IARPA posts SuperCables draft BAA

On October 31, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity posted a draft broad agency announcement (BAA) for SuperCables (IARPA-BAA-18-02). Responses are due no later than 5:00 p.m. Eastern on November 17.

The Intelligence Advance Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is seeking interested parties to thoroughly review the Draft BAA Funding Opportunity Description and provide comments, questions, suggested changes, and feedback. IARPA does not anticipate posting responses to any comments, questions, suggested changes, and/or feedback received; however, all input will be considered in developing the Final BAA. Additionally, the Draft BAA Funding Opportunity Description is subject to change in the development of the Final BAA as a result of IARPA’s consideration of the input received from interested parties in response to the Draft BAA as well as other considerations.

IARPA seeks development of technology and techniques for energy-efficient, high data rate transmission of digital signals between computing systems operating at room and cryogenic temperatures. The focus in the SuperCables program is demonstration of components to convert from low level electrical signals in circuits operating at a temperature of approximately 4 kelvins to conventional optical signals at room temperature. Pending results of this program, IARPA may support a follow-on program to develop the complete system for data transmission between room temperature and 4 kelvins.

The goal of the SuperCables program is to develop components for the data egress system. A follow-on BAA may address data ingress or system integration.

The SuperCables program intends to address only the sub-system presently considered most limiting: electrical to optical (EO) signal conversion and transmission from the cryogenic to the room temperature environment. Proposals submitted in response to this BAA should be to develop a device to convert digital electronic information at ~4 K into digital optical information.

Full information is available here.

Source: FedBizOpps