Digital Video Broadcast - Satellite, Generation 2x (DVB-S2x)

Sources Sought NoticeDigital Video Broadcast - Satellite, Generation 2x (DVB-S2x)Satellite Encoding and Encryption System and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) DistributionSources Sought Tracking Number: HQ0516-FY-24-0002CONTRACTING OFFICE ADDRESS:Defense Media Activity6700 Taylor AvenueFort George G. Meade, MD 20755The Defense Media Activity (DMA) is seeking information from industry to assist with the development and planning of a potential new requirement. The intent of this Sources Sought is to gain information on the agency’s requirement for a next-generation Digital Video Broadcast-Satellite (DVB-S2x) Satellite encoding and encryption system to support the American Forces Network (AFN) broadcast mission. Responses provided may be used by DMA to assist in budgetary planning, the development of an acquisition strategy, Performance Work Statement, salient characteristics, and performance specifications. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary or

competition sensitive information contained in their response. Specific support is required to ascertain industry’s ability to furnish a turnkey solution. The system shall comprise of components that meet the required capabilities detailed later in this document. Vendors are encouraged to provide as much information as possible regarding their proven experience in developing these capabilities.DMA representatives may choose to meet with respondents and others who express interest and hold one-on-one discussions. Such discussions would only be intended to obtain further clarification of potential capability to meet the requirements, including any development and implementation risks.The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed. Information provided will be used to assess availability of the anticipated requirement and may lead to the development of a solicitation. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted.INSTRUCTIONS: Respondents are encouraged to provide the following:A summary of the respondent’s capabilities relating to DMA’s requirements.Questions related to the SOURCES SOUGHT’s Required Capabilities. Any questions received and subsequent answers will be posted to https://sam.gov/ for the benefit of all interested parties.An itemized budgetary estimate for a system capable of satisfying the SOURCES SOUGHT’s Required Capabilities. Itemized estimates are preferred should DMA need to adjust system specifications.PurposeThis SOURCES SOUGHT outlines the government’s requirement for the design,engineering, furnishing, installation, test and commissioning of all hardware,software, ancillary equipment, training and documentation to provide a multichannel DVB-S2x Broadcast Transmission Systems supporting the American Forces Network (AFN). The solution must be capable of encoding, compression, multiplexing, encryption and Conditional Access (CA) for all channels of operation.Scope:The multichannel Transmission Systems shall securely encode, encrypt and transmit multiple channels of high-definition (HD) video, standard-definition (SD) video, multiple channels of digital audio, provide four, Multi-Program Transport Streams (MPTS), and accept General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) closures for inserting and delivering Society of Cable and Television (SCTE) messaging. The signals will be delivered to a world-wide decoder population. Encoding must initially use the Motion Picture Expert Group v4, Advanced Video Coding (MPEG4 AVC/H.264) encoding suite to support existing legacy Set Top Boxes (STBs) and Integrated Receiver Decoders (IRDs), then be easily reconfigured to incorporate the High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265) compression suite at a later date, at no additional cost. The Contractor furnished systems shall use AFN-specific Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS). The Contractor shall propose a commercial, of the shelf (COTS), non-proprietary Subscriber Management System (SMS). The Contractor shall furnish all necessary personnel, materials, services (except as otherwise specified herein), and otherwise perform all tasks necessary for or incident to the requirements as set forth below:The Contractor shall furnish a complete solution consisting of one core, encoding and encryption system capable of creating four, separate satellite network (SATNET) encrypted transport streams. Resulting transport streams for each SATNET must be available as Multi-Program Transport Stream over IP (MPTS/IP) and Asynchronous Serial Interface (ASI) outputs. The video input encoding portion must attach natively to the existing ST-2110 Television Router system, built on Arista and Imagine Communications Magellan technology. The audio input encoding portion must attach natively to the AES67 Audio over IP Routing System, built on Wheatstone technology. Redundant inputs from the respective signal routers must be incorporated into both the video and audio input portions. Failover between primary and secondary inputs must be seamless, with no interruptions to the final system output. Two SATNET streams will replace the existing AFN Atlantic and AFN Pacific SATNET multi-crypt transmission systems, and two additional SATNET will replace the existing Direct-To-Sailor (DTS) transmission systems. Testing, commissioning, and on-site operator/maintainer training shall be performed for the end-to-end solution.The AFN SATNET systems are individually required to encapsulate and transmit up to ten (10) encrypted channels of HD video, and one (1) free-to-air engineering channel. Additionally, each system must carry at least thirty-four (34) encrypted stereo radio channels. The satellite transmission bandwidth allocated for payload is currently 36 MHz.The DTS systems are individually required to each encapsulate and transmit four (4) channels of video, switchable between HD or SD, eight (8) stereo radio channels. The satellite transmission bandwidth allocated for payload is currently 6 MHz.The Contractor shall plan to support the following requirements of the system:Minimum 26 Sources from the ST-2110 Television Router system, with embedded audioMinimum 84 Sources from the AES67 Audio over IP Radio Router SystemMinimum of 128 GPIO Contact ClosuresSCTE messaging insertion via contact closuresInteractive Electronic Program Guide for each MPTSMultiple MPTS over IP and ASI outputs for each signal.SRT Gateway solution capable of one-to-many global distribution of the MPTS services to authorized subscribers. Anticipated not to exceed 100 concurrent connections.The Contractor shall provide on-site training on all portions of the provisioned DVB-S2x AFN Network Broadcast Transmission Systems to the AFN personnel.Consumer Decoder/s Set-Top Boxes (STBs):The contractor shall propose a compatible STB comparable to the US market that supports V-chip, closed captioning, AFN-specific VCAS, is 110-240V, 50-60Hz compatible, individually addressable via fingerprinting, wired and wireless internet for streaming content delivery and analytics, HDMI and HDCP. A variety of consumer-grade compatible STB make/models capable of basic decryption and those including varying options, e.g., multiple tuners, ability to ‘favorite’ channels, DVR. The Contractor shall describe the features available in compatible STBs. All proposed systems must comply with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement and Procedures, Guidance, and Information, specifically part 225.7, Prohibited Sources. The government may identify a selection of the Contractor-identified STBs available as COTS devices for direct-to-consumer sale through vendor or military exchange stores.Subscriber Management SystemThe proposed solution must incorporate readily available COTS hardware and integrate seamlessly, without the need for custom or proprietary software, with existing subscriber and decoder management databases. The user experience (UX) shall be an intuitive, browser-based interface that enables the activation, deactivation, channel tiering, force tuning, locking of decoder functions, updating of decoder owner information and sending messages and commands to decoders. ­ Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) GatewayThe SRT Gateway shall be a cloud offering, receiving each of the four MPTS transports and capable of delivering one or more of the encrypted SATNET signals over public internet to locations around the globe with reliable and sufficient internet bandwidth. It is preferable that HEVC/H.265 encoding be used for the contribution streams. Discrete, redundant pathways into the SRT environment must be provided. REQUESTED INFORMATION: a. Company’s Name, mailing address, phone number, company’s website, and e-mail of designated point(s) of contact. b. Business Type: Based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 334220 Radio and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing. Identify the type of entity (large business, small business, small disadvantaged, woman-owned, 8(a), HUBZone, service-disabled veteran-owned, etc.). c. Cage Code d. Contractor’s past performance in meeting stated objectives/requirements, statement of qualifications to include information that clearly demonstrates the respondent’s capabilities, expertise and experience to perform the specific requirements contained in this SOURCES SOUGHT. e. Contract vehicles that would be available to the Government for the procurement of the product and service, to include General Service Administration (GSA), GSA MOBIS,Federal Supply Schedules (FSS), or any other Government Agency contract vehicle. (This information is for market research only and does not preclude your company from responding to this notice.)RESPONSE GUIDELINES:Vendors who wish to respond to this should send responses via email NLT 29 March 2024 03:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) to Contracting Specialist husnulmaab.maab.ctr@mail.mil . Contracting Officer colette.b.jones.civ@mail.mil and Interested parties are requested to respond to this SOURCES SOUGHT with a white paper. Submissions cannot exceed 10 pages, single-spaced, 12-point type with at least one-inch margins on 8 1/2” X 11” page size, not including any manufacturer cut sheets or system block diagrams. Responses must specifically describe the contractor’s capability to meet the requirements outlined in this SOURCES SOUGHT. QUESTIONS:Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted by e-mail to husnulmaab.maab.ctr@mail.mil and colette.b.jones.civ@mail.mil Verbal questions will NOT be accepted. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after 26 March 2024 03:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), will be answered. The Government will not reimburse companies for any costs associated with the submissions of their responses.DISCLAIMER: This SOURCES SOUGHT is not a Request for Proposal (RFP) and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals nor will any award be made as a result of this synopsis.All information contained in the SOURCES SOUGHT is preliminary, as well as, subject to modification and is in no way binding on the Government. FAR clause 52.215-3, “Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes”, is incorporated by reference in this SOURCES SOUGHT. The Government does not intend to pay for information received in response to this SOURCES SOUGHT. Responders to this invitation are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this SOURCES SOUGHT. This SOURCES SOUGHT will be the basis for collecting information on capabilities available. This SOURCES SOUGHT is issued solely for information and planning purposes. Proprietary information and trade secrets, if any, must be clearly marked on all materials. All information received in this SOURCES SOUGHT that is marked “Proprietary” will be handled accordingly. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned nor will receipt be confirmed. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this SOURCES SOUGHT are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.PARTICIPATION IN THIS SOURCES SOUGHT IS STRICTLY VOLUNTARY AND FOR PLANNING PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT TO PROCURE ANY ITEMS/SERVICES OR FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY FOR THE INFORMATION RECEIVED. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ASSOCIATED COSTS AS A RESULT OF PROSPECTIVE OFFERORS INTEREST, RESPONSE OR PARTICIPATION IN THIS SOURCES SOUGHT. ANY FORMAL SOLICITATION WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT A LATER DATE. THE GOVERNMENT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CANCEL THIS REQUIREMENT AT ANY TIME DURING THE ACQUISITION PROCESS. ANY SOLICITATION RESULTING FROM THE ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE POSTED TO THE PUBLIC IN FEDERAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FAR PART 5. HOWEVER, RESPONSES TO THIS NOTICE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED RESPONSES TO A SOLICITATION.