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing by e-mail to the following individuals:

Brandon Norwood (Acquisition Specialist) – brandon.l.norwood3.civ@army.mil

Melody Thomas (Contract Specialist) – melody.s.thomas.civ@army.mil

Thomas Lynn (Contracting Officer) – thomas.e.lynn23.civ@army.mil

Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. Questions shall NOT contain proprietary or classified information.

SUMMARY. THIS IS AN RFI ONLY to identify sources that can provide Modem Virtualization Follow On services. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Army has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned