[Avionics Today 04-13-2016] The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Intelligence Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) is seeking information on how an interested contractor could implement a converged Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) and Electronic Warfare (EW) architecture. The C4ISR/EW architecture aims to maximize the use of open architectures and standards, reduce Size, Weight and Power (SWaP), and facilitates the use of common Radio Frequency (RF) component types across communications and EW technologies on Army platforms.
The U.S. Army CERDEC established the Hardware/Software Convergence Working-Level Integrated Product Team (HW/SW-WIPT) to develop and execute a detailed plan to achieve a modular and open family of hardware and software components for implementing interoperable C4ISR/EW capabilities on Army platforms. The plan defined by the HW/SW-WIPT matures the following standard specifications by developing reference implementations and conducting a series of incremental demonstrations: OpenVPX, a backplane standard that uses serial fabrics with a high density connector, coupled with a systems level approach that defines standard profiles for pins, protocols, and interconnections; Vehicular Integration for C4ISR/EW Interoperability (VICTORY), which defines a network-based data bus called the VICTORY Data Bus (VDB) to integrate C4ISR/EW and platform systems on Army ground vehicles; Modular Open RF Architecture (MORA), which extends VICTORY to support RF systems, among other functions; and Redhawk, a software framework and associated interfaces intended to facilitate the development, deployment, and management of Software-Defined Radio (SDR) applications.
The primary purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to get feedback on the draft MORA V2.0 specification in support of HW/SW Convergence and other initiatives.