SoleSource-TriLogic-2016_Redacted.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE

AIR FORCE RESEARCH LABORATORY (AFMC)

DATE 5 August 2016

MEMORANDUM FOR AFRL/RIKO

FROM: RITA

SUBJECT: SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity

a. Requiring Activity: AFRL/RITA,

b. Contracting Activity: AFRL/RIKO, 26 Electronic Pkwy, Rome NY 13441

c. Purchase Request #: F4HBL16215A002 & F4HBL16190A004

2. Nature and/or Description of Action.

a. Description of Requirement: This requirement is for a software upgrade for one (1) ModelSim License and Mentor Graphics Various Electronic Design Automation Software licenses. Estimated cost is

b. Sole source company: Trilogic, Inc

2 Highwood Drive Suite 202 Tewksbury MA 01876

3. Description of Supplies or Service. AFRL requires the purchase of one (1) software upgrade for ModelSim SE license to Questa VHDL, one (1) Questa VHDL upgrade to Questa Mixed Language and one (1) Trilogic FLEXTerm Electronic Design Automation (EDA) card which supports Integrated Circuit (IC) design. Tools include: Layout Verses Schematic (LVS), Design Rule checking (DRC), Parasitic Extraction (PEx), as well as a view for the results of these tools.

4. Statutory Authority. 10 USC 2304(c)(1) Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy the agency requirement.

5. Justification or Authority for Action.

a. Mentor Graphics is the software developer and the owner of the source code for these commercial products, Trilogic’s FLEXTerm EDA card will provide the end-user the ability to access any of these licenses. Trilogic, Inc., as the only authorized distributor/reseller of Mentor Graphics software products for this geographic area, is the only company able to provide the required items to AFRL.

b. The required licenses are used daily by Government and Contractor personnel. Continued support and updates are required to successfully complete contracts and in-house tasks valued at several million dollars.

The licenses are used to ensure the integrated circuit design can be manufactured (DRC tool), the design matches logically what we intended to make (LVS tool), and the circuit will perform at the speed required (PEx tool). AFRL is unable to complete a chip design without these tools.

c. If the Government cannot use ModelSim, in addition to costing significantly more to replace, five (5) active users would need to learn the new simulator for a new software. The estimated training cost for five (5) people, times two (2) weeks, times per week, totals . In addition to the training time, elaborate tests would have to be conducted that use the simulator and interact with it through scripts. It is estimated it would take approximately to of labor to convert those scripts to work with the replacement simulator. Other versions would suffer the above training costs, and require extensive additional labor estimated at , to overcome their limitations. There is also significant risk that the limitations of other simulators would result in program delays. In summary, the impact of not using Modelsim would be significant training and labor costs. The short term (1 year) and the long term (3-5 years) impact is additional net cost and time. In order to use another solution the Government would experience a substantial duplication of cost not expected to be recovered through competition.

6. Efforts Made to Ensure Offers are Solicited from as many Sources as Practicable.

A Pre-solicitation Notice outlining the Government’s intent to make a sole-source award was posted to FedBizOpps 10-22 Aug 2016. No responses to this notice were received to give an indication that a company other than Trilogic, Inc. could fulfill the requirement.

7. The Contracting Officer determines that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(vii), Other than certified cost or pricing data was analyzed.

8. Market Research/Other facts.

Previously and simulators were evaluated but we were not able to get all the required functionality from them. This was when only VHDL was needed. VHDL and simulations are now required. We currently rent synthesis tools and get a significant discount off the list price. Even applying the discount, the simulator costs more than Modelsim

When integrated circuit (IC) foundries release a process for use by designers they pick a selection of software tools to perform specific functions like design rule checking. The IC foundry will provide all the rules for the checking software. The designer then needs to purchase the software tool and use it with the provided data from the foundry.

The foundry serves mainly non-defense designers and so to encourage use of their foundry they will pick the best value option for each of the needed tools.

9. Any other facts supporting Other than Full and Open Competition.

Simulator performance is a major factor in our productivity, and each simulator has its different features and performance. This is a commercial product that we do not control; it is not made specifically for us. During our comparisons of simulators, a major factor for consideration was how long it takes to simulate and debug a circuit with a specific simulator. Once a simulator, like Modelsim, is selected it would be extremely expensive to switch to a different product. Costs would include the expense of the new simulator, retraining of personnel and use of acquired precompiled libraries.

10. List of Sources that have Expressed in Writing an Interest in the Procurement.

Tri-Logic, Inc. as the sole distributor for Mentor Graphics Corporation within this geographic region.

11. Statement of Actions to Remove/Overcome Barriers to Competition.

Alternative sources are considered between projects. It is only during the project that we pay the original software writer to maintain the code and in this case upgrade one (out of 5) to handle a different language. Also keep in mind there is competition at the project level, whichever tool results in the least cost to accomplish our research objective is used. Modelsim is not the most expensive or the cheapest simulator, but using Modelsim results in the lowest overall cost once we consider our training and labor costs.

We will continue to research the market for changes in technology and availability of new products that are capable of meeting the Government’s needs in future acquisitions. Any company capable of providing a product which meets the required specifications will be considered for procurement.

12. Contracting Officer’s Certification. The contracting officer’s signature on the Coordination and Approval Document evidences that he/she has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and belief.

13. Technical / Requirements Personnel Certification. As evidenced by their signatures on the Coordination and Approval Document, the technical and/or requirements personnel have certified that any supporting data contained herein, which is their responsibility, is both accurate and complete.