Lab Spectrum Testing Modeling Sole Source 12-7 (beta.sam posting).pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Headquarters (HQ), Office of Acquisition and Grants Management (HCFA), 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., E65-101, Washington, DC 20590.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved The purpose of this action is to execute a new sole source contract in the amount of $ with Northeastern University to utilize their Colosseum Radio Frequency (RF) Testbed for spectrum testing, modeling, and emulation.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value) The USDOT is seeking to utilize Northeastern’s Colosseum RF Testbed to conduct complex spectrum research for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications.

The purpose of this award is to: 1) develop test procedures; 2) establish urban, Manhattan grid, semi-urban, and rural scenarios on the Colosseum Testbed; and 3) perform the necessary analyses by modeling real-world RF spectrum scenarios to evaluate the coexistence between dedicated short range communications (DSRC), cellular vehicle-to-everything (CV2X), and unlicensed national information infrastructure (UNII) devices.

To support the analysis above, the Contractor shall:

A) Conduct Spectrum Sharing Testing as outlined in the USDOT Intelligent Transportation System Joint Program Office (ITS-JPO) Planned Test Schedule;

B) Based on field data and emulated channel models, model real-world communication conditions; and

C) Model the coexistence between different types of V2X devices and UNII devices.

The total estimated amount of this anticipated contract is $, consisting of a base year with three option years.

4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.

3304(a)(1), FAR 6.302-1, “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.”

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited

The Colosseum Testbed was built by The Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physic Laboratory, and resulted from The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Challenge. After the Colosseum Testbed was developed, it was transferred to a permanent location at Northeastern University. The Colosseum Testbed is the world’s largest RF emulator, designed to support research and development of large-scale, next generation radio network technologies in a repeatable and highly configurable RF environment.

The DARPA Challenge was created because there was no emulator in the market that could perform the type of testing that Colosseum Testbed provides. The Colosseum Testbed is a unique RF emulator that meets performance requirements that no other RF Testbed meets.

The Colosseum Testbed is unique in that is allows for 256-by-256 RF channel emulation to simulate both rural and densely populated scenarios in real-time with more than 65,000 channel interactions among 256 wireless devices. This enables users to emulate radio wave propagation at a magnitude sufficient to model vehicles in a dense urban environment.

The Colosseum Testbed also accommodates real radio hardware, which differentiates it from most testbeds that utilize only software-defined radios. This allows the USDOT to have greater confidence in the results of testing based on unique hardware requirements.

In the past, RF Spectrum testing and simulation were performed in series with a timeframe of two to three years before the results were available to USDOT. For example, the USDOT would purchase the equipment in Year 1, conduct testing in Year 2, and conduct simulation testing in Year 3. This model is obsolete and it does not provide the final results in a timely manner. Therefore, this effort seeks to purchase equipment, conduct testing, and simulation in the same year (Year 1) to deliver initial results in 6-12 months instead of three years.

This acquisition is critical in helping the USDOT complete spectrum testing activities more timely. Without an alternative option to conduct this testing, the USDOT will be missing critical information used to inform decision makers on the use of the 5.9GHz Safety Band in a safe, secure, and efficient manner.

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized

Pursuant to FAR 5.201(b)(1), the Contracting Officer (CO) must transmit a notice to the Government Point of Entry (GPE), https://beta.sam.gov/, for a planned contract action that exceeds $25,000.

https://beta.sam.gov/

A Sources Sought Notice (SSN) was posted on https://beta.sam.gov/ on July 6, 2020, with a response date of July 22, 2020, to see if any other sources could provide the required service and access to the Colosseum. No responses were received in response to this posting.

7. Determination that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable

The FHWA’s CO and Contract Specialist (CS) will ensure that all costs associated with the proposed contract are fair and reasonable by obtaining certified cost or pricing data and performing a thorough analysis of the Offeror’s cost proposal to substantiate this determination.

8. Description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted

The primary market research technique employed the SSN discussed in Item 6, combined with an internet search. Virtual RF spectrum sharing testbeds are sophisticated test tools and there are only a few in the world. Here is a list of the available platforms in the United States. None of these satisfy the requirements stated above in terms of scalability and/or functionality.

TESTBED MAX NODES ACTIVE DISQUALIFYING

CHARACTERISTIC

Carnegie Mellon 11 nodes No No longer operational Drexel Grid SDR testbed

24 software-defined radios

Yes Not enough nodes for densely populated scenario

Northeastern University Colosseum

256 radio nodes Yes Meets all requirements

University of Texas at Dallas

Users need to provide radios

Yes Users need to provide own radios versus having software-defined radios ready for testing.

Virginia Tech 8 nodes In Development Still under development

The Colosseum Testbed allows USDOT to investigate the cumulative broadcast transmissions of Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) safety applications in the midst of different scenarios from open fields to densely populated urban scenarios, which no other testbed is capable of doing. The other testbeds identified in market research are limited to emulate simplified, point-to-point types of channel combinations.

https://beta.sam.gov/

In summary, the testbeds noted in the chart above offer capabilities that are important for implementing radio simulations, but they do not meet the broad capabilities required for this acquisition. This acquisition requires a testbed that is operational, ready to use, and is capable of supporting research and testing of large-scale, next-generation radio network technologies in a repeatable and highly configurable RF environment. The Colosseum at Northeastern University is the only testbed that meets all requirements for this acquisition.

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition

None.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

No responses or feedback were received from any interested party or source, as a result of the SSN posting discussed in Item 6 of this document.

11. Statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required.

The SSN discussed in Item 6 of this document provided the salient characteristics of Virtual RF spectrum sharing testbeds in an effort to identify other sources with comparable testbeds and skill sets. No interested parties responded. Market research efforts similar to those discussed earlier in this document will be employed for any future acquisition, in an effort to overcome any barriers to competition and to identify whether other viable sources have become available.