J&A6.302-1-09jr03.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

'{AVAL RESEARCH TABORA?OBY

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WASHTXGTON OC 20375-9320 IN REPLY REFER TO

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. The Department of the Navy, contracting through the Naval Research Laboratory, proposes to enter into a contract on other than a full and open competitive basis.

2. Nature andlor description of the action being approved.

The Naval Research Laboratory Center for Computational Science is being sponsored to develop a 100 Gigabit per second (Gbps) System to Wide Area Network (WAN) interface (SWANi) board. To accomplish this task, Field Programmable Gate Arrays that have high-speed Serializer/Deseralizer (SerDes) are required for development of the SWANi board.

NRL has a requirement for (5) working 100G SWANi boards based on design schematics developed and provided by NRL and Gerber fi les provided to the Contractor under a previous contract. Additional specific requirements include FPGAs with 10G Serdes capable of minimum of 10 GB per/second operation: expert skill in conducting board quality control; PC Board Fabrication; Board components; Board Stuffing; Board bring-up, programming, and testing; technical support to NRL Hardware development team after board delivery. Optional board purchases and technical support will be included.

NRL has developed a design for the board and will develop the code that will be programmed into the Achronix SPD60 FPGAs. The Signal lntegrity (Sl) Gerber fi les developed will be provided to Achronix who will then build, test and certify that the boards work to the specifications outlined in the Sl work and the NRL Designs. The boards will be delivered to NRL where the FPGA programming will begin.

3. Description of the supplies or serviies required to meet the needs of Naval Research Laboratory including the estimated value.

NRL will receive . 5 Complete High-Speed Dev Board for NRL for $491,250.00 total.

. 5 USB Programming Pods for $5,000.00 total . 1 ACE Software floating license with at year of maintenance support for $3,412.00 o 1 seat license of the ACE Software Maintenance.

Option: Shal l include the same i tems and number of i tems required under the Base.

Achronix will take their existing FPGA and use it to develop a new board, of NRL design, at an estimated cost of $499,662.00 (An additional $499,662 for the optional items).

3.1 A statement of delivery requirements (e.9., include a list of ships and/or shore activities and required delivery dates for each). lf only labor hours or a final report are to be delivered, enter the performance period.

Delivery is anticipated approximately 14 weeks after Contractor receipt of the NRL GFI schematics. The Option for the additional items may be exercised at any time prior to December 2010, with a delivery of 1 6 weeks from exercise of the option.

3.2 The total estimated dollar value (including all options) for the acquisition(s) covered by the justification.

The total dollar amount required for this effort is $999,324.00, which include same total pricing for the Base and Optional items of $499,662.

4. ldentification of the statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

As required by U.S.C.230a(cX1) - Only one responsible source, NRL requires a FPGA with a 1OGig SerDes capability, and Achronix is the only responsible source to address the requirements of the NRL SWAN| project because they are the only company offering a FPGA with a 10Gig SerDes capability within the current requirement time-frame.

Other companies have these types of FPGA's planned but not available until early in FY10. Also, Achronix is the most capable contractor to work with their own FPGA so their direct involvement in the process reduces risk by reducing the possibility of miscommunication between multiple vendors, and by eliminating time delay issues that may arise due to third party attempts at trying to "get-up-to-speed" on a new project.

A capability demonstration is required no later than 3'd Quarter of 2009 to be on track for FY10 efforts and the continued budgeted funding. Given the long lead-time for some of the parts, lt is necessary that the contract be awarded as soon as possible to prevent delay and putting NRL's ability to deliver on the demonstration requirements outlined by NRL's sponsor (USAF).

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

Achronix has been found to be the only company at this time that can fulfi l l the requirement within the required timeframe and without large developmental costs.

They have the most experience working with the FPGA they have developed. There are challenges involved with the 1OGbps SerDes that do not arise with the existing legacy market of FPGAs (e.9. Xilinx, Altera, etc.) and hence other companies who only have experience with the legacy market, do not have the experience nor the desire to develop products with a new FPGA without compensation that could extend into the millions above the pricing of dollars more than what Achronix requires, There are no other FPGAs on the market today that h"as the required capabilities that are crucial for the success of SWANi.

lf contracting is delayed due to another Contractor's time required to develop a new FDGA with NRL requirement capabilities, NRL will be hindered in its ability to meet the demonstration schedule outlined by NRL's sponsor, as well as, jeopardize FY10 funding.

Of the current FPGA manufactures, none produces the10 Gbps SerDes required for this effort

6. A description of efforts made to ensure offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable including whether a CBD notice was or will be publ icized.

The requirement was publ icized in the FEDBIZOPPS.

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

Before awarding a cost-type contract, the Contracting Officer will perform a cost analysis in accordance with FAR 1 5.404-1(c) to determine whether the estimated contract amount is fair and reasonable; Or in the case of a fixed-price contract, the Contracting Officer will perform a price analysis in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b) (and a cost analysis, if required) to determine whether the price is fair and reasonable.

L Description of the market research conducted and results or statement of the reasons a market research was not conducted.

The COR/ARO is fully cognizant of the equipmenVexpertise in this scientific field and to the best of my knowledge; there is no other source available at this time.

Given that it is the Achronix SPD 60s that are uniquely suitable to this project, and not the boards, NRL contacted local board manufacturers, and network transport box development firms as an alternative option for development using the Achronix Chip.

The COR directly met with AnnapoJis Microsystems, Ciena, and Nortel Networks to attempt to address this issue from different standpoints.

Annapolis Microsystems stated that the Achronix FPGA was too new and was not on their company's plan for development of A new board. For this reason, they would only consider the effort if it were done as a stand-alone project with the company hiring new personnel costing the project mill ions of dollars and with a time frame that was well into 2010.

Ciena would not attempt the effort without a $5M+ effort for similar reasons.

The same reasoning was stated by Nortel Networks, with a timeline for completion that went in to 2010.

The community of FPGA developers is small. Those that are Domestic companies are even smaller.

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

When we inquired with other corporations the estimated costs for the effort were 4 to 10 times the costs identified by Achronix because this development was too far outside their current business model, hence it was reflective of the cost. Achronix, seeing this effort as an opportunity, are shouldering some of the risk, and this is clearly evident in the cost difference.

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

To date, no parties have expressed an interest in this effort or submitted capability statements against the FEDBIZOPPS announcement.

11. A 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 contractor will deliver a board that will demonstrate the efficiency of their unique FPGA that in turn will allow other developers to see the value in using it in their board developments. This has a potential to lead to more Achronix FPGA based products developed by multiple vendors which has the potential to create competition.

12. Certification and Approval signatures.

TECHNICAL AND REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION

REQUIRED BY FAR 6.303-2(b)

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance which are included in this justification which form a basis for this justification are complete and accurate.

Technical Cognizance

(Signature) 5591

RS, ELECTRONICS ENGINEER

Code Phone

Name and Title

8 Jan 2009

DateName and Title

Req ui rements Cog nizance

(Signature) 5591 , 8 Jan 2009

RESEARCH COMPUTERSBASIL DECI SECTION HEAD,

Code Phone Date

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION REQUIRED BY FAR 6.303-2(al(121

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to be best of my knowledge and belief.

(Signature) - l , 15Jan 2009

OL A. ARNELL,

DateName and Title

Code Phone

APPROVED:

N ADVOCATE, NAVAL RESEARCHLABORATORY