Morphable Payload Support Enabled Through Interface Standardization System

To address the Air Force need for standardized payload interface technologies, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Morphable Payload Support Enabled Through Interface Standardization (MENTIS) system. This proposed technology is based on a dual-step interface transcoding architecture, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), real-time signal remapping, and interface-specific daughterboards. The innovative system architecture simultaneously provides high TRL (TRL10) translation between standards (H.264, MPEG2, MPEG4), and supports legacy, existing, and evolving sensor and weapons interface standards. The novel use of daughterboards enables direct interface with airframe and payload, with no rewiring or platform/payload modifications required. As a result, this MENTIS technology offers real-time interface standardization capabilities to the Air Force and directly meets the solicitation requirements for Standard Payload Interface (SPI) technologies for use on Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SUAS) platforms. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of MENTIS by developing a comprehensive interface list, a preliminary MENTIS design, and fabricating a proof-of-concept prototype interface translation and signal remapping system. In Phase II, POC will refine the MENTIS design, expand the interface translation libraries, and develop extensive productization and platform integration roadmaps. BENEFIT: Successful development of the MENTIS system will benefit the United States by providing a new paradigm in hardware agnostic/cross platform processing and concurrent computing. This technology will allow a group of disparate processors with oftentimes proprietary system software, instruction set architectures, or data formats to interoperate and collaborate on processing problems. Existing technologies can see extended life and new application areas by employing the MENTIS technology, which will reduce R & D costs while simultaneously extending product lifecycles. The government will benefit from improved technologies, increased tax revenue, and reduced unemployment rates made possible by newly enabled business ventures, while commercial sectors will benefit from more straightforward and rapid implementations of existing and future products. These technologies can also directly translate to improved military technology capabilities.