DARPA program aims to sense novel RF signals on the fly via high-performance processing at the edge
Oct 6, 2022
The unlimited demand for more devices at higher speeds ensures that the future wireless spectrum will be increasingly crowded and complex. A promising way to deal with this complexity is RF (radio frequency) autonomy, where radios use artificial intelligence (AI) to sense the spectrum and adapt to the perceived environment. Compared to human-managed systems, RF autonomy can increase robustness to interference and improve the capacity of the spectrum to accommodate more devices.
The edge processors of choice for today’s autonomous radios are field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). However, signal environments can change far faster (nanoseconds) than FPGAs can be reprogrammed (milliseconds). Realizing the benefits of RF autonomy across wide bandwidths – particularly when the spectrum may contain novel AI-designed signals – requires new classes of receiver processors.
DARPA’s Processor Reconfiguration for Wideband Sensor Systems (PROWESS) program aims to develop high-throughput, streaming-data processors that reconfigure in real time to detect and characterize novel signals. Through processors that self-reconfigure within 50 nanoseconds, PROWESS will enable “just-in-time” synthesis of processing pipelines in uncertain environments. PROWESS will allow future receivers to optimize performance to both measured spectrum conditions and the needs of cognitive RF decision logic.
“Prior research, including DARPA’s Spectrum Collaboration Challenge (SC2), demonstrated that autonomous RF systems deliver significant benefits over traditional fixed or rule-based approaches,” said John Davies, PROWESS program manager. “The foundation of RF autonomy is spectrum sensing, but wideband spectrum sensing in an autonomous future pushes edge compute needs far beyond the capacity of today’s devices – and motivates innovation in ultra-flexible, high-throughput streaming data processors.”
Interested proposers will have an opportunity to learn more about PROWESS during a Proposers Day, which will be held on October 13, 2022, from 1-3:30 p.m. ET via Zoom. Advance registration by Oct. 10 is required to attend.
More information can also be found in the PROWESS Broad Agency Announcement.
Media with inquiries should contact DARPA Public Affairs at outreach@darpa.mil
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