Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Joint Warfighting Cloud contracts for AWS, Google, Azure, Oracle

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contracts to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Support Services, Microsoft, and Oracle. 

JWCC is a multiple-award contract vehicle that will provide the DoD the opportunity to acquire commercial cloud capabilities and services directly from the commercial Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) at the speed of mission, at all classification levels, from headquarters to the tactical edge. 

This Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle offers commercial pricing, or better, and streamlined provisioning of cloud services. With JWCC, warfighters will now have the opportunity to acquire the following capabilities under one contract:

  • global accessibility
  • available and resilient services
  • centralized management and distributed control
  • ease of use
  • commercial parity
  • elastic computing, storage, and network infrastructure
  • advanced data analytics
  • fortified security 
  • tactical edge devices 

https://www.hacc.mil/Blogs/Blog-Display/Article/3240370/joint-warfighting-cloud-capability-jwcc-contract-awarded/

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Lockheed Martin integrates Intel's FlexRAN in 5G.MIL Base Station

Lockheed Martin and Intel have integrated a 5G Core and Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) into Lockheed Martin's 5G.MIL Hybrid Base Station (HBS).

The implementation brings Intel's FlexRAN reference architecture and Intel Xeon Scalable processors into a rugged, 3U tactical chassis with open system communications gateway capabilities.

Lockheed Martin has now demonstrated over-the-air 5G and tactical network connectivity in a laboratory environment that is capable of transitioning to military air vehicles. While most applications of 5G base station technology are data center centric, this demonstration hosted 5G O-RAN technology on ruggedized computers suitable for fighter and other aircraft, paving the way for the team to fly on any number of military platforms during upcoming crewed-uncrewed distributed teaming flight tests.

"The integration of 5G and military tactical radios into our Hybrid Base Station enables resilient, link-diverse data routing throughout the battlespace to make future crewed-uncrewed distributed teaming missions possible," said John G. Clark, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. "The Lockheed Martin 5G.MIL HBS was designed using open mission systems standards so that the technology can onramp to multiple and varied platforms quickly in support of our customers' transformation vision."

"Lockheed Martin's latest innovation for HBS (Hybrid Base Station) highlights the type of highly flexible and portable data capabilities made possible by a virtualized and software-programmable architecture powered by Intel FlexRAN reference architecture and Intel Xeon processors," said Dan Rodriguez, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel's Network and Edge Solutions Group. "Our continuing collaboration on 5G.MIL showcases new abilities to strengthen DoD critical digital communications across Lockheed Martin's platforms."

https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2022-11-28-Lockheed-Martin-Successfully-Hosts-Advanced-5G-MIL-R-Capabilities-on-Flight-Ready-Hardware

Lockheed Martin and Microsoft expand classified cloud work

Lockheed Martin and Microsoft have expanded their strategic relationship to help power the next generation of technology for the Department of Defense (DOD) in four critical areas:Classified Cloud Innovations: Microsoft’s latest secure framework will make Lockheed Martin the first non-government entity to independently operate inside the Microsoft Azure Government Secret cloud ushering in a new era of cloud opportunities for industry.Artificial Intelligence/Machine...

Lockheed Martin and Verizon demo 5G.MIL drones

Lockheed Martin and Verizon demonstrated 5G-enabled drones for capturing and securely transfering real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data from aircraft in flight. The demonstration, which occurred at Lockheed Martin’s 5G test range in Waterton, Colorado, used mmWave 5G to move data from aircraft in flight over Lockheed Martin’s multi-site, multi-vendor 5G.MIL pilot network.Lockheed Martin flew four rotary wing drones...

Verizon and Lockheed Martin collaborate on 5G.MIL

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Lockheed Martin are collaborating on 5G.MIL technologies that will provide ultra-secure, reliable connections for U.S. Department of Defense systems , bringing together high-tech platforms into a cohesive network spanning air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. The companies highlighted a joint demonstration that used a Verizon private 5G network installed at Lockheed Martin Space’s 5G Test Range in Colorado, connected...


Monday, September 12, 2022

Black Hawk flight data transferred via AT&T 5G

In a test conducted last month at Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky headquarters in Stratford, Connecticut, AT&T securely and rapidly transferred UH-60M Black Hawk health and usage data through an AT&T 5G private cellular network and Lockheed Martin's 5G.MIL multi-site pilot network.

The AT&T 5G millimeter wave private cellular network wirelessly transferred data to the 5G.MIL network through ground support equipment from the Black Hawk's Integrated Vehicle Health Management System (IVHMS). The data was then routed to local Sikorsky networks for processing and distribution through the secure Lockheed Martin 5G.MIL pilot network to the Waterton, Colorado, 5G test range site.

Currently, it takes Black Hawk crews about 30 minutes to remove the IVHMS data cartridge from the helicopter, transport it to an operations center and extract the data for analysis. Lockheed Martin used AT&T 5G private cellular technologies to reduce the time required to less than 5 minutes including cartridge removal, demonstrating the potential benefits in time and cost for military and commercial helicopter operations. 

The companies said the test demonstrated that 5G  on the flight line can support accelerated maintenance operations and improved aircraft readiness. It also proved highly secure interoperability between the AT&T millimeter wave 5G private cellular network and the 5G.MIL pilot network.

"These 5G capabilities deployed at scale are expected to enable high-speed, secure-data transfer on virtually any flight line, providing another example of how we're advancing our 21st Century Security vision by improving customer readiness and operations," said Dan Rice, vice president of 5G.MIL Programs at Lockheed Martin. "In collaboration with commercial 5G leaders, an interoperable 5G.MIL multi-site, multi-vendor network is another step closer to reality." 

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/5G.html



Thursday, August 4, 2022

U.S. Department of Defense launches Innovate Beyond 5G

The U.S. Department of Defense has kicked off an Innovate Beyond 5G (IB5G) Program to foster collaborative partnerships with industry and academia for 5G-to-NextG wireless technologies. 

3 main projects are highlighted:

  • Open6G -- a new industry-university cooperative effort that aims to jumpstart 6G systems research on open radio access networks (Open RAN).  The effort will focus on Open RAN research and open source implementation of 5G protocol stack features to support emerging beyond/enhanced 5G applications.  Open6G will serve as the DoD’s hub for development, testing, and integration of trusted enhancements, supporting an industry and federal government NextG ecosystem pursuing 6G technology goals. Led by a $1.77 million anchor award from IB5G, the project is managed by Northeastern University’s Kostas Research Institute through a cooperative agreement with the Army Research Laboratory. The technical effort will be housed at Northeastern University’s Institute for Wireless Internet of Things.  
  • Spectrum Exchange Security and Scalability -- a new project with Zylinium Research, which recently demonstrated a Spectrum Exchange for dynamic spectrum allocation on the Platform for Open Wireless Data-drive Experimental Research (POWDER) at the University of Utah, which is part of the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research program funded by the National Science Foundation. This current effort will leverage blockchain in order to provide data persistence, scalability, and robustness to create a secure and distributed Spectrum Exchange.  Zylinium’s Spectrum Exchange research was funded $1.64 million by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)), representing a prime example of government inter-agency and industry collaboration in the interest of advancing spectrum sharing techniques and machine-driven network capabilities.
  • IB5G -- in collaboration with Nokia Bell Labs, to develop resilient, large-scale, Massive Multi-Input/Multi-Output (MIMO) from MHz to GHz project. This project was awarded $3.69 million by OUSD (R&E)/IB5G under an Open Broad Agency Announcement solicitation for Advanced Wireless Communications research. The effort will explore key technology components that enable scaling MIMO technology across different bands/bandwidths and DoD-oriented use cases. 

“The DoD has a vital interest in advancing 5G-to-NextG wireless technologies and concept demonstrations,” said Dr. Sumit Roy, IB5G Program Director. “These efforts represent our continuing investments via public and private sector collaboration on research & development for critical Beyond 5G technology enablers necessary to realize high performance, secure, and resilient network operations for the future warfighter.”

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3114220/three-new-projects-for-dods-innovate-beyond-5g-program/

Next G Alliance outlines North America's roadmap for 6G

by Benedict Chua, Associate EditorATIS’ Next G Alliance published a Roadmap to 6G report that presents the first 6G vision for North America and describes major steps that industry, government and academia should take to ensure North American wireless leadership for the next decade.ATIS said more than 600 experts from 80 Next G Alliance members representing industry, government and academia came together to create the 43-page report.The following...


Tuesday, June 7, 2022

AT&T Private 5G powers DoD Smart Warehouse demo

AT&T participated in a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and U.S. Navy demonstration showcasing a variety of 5G-powered technology solutions that can support the enablement of a Naval "Smart Warehouse."

AT&T's private 5G network, which powered the demonstrations at a warehouse in Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, delivered data throughput speeds of 3.9 Gbps with less than 10 milliseconds of latency.

The 5G Smart Warehouse project at Naval Base Coronado is the DoD program's use-case incorporating 5G capabilities for transshipments between shore facilities and naval units. The goal is to increase the efficiency and fidelity of naval logistic operations including identification, recording, organization, storage, retrieval, and the transportation of materiel and supplies.

Lance Spencer, Client Executive Vice President – Defense, AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet, states: "The AT&T 5G-powered solution we've delivered at Naval Base Coronado is a first of its kind, high-performance, highly secure, and scalable private network solution. We expect it will serve as the foundation for improved efficiency, timeliness, accuracy, security, and safety of Naval warehouse operations."

https://about.att.com/story/2022/smart-warehouse-dod-navy.html

  • In October 2020, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced $600 million in awards for 5G experimentation and testing at five U.S. military test sites, representing the largest full-scale 5G tests for dual-use applications in the world. DOD seeks to remain at the forefront of cutting-edge 5G testing and experimentation to strengthen our Nation's warfighting capabilities as well as U.S. economic competitiveness in this critical field.


Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Northrop Grumman and AT&T team on 5G defense

Northrop Grumman and AT&T entered into a collaboration agreement to research and develop a digital battle network, powered by AT&T 5G and Northrop Grumman’s advanced mission systems, to support the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). 

The agreement establishes a joint research and development framework to prototype, demonstrate and test AT&T’s commercial 5G networking capabilities integrated with Northrop Grumman’s robust portfolio of capabilities that are at the forefront of military technological advancement that enable the Joint Force. 

The companies plan to deliver a cost-effective, scalable, open architecture solution that will help the DoD connect distributed sensors, shooters and data from all domains, terrains and forces – similar to how smart devices connect and share data in our everyday lives. This digital battle network is expected to bring together the high speeds, low latency and cybersecurity protections of private 5G networks with the flexibility and scalability of AT&T’s commercial 5G capabilities and offer a critical capability to support the DoD’s vision for Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2).

“Our collaboration with AT&T brings together some of the best capabilities in defense and commercial communications to meet the evolving requirements of JADC2,” said Ben Davies, vice president and general manager, Networked Information Solutions division, Northrop Grumman. “The enhanced connectivity and networking of information that 5G provides are a great advantage in a military environment and will help the DoD in the development of high-performing and intuitive technologies that quickly and seamlessly share data across a myriad of secure networks.”

“Our 5G capabilities can help the Department of Defense achieve operational and information advantage when it matters most – protecting our country and freedoms around the globe,” said Lance Spencer, Client Executive Vice President-Defense, AT&T Public Sector and FirstNet. “By bringing our 5G services together with Northrop Grumman’s powerful avionics and defense systems, we expect to create an ideal platform to deliver DoD’s JADC2 vision.”

https://about.att.com/story/2022/northrop-grumman-digital-battle-network.html


Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Verizon wins nearly $1 billion in new DoD contracts

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD)  awarded Verizon Public Sector three Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) task order awards worth $966.5 million. 

  • Under the Pentagon task order valued at $515.3 million, Verizon will partner with the DOD to transition the entire Pentagon military and civilian population from copper-based telephony to IP-based services, providing a converged-enterprise environment for the Pentagon’s voice and data services. This includes converting more than 52,000 voice lines to an integrated IP environment with optimized voice and video services. Verizon professional services will provide the DOD with a dedicated support team to help plan, design and implement network upgrades and new equipment at the Pentagon.
  • The second award with DOD-NCR is a $432.9 million task order. Verizon will deliver core voice, transport, internet and professional services to over 370 locations within the DOD-NCR. DOD-NCR leads an interagency group responsible for the homeland security and defense of the Washington, D.C. area and surrounding counties in Virginia and Maryland.
  • Finally, Verizon has been awarded an $18.3 million task order to provide communications technology infrastructure including core voice, transport, internet and managed services at Fort Belvoir. The U.S. Army garrison provides logistical, intelligence and administrative support to a diverse mix of commands, activities and agencies in the Washington, D.C. area.

“The U.S. Dept. of Defense is at the forefront of technology modernization, and we are proud that Verizon has been selected to grow our existing partnership and continue to serve as its digital transformation partner,” said Maggie Hallbach, Senior Vice President, Public Sector at Verizon. “Building on 5G and other professional services awards Verizon secured in 2021, our team of professional and managed services experts are in lock step with DOD’s strategic priorities and we stand ready to help their leadership adapt to the increasingly sophisticated requirements and growing network infrastructure demands.”


Tuesday, February 8, 2022

NCI wins $13.4M Navy contract for fiber network modernization

NCI Information Systems has been awarded a five-year $13.4 million prime contract from the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division. Under the Installation Fiber Optic Networking Support Services contract, NCI, with its partner IntelliBridge, will enable faster, more secure network connections for the Navy by delivering state-of-the-art engineering and implementation fiber optic networking support services.


Under the contract, NCI and IntelliBridge will transform system interoperability and integration for networks supporting NAWCWD and NAVAIR, enabling seamless and secure computer connectivity. The two organizations will provide E&I fiber optic networking support services such as state-of-the-art network designs, fiber builds, infrastructure mapping and networking solutions.

https://www.nciinc.com

Monday, November 8, 2021

Verizon and Lockheed Martin collaborate on 5G.MIL

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Lockheed Martin are collaborating on 5G.MIL technologies that will provide ultra-secure, reliable connections for U.S. Department of Defense systems , bringing together high-tech platforms into a cohesive network spanning air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. 

The companies highlighted a joint demonstration that used a Verizon private 5G network installed at Lockheed Martin Space’s 5G Test Range in Colorado, connected to a Lockheed Martin open mission system processor running mission applications at the Skunk Works Integration Facility and Test Center in Texas. Initial tests demonstrated interoperability between Lockheed Martin open tactical gateway solutions and Verizon’s On Site 5G network technology. Specifically, situational awareness applications receiving Link-16 standard messages were linked to 5G user devices. 

"Verizon is at the cutting edge when it comes to building out reliable, high performance 5G Ultra Wideband networks with mobile edge computing capabilities," said Kyle Malady, Chief Technology Officer at Verizon. "Our work with Lockheed Martin will help enable the creation of new and innovative products and technologies, helping DOD leaders achieve the goals laid out in their 5G strategy."

"Lockheed Martin’s deep understanding of DOD mission requirements coupled with Verizon’s wireless expertise will truly enable the Joint All-Domain Operations battlespace our customers envision," said Rod Makoske, chief engineer and senior vice president of Engineering and Technology at Lockheed Martin. 

"Leveraging commercial 5G technologies with military-grade enhancements will let customers field, scale and deploy this technology faster and in more operational environments."

Lockheed Martin’s 5G.MIL program is a robust, 5G-enabled, heterogeneous "network of networks" that integrates military tactical, strategic and enterprise networks, and leverages existing telecommunication infrastructure technology. 5G.MIL will enable interoperability between 5G networks, NextG networks and operational DOD networks to enable effective and resilient communication across all domains.

https://www.verizon.com/about/news/lockheed-martin-verizon-5g-innovation-department-of-defense

www.lockheedmartin.com/5G

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Pentagon reopens $10 billion cloud contract

The U.S. Department of Defense is canceling the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud infrastructure contract awarded to Microsoft in late 2019.

In a press release, the Pentagon said the existing JEDI Cloud contract no longer meets its needs due to evolving requirements. However, the DoD "continues to have unmet cloud capability gaps for enterprise-wide, commercial cloud services at all three classification levels that work at the tactical edge, at scale -- these needs have only advanced in recent years with efforts such as Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Acceleration (ADA) initiative."

"JEDI was developed at a time when the Department’s needs were different and both the CSPs technology and our cloud conversancy was less mature. In light of new initiatives like JADC2 and AI and Data Acceleration (ADA), the evolution of the cloud ecosystem within DoD, and changes in user requirements to leverage multiple cloud environments to execute mission, our landscape has advanced and a new way-ahead is warranted to achieve dominance in both traditional and non-traditional warfighting domains," said John Sherman, acting DoD Chief Information Officer. 

The DoD will now open a new, multi-vendor Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract and said it will seek proposals from Microsoft and AWS, since "available market research indicates that these two vendors are the only Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) capable of meeting the Department’s requirements."
 

Microsoft wins $10 billion cloud contract with U.S. Department of Defense

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded an enterprise general-purpose cloud contract valued at up to $10 billion to Microsoft. 

The DoD said the contract will address critical and urgent unmet warfighter requirements for modern cloud infrastructure at all three classification levels delivered out to the tactical edge. The contracting process began two years ago and considered four different offerors.

The Pentagon said it is committed to a strategy of a multi-vendor, multi-cloud environment.

“The National Defense Strategy dictates that we must improve the speed and effectiveness with which we develop and deploy modernized technical capabilities to our women and men in uniform,” DOD Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said. “The DOD Digital Modernization Strategy was created to support this imperative. This award is an important step in execution of the Digital Modernization Strategy.”

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Comcast Business wins $102M, 10-Year Ethernet Contract with DISA

The United States’ Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded a 10-year, $102.8M contract to Comcast Businesss to provide Ethernet that will enhance connectivity, improve network performance and manage overall telecommunications costs throughout the Agency’s Defense Information Systems Network (DISN), which includes Maryland, Washington, D.C, Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. 

DISA provides enterprise network and IT infrastructure to support the requirements of the Department of Defense’s more than 40 military services, combatant commands and support organizations worldwide, including the President, Vice President and Secretary of Defense. The Agency is currently undergoing a multi-phase process of replacing 17,000 legacy, point-to-point public switched telephone network (PSTN) circuits with Ethernet-based services across seven regions in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. CEG Region 3 provides DISA with the underlying network infrastructure to enable voice, video, and data services for their mission partners.


“We are honored that DISA has once again selected – and more importantly entrusted – Comcast Business for its important initiative of modernizing its communications infrastructure and enhancing connectivity with its partners across the military’s information network,” said Ken Folderauer, Vice President, Government Sales, Comcast Business. “This contract solidifies Comcast Business’ position as a premier provider of communications solutions to government agencies.”


Tuesday, June 15, 2021

DARPA: Filtering out interference for next-gen wideband arrays

DARPA is pursuing a COmpact Front-end Filters at the ElEment-level (COFFEE) program that aims to develop a new class of integrable, high-frequency RF filters for next-generation wideband arrays. The idea is to build filters that operate over a wide range of frequencies that are also small enough to fit behind each element of a phased array.

“Wideband, digital-at-every-element AESAs are particularly compelling for applications like advanced radar, electronic warfare (EW), and communications,” said Dr. Benjamin Griffin, a program manager in the Microsystems Technology Office (MTO). “However, high bandwidth receivers often have a limited dynamic range, leaving them vulnerable to electronic jamming. Further, digital-at-every-element exposes each element to interferers and requires filtering at the element level, leaving very little room to integrate conventional filter technologies.”

COFFEE is a part of DARPA’s Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) – a five-year, upwards of $1.5 billion investment in the advancement of the U.S. semiconductor industry. 

https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2021-06-10

Monday, June 14, 2021

Defense Info Systems Agency awards $1.8 billion contract to Cisco

The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency awarded a contract valued at $1.8 billion to Cisco for Cisco Smart Net Total Care and Software Support Services for users across the Department of Defense.  

The period of performance is a one-year base period and two one-year option periods, for a total contract life cycle of three years. 


https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2657500/

DISA awards $84 million contract to Comcast for Ethernet Gateway Region 4

The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency awarded a contract valued at $84.2 million to Comcast Government Services for the Commercial Ethernet Gateway Region 4 to provide mission partner access, via Ethernet connections, to the Department of Defense Information Network and to enable the replacement of legacy, time division multiplexing-based circuits.

Primary performance will be at the contractor’s above-identified facility in Reston, Virginia.

https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2657500/

Thursday, April 15, 2021

U.S. Department of Defense funds spectrum research

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has issued two Requests for Prototype Proposal (RPPs) in support of electromagnetic spectrum research.

The Risk-Informed Spectrum Access (RISA) RPP calls for industry input to develop and demonstrate a set of prototype spectrum access planning, management and operational tools. These tools will provide the capability to identify, assess and reduce systemic risk to mission associated with current or projected spectrum availability to assist with both planning and during operations. The tools will have the potential to be employed in legacy systems as well as infrastructure-based (e.g., DoD test and training ranges) and infrastructure-free (e.g., tactical edge) spectrum access systems.

As a complementary piece of the automated spectrum ecosystem, the Multiband Control Channel Architecture (MICCA) effort will enable dynamic spectrum access for large force exercises and other spectrum-intensive scenarios. MICCA will leverage Machine-to-Machine (M2M) protocols and interfaces to enable near-real-time command, control, and communications.  The ultimate goal of MICCA is to enable flexible spectrum access and spectrum operations agility by developing a standardized method for distributing spectrum parameters, data products, and related control messages. This will allow for "closed-loop" spectrum operations in near real time.

Additionally, last year, DOD issued four 5G RPPs through the NSC focusing on smart warehouses, AR/VR for training, and dynamic spectrum sharing.  DOD announced in October that these projects had been awarded as part of $600 million of Tranche One funding.

https://www.nationalspectrumconsortium.org/

Sunday, March 21, 2021

DARPA seeks to boost domestic manufacturing of structured ASICs

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is launching an industry collaboration with Intel to expand access to domestic manufacturing capabilities for custom chips for defense systems. 

DARPA's Structured Array Hardware for Automatically Realized Applications (SAHARA) program is partnership with Intel and academic researchers from University of Florida, University of Maryland, and Texas A&M to develop U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities to enable the automated and scalable conversion of defense-relevant field-programmable gate array (FPGAs) designs into quantifiably secure Structured ASICs. 

SAHARA will also explore novel chip protections to support the manufacturing of silicon in zero-trust environments. While FPGAs are widely used in military applications today, Structured ASICs deliver significantly higher performance and lower power consumption.

For its part, Intel said it will use its structured ASIC technology to develop platforms that significantly accelerate development time and reduce engineering cost compared to traditional ASICs. 

Intel plans to manufacture these chips using its 10nm process technology with the advanced interface bus die-to-die interconnect and embedded multi-die interconnect bridge packaging technology to integrate multiple heterogenous die in a single package.

Intel eASIC devices are structured ASICs, an intermediary technology between FPGAs and standard-cell ASICs. 

"We are combining our most advanced Intel eASIC structured ASIC technology with state-of-the-art data interface chiplets and enhanced security protection, and it’s all being made within the U.S. from beginning to end. This will enable defense and commercial electronics systems developers to rapidly develop and deploy custom chips based on Intel’s advanced 10nm semiconductor process," stated José Roberto Alvarez, senior director, CTO Office, Intel Programmable Solutions Group.

SAHARA is a critical program supporting the Department of Defense (DoD) microelectronics Roadmap led by the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering – USD(R&E) – to define, quantify, and standardize security while strengthening domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The Rapid Assured Microelectronics Prototypes-Commercial (RAMP-C) and State-of-the-Art Heterogeneous Integration Prototype (SHIP) projects are also integral to the DoD Roadmap.

“The structured ASIC platforms and methods developed in SAHARA together with the advanced packaging technology developed in SHIP will enable the U.S. Department of Defense to more quickly and cost effectively develop and deploy advanced microelectronic systems critical to DoD modernization priorities,” said Brett Hamilton, deputy principal director for Microelectronics in USD(R&E).

https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2021-03-18

Lattice Semiconductor joins DARPA Toolbox Initiative

Lattice Semiconductor's Diamond and FPGA design tools for its highly reliable, low-power, small form factor FPGAs are now included in the DARPA Toolbox initiative. The DARPA Toolbox initiative is a new, agency-wide effort aimed at providing access to state-of-the-art technology from leading commercial technology vendors to the researchers behind DARPA programs.The partnership also provides DARPA organizations with access to a selection of Lattice's...

DARPA launches Data Protection in Virtual Environments

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched an initiative called the Data Protection in Virtual Environments (DPRIVE) program which seeks to develop a hardware accelerator for Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE).Fully homomorphic encryption enables users to compute on always-encrypted data, or cryptograms. The data never needs to be decrypted, reducing the potential for cyberthreats.DPRIVE aims to design and implement a hardware...

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) reached an agreement with The Linux Foundation to create open source software that accelerates United States government technology research and development innovation.Specifically, DARPA and the LF will create a broad collaboration umbrella (US Government Open Programmable Secure (US GOV OPS) that allows United States Government projects, their ecosystem, and open community to participate in accelerating...

ONF's Aether Edge Cloud selected for DARPA's Pronto Project

The Open Networking Foundation's Aether 5G Connected Edge Cloud platform is being used as the software platform for Pronto, a project backed by $30 million in DARPA funding to develop secure 5G network infrastructure. Specifically, DARPA is funding ONF to build, deploy and operate the network to support research by Cornell, Princeton and Stanford universities in the areas of network verification and closed-loop control. Aether (pronounced ‘ee-ther’)...

DARPA backs Lasers for Universal Microscale Optical Systems program

DARPA is backing a new Lasers for Universal Microscale Optical Systems (LUMOS) program, which aims to bring high-performance lasers to advanced photonics platforms. Three LUMOS Technical Areas are cited:bringing high-performance lasers and optical amplifiers into advanced domestic photonics manufacturing foundries. Tower Semiconductor and SUNY Polytechnic Institute were selected to demonstrate flexible, efficient on-chip optical gain in their...


Sunday, October 4, 2020

U.S. DoD backs Intel for semiconductor packaging tech

The U.S. Department of Defense awarded a contract to Intel to enable the U.S. government to access Intel’s state-of-the-art semiconductor packaging capabilities in Arizona and Oregon.

The project, which is supported by the DoD's State-of-the-Art Heterogeneous Integration Prototype (SHIP) program,  is executed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, and administered by the National Security Technology Accelerator.

The second phase of SHIP will develop prototypes of multichip packages and accelerate advancement of interface standards, protocols and security for heterogeneous systems. SHIP prototypes will integrate special-purpose government chips with Intel’s advanced, commercially available silicon products, including field programmable gate arrays, application-specific integrated circuits and CPUs. This combination of technologies provides new paths for the U.S. government’s industry partners to develop and modernize the government’s mission-critical systems while taking advantage of Intel’s U.S. manufacturing capabilities.

Heterogeneous packaging allows the assembly of multiple, separately manufactured integrated circuit dies (chips) onto a single package to increase performance while reducing power, size and weight. SHIP provides the U.S. government access to Intel’s advanced heterogeneous packaging technologies, including embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB), 3D Foveros and Co-EMIB (combining both EMIB and Foveros).

“Intel and the U.S. government share a priority to advance domestic semiconductor manufacturing technology. The SHIP program will enable the Department of Defense to take advantage of Intel’s advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities, diversifying their supply chain and protecting their intellectual property while also supporting ongoing semiconductor R&D in the U.S. and preserving critical capabilities onshore,” stated Jim Brinker, president and general manager of Intel Federal LLC.

“To ensure that the U.S. defense industry base can continue to deliver state-of-the-art electronics for national security, it is imperative that the Department of Defense (DoD) partners with leading U.S. semiconductor companies," Nicole Petta, principal director of microelectronics, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. "The DoD microelectronics roadmap recognizes the importance of strategic partnerships with industry. The roadmap also prioritizes and recognizes that as process scaling slows, heterogeneous assembly technology is a critical investment for both the DoD and our nation. SHIP directly contributes to advancing the objectives outlined in the DoD roadmap and the DoD looks forward to working with Intel, a world leader in this technology.”

http://www.intel.com




In 2018, Intel demonstrated a new 3D packaging technology, called "Foveros," which for the first time brings 3D stacking to logic-on-logic integration. Foveros will will allow products to be broken up into smaller “chiplets,” where I/O, SRAM and power delivery circuits can be fabricated in a base die and high-performance logic chiplets are stacked on top. The first Foveros product will combine a high-performance 10nm compute-stacked chiplet with a low-power 22FFL base die. 

Monday, May 18, 2020

U.S. Defense Innovation Unit to test Isotropic's' Optical Beamforming

Isotropic Systems announced an antenna evaluation and development contract with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to test the ability of its patented multi-beam antennas to unlock high-powered bandwidth aboard next-gen Naval vessels at sea.  The collaboration contract is focused on the delivery of a low-profile, high performance, affordable and customizable antenna to support multiple links over multiple bands of satellite capacity, including S-, C-, Ka-, Ku-, X-, and Q-band connectivity, to open up a new world of real-time government communications and connectivity.

Isotropic's patented optical beamforming antenna technologies are designed to fuse multi-band, multi-orbit commercial and military capacity to deliver intelligence data at the tactical edge over a single platform.

Isotropic Systems said its high-performance terminal features optical lens modules that are conformal to the limited real estate aboard Navy ships, providing an antenna design that delivers seamless make-before-break switching between satellites in multiple orbits, and continuous connectivity during turbulent pitch-and-roll conditions facing vessels traversing rough seas.

"Isotropic Systems has cracked the code for a new age of seamless and secure connectivity and communications in some of the most challenging conditions facing government agencies and military operations around the globe," said John Finney, CEO and Founder of Isotropic Systems. "This important effort is potentially a major milestone that will ultimately lead to ultra-high-speed data delivery and real-time national security advantages that come with integrated government networks. We will enable the Navy, and other government forces and agencies, to arbitrage all the capacity it needs from across low-Earth, geosynchronous- equatorial and medium-earth orbit constellations over a single multi-beam platform."

https://www.isotropicsystems.com/

Monday, March 30, 2020

Comcast Business wins $9.3m Ethernet Gateway contract from DISA

The United States’ Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded a 10-year, $9.3 million to Comcast Business to establish Commercial Ethernet Gateways to provide Ethernet connections to its Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) in the Northeastern United States.

Under the contract, Comcast Business will deliver its Ethernet Virtual Private Line (EVPL) service, which helps improve application performance across a network with a private, point-to-multipoint network design between multiple locations. EVPL offers the potential for performance improvements and managed cost as compared to legacy Wide Area Network (WAN) technologies such as T1 lines, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), Frame Relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), and private lines.

“This award lets us do our part to support the nation. Transforming DISA’s network to an Ethernet-based solution will deliver a performance-based network to DISA and its mission partners,” said Ken Folderauer, Vice President, Federal Government Sales, Comcast Business. “The US Government is one of the largest IT buyers in the world. Only the very best earn their trust and Comcast Business is honored to be on that short list. We look forward to continuing to build out this incredible partnership with DISA.”

Monday, April 8, 2019

BT expands services with NATO

Following the signing of a new, three-year agreement with NATO’s Communications and Information Agency (NCI) for support services valued at €5.9 million, BT is expanding the range of services it provides to NATO to support the military alliance’s global operations.

BT connects more than 70 NATO locations internationally, including sites spread across the Alliance’s 29 member countries and beyond. Adding BT’s network support services to the agency enables NATO to roll out new solutions within the dynamic environment it operates in.

Bas Burger, CEO of Global Services, BT, said: “Digital transformation is a strategic driver for multinational organisations. Like many of our global customers, NATO faces a dynamic operational landscape and looks to harness the latest digital tools and technologies to enhance its performance.With our global secure network and expertise as a trusted supplier to governments, international agencies and multinationals, BT is well placed to support NATO in an increasingly digital world.”