QandA 08JUN23.pdf

N0017323QKN03

Questions and Answers

Date: 6/06/2023

Question 1: In regards to the 90-days delivery ARO. Is this a concrete timeline or would you consider moving it based on a vendor providing the very best solution to achieve your organizational objectives?

Answer 1: 90-days ARO is an estimate. NRL is willing to adjust the delivery timelines to receive a system from the vendor that provides the best solution to the Government.

Question 2: Is NRL only considering tier 1 operator component suppliers or would NRL consider a supplier typically more geared toward private wireless enterprise networks that can support the same suite of tests the SOLICITATION NO. N0017323QKN03 calls out?

Answer 2: NRL will consider other than Tier 1 component suppliers to meet the solicitation requirements. However NRL’s desire is to receive a system composed of all Tier-1 components (Core Network, gNB, RRH). Per Evaluation Factor 3 “Emulation of a Tier 1 Commercial Network,” we are essentially requiring that any response to the solicitation include at least one component (Core Network, gNB, RRH) in the network design be supplied from a Tier-1 company. While a private wireless network solution that does not use any Tier-1 components could meet the suite of tests envisioned for this network, this approach is not in the Government’s best interest.

Question 3: Is it possible to get an extension? Can the period for questions be extended?

Answer 3: An amendment will be posted to extend the response date/time to 30 June 2023 5PM EDT. The question deadline will also be extended to 12 June 2023 5PM EDT.

Question 4: Will submissions without optional item pricing be considered?

Answer 4: Yes

Question 5: What are the requirements for US content?

Answer 5: There are no requirements that the system supplied must be made in the US. Proposed system must include at least one of the components (Core Network, gNB, RRH) from a Tier-1 Infrastructure manufacturer (see Evaluation Factor 3). Per the US Government 889 NDAA requirements, equipment manufactured by Huawei is prohibited. It is the sole responsibility of the Offeror to carefully review each of the clauses and provisions provided in the solicitation to ensure its proposed solution is compliant. A proposed solution that is not compliant with mandatory clauses and provisions may be deemed ineligible for award.

Question 6: There was no power levels defined for the desired FR1 & FR2 radios. I understand one will be deployed indoors in an anechoic chamber and the other is outdoors with a 100m hemisphere coverage. Therefore the assumption is low power, but just wanted to see if you had set any limits on RF output power levels.

Answer 6:

• For FR1: It will be used with a Keysight F8800U Channel Emulator – Max input is +35dBm. If FR1 radios exceed this power level, then attenuators must be provided to not damage the channel emulator. If attenuators are not provided – supply radios with 2W max output power(+33dBm).

• For FR2: Bldg A (Anechoic Chamber)– Max Link Distance is 40ft. Radios with a max EIRP of +33dBm (2W) would be preferable.

• For FR2: Bldg B (Outdoor) – Max link distance is 100m(330ft). Commercial best practices should be used. A radio with an EIRP of +33dBm(2W) would present a -70dBm signal (free space@39Ghz) at the edge which would be acceptable for our deployment.

• For 4G Anchor: Radios with a maximum EIRP of 2W(+33dBm) would be preferred.

Question 7: The assumption is a single sector for each of the FR1 & FR2 bands required for each building. If additional sectors are required, please advise.

Answer 7: A single sector is all that is required

Question 8: What do you mean by peer connection between the Commercial 5G SA core network and the commercial 5G NSA core network? Are you looking for IP connectivity, interoperability, etc? i.e interoperability between the EPC and 5G SA core?

Answer 8: Peer connectivity is defined to be whatever connection is required to allow a device connected to the 5G NSA network to talk to a device on the 5G SA network (i.e. a voice call or data session could be made between UE’s on each network).

Question 9: In 3.3.1.2.2 & 3.3.1.2.3, there is reference to intraband and interband CA with support of at least 400Mhz channel in both FR1 and FR2. Please clarify the task here.

Answer 9:

The 400 MHz channel in both these tests referred to objective requirements of 4CC using theoretical maximum channel bandwidths in both FR1 and FR2. Upon further review of the standard and existing UE capabilities, paragraphs 3.3.1.2.1 and 3.3.1.2.2 were updated to reflect Threshold and Objective requirements for FR1 and FR2. The testing requirement for 3.3.1.2.3 Interband CA for FR1 and FR2 has been deleted.

The revised wording is supplied here and in the revised SOW.

3.3.1.2 The Contractor shall configure:

3.3.1.2.1 10, 20, 40, 50, and 100 MHz channel bandwidths

3.3.1.2.2 Intraband CA for both FR1 and FR2

FR1: Threshold 2CC – (2ea) 40MHz channels for 80MHz FR1: Objective 4CC – (4ea) 40 MHz channels for 160MHz

FR2: Threshold 2CC – (2ea) 100MHz Channels for 200MHz FR2: Objective 4CC – (4ea) 100 MHz Channels for 400MHz

3.3.1.2.3 Interband CA for FR1 and FR2

Requirement Deleted.

A Similar change was made to 3.3.2.2.1 10, 20, 40, 50 and 100 MHz channel bandwidths

Question 10: We are planning on proposing the following RRH. We believe these will be interoperable to support CA interband and intraband. Please advise if you have any concerns.

n78 (TDD 3500)– Qty 2 (4x4 MIMO with expansion option to support 8x8) B66 (FDD 2100Mhz) – Qty 2 (4x4 MIMO) n260 (TDD 39Ghz) – Qty 2 (64T64R) n261 (TDD 28Ghz) – Qty 1 (64T64R)

Answer 10: There are no concerns with these band choices provided the UE’s being supplied in

3.1.3.2 support operation in the bands chosen.

Question 11: RFQ 3.1.3.2: Does the same UE need to support all 3 bands (n78, n260, and <30 GHz band)?

Answer 11: Yes

Question 12: RFQ 3.1.3.2: Can we propose a test device for any of the band combinations if a commercial device in that band is not available?

Answer 12: Yes

Question 13: RFQ 3.1.3.2: The RFQ is asking for 16 UEs in total. What is the breakup for UEs for individual band combinations?

Answer 13: Ideally all 16UE’s should operate in all bands proposed.

Question 14: RFQ 3.1.3.1.4: The clause is asking to specify LTE anchor band so the government can seek appropriate spectrum clearance. Does the government plan to seek spectrum clearance for all bands including n78, n260, LTE anchor, and <30 GHz band?

Answer 14: The Government intends to seek spectrum clearance for all bands with the exception of the <30 Ghz band because the deployment will be in an anechoic chamber.

Question 15: SOW Paragraph 7 (Payment Terms). It states that payments will be made after Final Acceptance by the Government. We wanted to know if possible can there be milestone payments setup as any vendor would incur cost to build, install, train, operate, and turn over the solution?

Answer 15: Yes, installment payments for commercial products and services may utilized in accordance with FAR 52.232-30.

Question 16: Is there a possibility of extended the Response Date/Time to 30JUN23 5PM EDT.

Answer 16: See response at question/answer #3 above.

Question 17: Please point me in the right direction of where I can find the document that gives me the Font size and page count requirements for this RFQ.

Answer 17: These limitations do not exist for this solicitation.

(End of Q&A)