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Request for Information JTRS Software Internet Controller Application March 7, 2006 1.0 DESCRIPTION The Army Contract Agency, Information Technology, E-Commerce, and Commercial Contracting Center (ITEC4), in support of the Joint Tactical Radio Systems (JTRS) Joint Waveforms Program Office (JWPO), is seeking information from interested parties on how the JTRS program can address communications and interoperability requirements of and strategies for the acquisition of a Software Internet Controller (SoftINC) that: " complies to the Armys INC SRS version 3.10 (4 May 2005), which corresponds to version 6.2 of the legacy INC implementation, " complies to JTRS SCA version 2.2.1, " meets the requirements of MIL-STD-188-220C, and " meets current JTRS Information Assurance requirements, including applicable requirements from the 1 Dec 2005 version of the JTRS Unified Infosec Criteria (UIC). This is a request for information only as defined in FAR 15.201(e). It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. Responses to this notice shall not be construed as offers and cannot be accepted by the G overnment to form a binding contract. The U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested partys expense. Not re sponding to this RFI will not preclude participation in any future RFP if issued. Release of reference technical documentation is limited to United States corporations and United States citizens. 2.0 BACKGROUND The Department of Defense established the JTRS program to provide a family of software programmable radios designed around a Software Communications Architecture (SCA). As such, the JTRS will provide reliable multi-channel voice, data, imagery, and video communications and eliminate communications problems caused by stovepipe legacy systems. The JTRS will achieve these objectives through the procurement and fielding of a digital, programmable, modular communication system based on software-defined radio t echnology. JTRS will provide interoperability through the capacity to communicate with current tactical communications systems in the near term. In the future, JTRS will provide integrated information sharing through new waveforms to support joint operations. This interoperability will help meet the demands of U.S. Military forces and, when needed, communications with other government entities and first responders. As part of this initiative, the JTRS program is evaluating the means by which they can establish a SoftINC capability within this family of communications products. The JTRS SoftINC will perform IP Routing between the SINCGARS radio nets; EPLRS radios net s, external host computers, commercial routes and other networks. The SoftINC application as implemented by the JTRS program will be a software controlled data router that contains the UDP/TCP/IP protocol stack as well as specializes agent that provide th e routing of IP data and Situational Awareness (SA) packets through the Armys Lower Tactical Internet (TI). The SoftINC will also contain MIL-STD-188-220D link layer protocol to support networking over SINCGARS. This RFI is to solicit industrys views on the state of the software based internet controllers, provide insight into methodologies for developing a JTRS SoftINC capability that will be interoperable with non-DoD SoftINC standard devices, and comment on is sues that could affect the affordability of the JTRS SoftINC waveform. 3.0 REQUESTED INFORMATION This RFI requests information from industry regarding the JTRS SoftINC application requirements as well as information regarding possible acquisition strategies. The questions below provide a starting point for information input. 3.1 Are there any existing technologies/products that could satisfy the JTRS SoftINC req uirements? Please quantify and explain any required modifications where possible. 3.2 Are the current APIs as defined for the SCA and SoftINC sufficient to produce and field a fully interoperable SoftINC capability? If not, what are the issues? 3.3 What are the projected technology trends that will support SoftINC? 3.4 Are there any critical issues associated with integrating SoftINC capabilities onto handheld/small form factor sets? 3.5 How can current industry life cycle support to SoftINC products be leveraged to support the JTRS SoftINC? 3.6 Which requirements would drive cost/schedule for a SoftINC application development? 3.7 What acquisition strategies may be available that could reduce implementation technical, schedule, and/or cost risk? 3.8 Are there any issues with implementation of MIL-STD-188-220D vice MIL-STD-188-220C? 4.0 TECHNICAL REFERENCES. The Government has the following documentation available for use in formulating responses to this RFI: 4.1 Internet Controller Performance Specification (JTRS JWPO) 4.2 Army Internet Controller (INC) Specification (v 6.2) 4.3 Software Communications Architecture (V 2.2.1) Electronic copies of these references may be requested thru the JTRS JWPO. Requests should be submitted via e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected] and must include the name, company/organization, phone number, and e-mail ad dress of a designated point of contact. The Uniform Infosec Criteria (UIC) is available for review at the JTRS JWPO facilities in Arlington, Virginia. 5.0 RESPONSES Interested parties should respond to this RFI with a white paper. Please be advised that all responses become government property. White papers, in Microsoft Word compatible format, shall be submitted to via e-mail to the JTRS JWPO no later than 15:00 EST, March 23, 2006. Submissions shall be addressed to [email protected]. or [email protected]. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and, if present, clearly marked. To aid Government planners, please segregate proprietary information. 5.1 Section One: Administrative Information Provide company name and address and the phone number, fax number, and e-mail of a designated point of contact. 5.2 Section Two: Identification of current technologies Describe any technical capabilities that exist or could be modified to satisfy JTRS SoftINC requirements. This description should include assumptions, feasibility, and risk for these options. 5.3 Section Three: Question Responses Shall be used to address the questions posed in Section 3 of this RFI. Any assumptions, technical feasibility, or overall risk considered in answering these questions should be addressed. 5.4 Section Four: Questions to the Government: Shall be used by responders to pose questions to Government for consideration and response. Government responses to any submitted industry question will be provided to on responders. 6.0 INDUSTRY DAY As a follow-on to this RFI the Government may have an Industry Day for the JTRS SoftINC application effort. There has been no tentative date been set for this event. Further details on the Industry Day will be published. 7.0 GOVERNMENT SUPPORT CONTRACTORS The Government will utilize contractors from the following organizations to assist in the review and evaluation of RFI responses. These vendors have executed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and are bound to safeguard any proprietary information supplied by responders. Additional companies may be added at a later date. " Engineering, Management, and Integration (EM&I); " SRA International; " Booze Allen and Hamilton (BAH); " MITRE. 8.0 POINTS OF CONTACT This is a JTRS JWPO RFI. Any technical questions regarding this request should be submitted by e-mail to [email protected] or [email protected]. Responses to questions will be answered via e-mail and announcement to all responders. All contract questions shall be referred to the Contracting Officer, Ga [email protected].

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