THIS IS NOT A NOTICE OF SOLICIATION. IT IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. In responding to this notice, please refer to “Aeronautical Mobile Communication Network Architecture (MCNA) Simulation, Emulation and Demonstration Capabilities.” Send information/literature/qualification statement no later than February 17, 2005 to the e-mail or postal address as provided herein. NASA does not intend to award a contract based on this information. This RFI is for planning purposes only and to allow industry the opportunity to provide information relative to the goals set forth below. NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is seeking information about existing and near-future, high fidelity simulation, emulation and demonstration capabilities to support the validation of proposed concepts and enabling technologies for an aeronautical Mobile Communication Network Architecture (MCNA). The MCNA encompasses the mobile digital voice and data communication capabilities required to support communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) services for future Air Traffic Management (ATM) operations. A clearly defined MCNA is a key element for transformation of the National Airspace System (NAS) towards Network Enabled Operations (NEO). The MCNA extends voice and data information services defined in the NAS System Wide Information Management (SWIM) concept to all mobile elements of the NAS, including aircraft during all phases of flight. Transition to this future MCNA would begin in the 2009 – 2015 time period, and the useful life of the system should be at least 20 to 30 years. The information received in response to this RFI will be used by NASA GRC in support of a collaborative MCNA Study with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (as part of the Global Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance System (GCNSS) Phase II contract with the Air Traffic Management Division of Boeing Corporation). The FAA/NASA GRC MCNA Study will help to define MCNA requirements and evaluate them against existing and planned communications capabilities in the NAS to identify gaps and/or inconsistencies that must be addressed either through the enhancement of current systems and capabilities or the development of new MCNA systems. The study includes the evaluation of the requirements, architecture and associated transition plans. NASA GRC responsibilities include the identification of U.S. national capabilities needed to validate the 2015 mobile communications network architecture for use in NEO and SWIM. This RFI is intended to provide input for conducting Task 2.5: Simulation, Emulations, Demonstrations, where candidate simulation models and tools and emulation environments are required to validate proposed MCNA concepts, strategies and enabling technologies. This includes identification of unique facilities and capabilities that exist or are planned within the U.S. at NASA Centers, FAA Facilities, federally-funded organizations, and companies. The Boeing Corporation is under contract with the FAA to assist NASA GRC in the identification of simulation, emulation, and demonstration capabilities. They and other direct contractors of NASA and the FAA for this effort (including but not limited to ITT Industries, Honeywell, Avaliant LLC, and Tectura Corp.) will have access to the information submitted, but only for the specific purpose of helping NASA to develop plans for validating the performance and operational scenarios of integrated communications infrastructure architecture and identification of concepts for demonstrations (in the relevant environment) of the capabilities enabled by the MCNA. It is desirable that information provided to describe relevant simulation, emulation and demonstration capabilities relevant to aeronautical mobile communications include: • A technical description of the simulation, emulation, and demonstration capability including but not limited to: tool name, vendor, capability description, hardware supported, and operating system. • Description of existing application(s) of the tool to support simulation, emulation, and demonstration for the purposes of validating concepts, strategies, and/or technologies in the context of an air traffic management (ATM) environment (in particular the National Airspace System – NAS) and/or aeronautical network enabled environment. This would include descriptions of specific ATM/NAS related models, some discussion/details of how they have been used, and a brief history of the process and for what purpose they were developed. Sample outputs, screenshots, and other graphical samples would be useful. • A description of the level of fidelity of the tool/capability with regards to the actual ATM/NAS and/or NEO related system(s) it simulates, emulates, or demonstrates, and whether or not and how the tool/capability has been validated by the FAA, NASA, or other recognized authority. • Availability of the tool to support future aeronautical MCNA design and development. • Technical maturity of the simulation, emulation and demonstration capability and areas/timeframe for planned upgrades and improvements. For the purposes of providing clarity in the scope of responses desired, the following list of examples is included. These examples are intended to be representative of the types of capabilities solicited in the RFI and are not fully inclusive. o Modeling (software simulation and representation of MCNA or various aspects) o Modeling tools for evaluating: Network and datalink protocol performance and interactions PHY performance in multipath, mobile environment Communication system capacity estimation Spectrum utilization and optimization … o Models previously developed to represent aeronautical communications such as: VDLm(A,2,3,4,E), UAT, Inmarsat Aero-H, Swift-64, Swift-BGAN, 802.X, P25, P34, 3G, 1090ES, HFDL, VDL-B, B-VHF, ADL Network protocols applicable to MCNA such as (ATN, CPDLC, MIPv6, NeMo, SCTP…) Datalink message sets and applications such as (CPDLC, CM, ADS, FIS…) o Emulation & Demonstration (Laboratory experiments including hardware in the loop testing eventually leading to flight demonstrations) o Wireless and SatCom link emulation o Avionics system emulation (CMU, FMC, VHF, HF, SatCom, MCDU …) o Ground system emulation (DSP functions, FANS/ATN gateways …) o Ground ATM application emulation (ATOP, URET, STARS, CTAS …) o Existing testbeds o Aviation platforms designed for test and experimentation Submittal Instructions: 1. Please send relevant literature and information to: E-mail address:
[email protected] NASA-Glenn Research Center Attn: David A. Buchanan 21000 Brookpark Road, Mail Stop: 86-5 Cleveland, OH 44135-3191 (216) 433-5228 2. Such information shall include as a minimum, a brief description of your company capabilities, products and services, history, ownership, financial capabilities and other specific information as requested in this RFI. As part of your information package, please include company Technical Point(s) of Contact including address, telephone number and e-mail address. 3. At its discretion, NASA may request further discussions and/or clarification of the information submitted. If agreeable to both parties, such discussions may take place via teleconferencing or on-site visit to NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio at the responder’s expense. If they do occur, discussions will be constrained to a two hour time duration, and will consist of vendor presentations and subsequent discussions of the presented material only. Representatives from NASA and its Contractors, and the FAA and its Contractors, may be present for such discussions. THIS RFI IS ISSUED SOLELY FOR INFORMATION AND PLANNING PURPOSES AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A SOLICITATION. Contractors of NASA and the FAA that are assisting in the performance of the MCNA Study will have access to the information submitted for the sole purpose of planning future simulation, emulation and demonstration activities. Responses to this RFI will not be returned. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with any response to this RFI. THIS SYNOPSIS SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT, NOR WILL THE GOVERNMENT PAY FOR THE INFORMATION SOLICITATED. RESPONDERS WILL NOT BE NOTIFIED OF ANY REVIEWS RESULTING FROM THIS RFI.