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BANC3 Awarded SAFEDROP for US ARMY

January 22, 2025 – Our team was awarded the SBIR Phase II for SAFEDROP (Smart Augmented Field Equipment for Deployment and Rigging Operations Platform) for the US Army. SAFEDROP is a mixed reality (MR) and computer vision (CV) system designed to enable non-expert Army Soldiers to rig equipment and cargo for aerial delivery, reducing reliance on specialized Parachute Riggers. The system builds on the ThirdEye application platform and tailors it to meet the Army’s requirements for cargo rigging. SAFEDROP will provide step-by-step AR guidance, error-checking, and remote expert support to ensure safe and effective rigging of equipment. The system will include turnkey hardware and software solution to impact rigging operations on day 1. The hardware will include an On-Prem Server (OPS) with a local Wi-Fi network router for the Content Management System (CMS) and data storage and transfer, Tracker Anchor Point (TAP) Markers for optional precise equipment tracking and localization when the computer vision detection is not feasible, and our MR headsets that serve as the primary interface for both rigging experts creating Expert Rigging Content (ERC) and non-Expert Soldiers following the ERC content.

BANC3 is a developer and manufacturer of extremely wide instantaneous bandwidth software defined receivers for radio frequency spectrum monitoring. Our systems are currently supporting the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload launch missions to combat the rising threat to US satellites.
For more information about BANC3's SDR technology, please visit www.banc3.com/rf-systems .  


Kinetic Realtime Observation Network Operation and Synchronization (KRONOS)

The Holloman High Speed Test Track conducts crucial subsonic and hypersonic sled testing over its extensive ten-mile course. Established in the 1980s, the track's original timing and control infrastructure, reliant on extensive 200-pair copper telephone wire networks, is now due for a comprehensive update to meet contemporary testing demands. The diversity of sensors along the track, from basic wire break detectors to sophisticated Doppler radar and real-time video systems, necessitates a unified time base for accurate data analysis. Moreover, the system's command-and-control capabilities are essential for initiating, halting, and managing tests, including critical emergency stop functions. An updated system must also facilitate efficient data retrieval, storage, and exportation in standard formats to ensure seamless interaction with measurement devices and secure transmission of test data back to the control center.

Within the KRONOS design, GPS provides a clock and UTC synchronization while an onboard Chip Scale Atomic Clock (CSAC) continues accurate timing even without a GPS signal. Timing nodes provide the 1ns accurate timestamp, the interface methods to various sensor and equipment, and the communications back to command over existing copper lines. An optional wireless or highspeed modem link provides faster data transmission and real time camera streaming, and the command-and-control center can be located on site or remote.

In this Phase I contract for the US Air Force, our objective is to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive system that revolutionizes the functionality and efficiency of the Holloman High Speed Test Track. This system will not only meet the stringent requirement of 1ns accurate distributed timing but also leverage the existing copper network infrastructure for command, control, and data transfer capabilities.



Wideband 16x12 Non-Blocking Radio Frequency Switch

Under a contract with the US Navy, BANC3 is currently developing a dynamically reconfigurable, minimal latency 6U Virtual Path Cross-Connect (VPX) wideband non-blocking radio frequency (RF) switch that can simultaneously handle thousands of diverse signals from multiple apertures to multiple channels on a single processing card to increase autonomy while addressing emerging and dynamic threats.

Our solution will enhance Signal Intelligence (SIGINT). An Electronic Support Measure (ESM) provides the passive capability to search, intercept, collect, classify, geo-locate, monitor, copy, exploit, and disseminate these signals over a specific RF range. A key subsystem to an ESM is the RF distribution, Current 6U RF switches are limited in the exploitation of the frequency spectrum due to size, weight, power, and cooling (SWaPC) constraints associated with the frequency response of the components in the signal conditioning path.

Our Phase 1 project is the development of a 16x12 non-blocking switch that operates from 1.5 MHz to 18 GHz. This non-blocking RF switch will maintain present 6U SWaPC constraints, and it will be a single processing card while maintaining open interface standards. The non-blocking RF switch must be able to route any of the 16 input apertures to any of the 12 output tuner channels while remaining dynamically reconfigurable via a sensor open systems architecture (SOSA). An RF Cascade analysis of the design will address the non-blocking RF switch’s performance in signals’ Gain, Isolation (input-coupled and output-coupled), Noise Figure (NF), as well as input third order Intercept Point (IIP3), 1 dB Compression Point (P1dB), and switching time.



Intelligent Wideband Signal Cueing for Electromagnetic Spectrum Monitoring

Today’s electromagnetic spectrum monitoring (ESM) missions require an increasingly wide radio frequency (RF) bandwidth to intercept, process, and analyze a myriad of threat signals including communications, data links, surveillance radars, and targeting radars. These emitter waveforms often employ sophisticated modulation techniques including phase modulation, spread spectrum, linear frequency modulation, and frequency agility that further emphasizes the need for wide bandwidth coverage. The proliferation of commercial communications systems adds to the complexity and density of the contested RF spectrum. Thus, legacy ESM systems that routinely covered up to 6 GHz must now be expanded to include X-band (8-12 GHz) and Ku-band (12-18 GHz) to address emerging threats in these portions of the RF spectrum.

Under this Phase 1 contract from the US Navy, BANC3 professionals are developing Machine Learning (ML) cue generators to identify and extract features or "cues" from data that can be used as input to an ML signal classification model. These cues are necessary for the model to learn patterns, make predictions, or classify data effectively. A cue generator will extract characteristics from a signal that are indicative of specific patterns, such as the presence of a Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) signal. An effective cue generator should include Feature Extraction: identify and extract relevant signal parameters that can be used by an ML model; Preprocessing: clean and normalize the data to enhance the relevance of the extracted signal parameters; Data Reduction: reduce the complexity of the data to facilitate processing in the ML model; and Pattern Recognition: detect patterns or anomalies that can support signal classification

BANC3 specializes in the design, development, integration, and test of extremely wide instantaneous bandwidth software defined receiver (SDRX) systems for RF spectrum monitoring in support of military/aerospace missions. Our experience in this area includes the design and development of a channelized system to cover the full RF band with 25 separate channels that are processed in parallel, in real-time to achieve an instantaneous bandwidth of 18 GHz continuously with no data losses.



Secure Extended Reality (SXR)

BANC3, as a subconsultant to ThirdEye Inc, is continuing the development of a Secure Extended Reality (SXR) to enable the utilization of extended/augmented reality within a highly secure facility or area, such as a SCIF. Understanding this critical need, our team was awarded this Direct-to-Phase 2 SBIR award to create a novel solution to a unique security challenge while sharing critical data, voice, and video feed through extended reality glasses, due to our extensive experience in augmented and extended reality hardware and software.

Command and Control, specifically information dominance is crucial for the US Air Force (and Space Force) to collect, process, and use information effectively, which can be decisive in a conflict. The shift to Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) integrates operations across all domains of warfare, amplifying the importance of information dominance for situational awareness (SA), decision making, and operational effectiveness. Classified information is critical for full-spectrum SA in MDO, and decision makers must therefore operate inside sensitive compartmentalized information facilities (SCIFs) or similar secure facilities equipped to securely handle and store such information. There were Defense-related mission needs to establish an XR platform solution for integration into SCIFs, which recognized the benefits of applied XR to the USAF, Space Force, and all other DoD and Federal services / agencies that rely on classified data. This solution will meet the strict requirements for clearance into a SCIF, while maintaining the visualization and HCI capabilities that yield XR's potential benefits. This will significantly advance the visualization of complex information and battlespace common operating pictures (COPs) within SCIFs, allowing Commanders and their staff to achieve the already empirically proven benefits to SA, shared SA, and decision-making outcomes that effective XR can yield.

Our solution was the development of a bespoke XR headset, tracking, and human-computer interaction (HCI) solution that was intentionally designed for use in secure facilities for the presentation of classified data. The mission impact of a performant technology for our MOU stakeholder end users will be: (1) Enhanced situational awareness (SA) through immersive presentation of key information in support of C2 and other information heavy operations that inform decision making. (2) Accelerated timeline to provide access to a trustworthy immersive XR solution for secure facilities; and (3) An initial approach and methods to establish and manage supply chain trustworthiness for commercial hardware.