Perspecta Labs, the applied research arm of Perspecta Inc, was awarded a prime contract to develop a spectrum access manager for the Department of Defense (DOD) under the National Spectrum Consortium's Spectrum Base Agreement. The contract, which represents new work for the company, has a value of $6.2 million and a three-year period of performance.
Radio frequency (RF) spectrum is a vital resource for DOD testing of every type of weapon system and military platform—from aircraft, ships and missiles to ground vehicles and diverse radio systems. RF spectrum is also limited, congested and under increasing demand for both military and commercial use. On this program, Perspecta Labs will develop a spectrum access manager that enables DOD test ranges to better understand and characterize their RF spectrum environment, quantify the performance of test systems based on a given mission profile, and improve efficiency in the scheduling and allocation of RF spectrum.
"DOD test ranges face a significant spectrum shortfall as there is an increasing demand to support the testing of complex emerging systems, but less dedicated spectrum available," said Petros Mouchtaris, President of Perspecta Labs. "Perspecta Labs will leverage its leading expertise in RF spectrum solutions to design, develop, integrate and demonstrate a spectrum access management and planning tool that delivers revolutionary advances in the characterization and management of RF spectrum and the planning and scheduling of test events."
The Perspecta Labs spectrum access manager will provide DOD test ranges with the capability to efficiently deconflict spectrum assignments for testing, provide actionable information regarding telemetry link performance for a given flight path, implement automated sharing techniques to efficiently support required operations, and provide precise visualization of spectrum assignments and telemetry link performance. Perspecta Labs will perform new design and development activities, as well as integrate software and system prototypes to deliver a complete solution for spectrum situational awareness, efficient allocation, and ease of use in planning, scheduling and conducting tests.
