Integrated Circuit (IC) Layout Software

This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under the FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures.  This notice is for information only; a solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 511210 with a small business size standard of $41.5M in average annual revenue.

AFRL requires Cadence software license bundles for Integrated Circuit (IC) Layout software consisting of the following:

Part number                 Description                                                                              Quantity

INVS100                    Innovus Implementation System                                            12

INVS20                      Innovus 20/16/14nm Option                                                   12

GEN100                      Genus Synthesis Solution                                                       12

QTS300                       Cadence Quantus Extraction - XL                                         12

QTS310                       Cadence Quantus Advanced Analysis GXL Option              12

QTS530                       Cadence Quantus Advanced Node Modeling Option             12

VTS201                       Voltus IC Power Integrity Solution Advanced Analysis

                                    GXL Option (VTS-AA)                                                          12

VTS202                       Voltus IC Power Integrity Solution - XM (Extreme

                                    Modeling Option to Voltus XL (VTS200))                            12

To fulfill the requirement, the Government intends to negotiate a sole source contract with:

Cadence Design Systems
2655 Seely Ave Bldg 5
San Jose CA 95134

The Government has developed design scripts that are based on the software design and capabilities of Cadence software tools. As a results, the design scripts only function correctly with Cadence software tools. While there are other integrated circuit layout tools available on the market, given the development already completed by the program office, the estimated cost to develop new design scripts would present substantial duplication of costs that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Cadence software tools will be needed daily by Government personnel during this effort.  Procuring access to Cadence layout tools is necessary to successfully complete multiple contracts and in house tasks. No other contractor is known to have software that runs with the Government’s existing scripts used to control the software.  The Government has worked with all major competitors but has only developed scripts for Cadence.

This is a notice of proposed contract action and not a request for competitive quotes; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement or quote, which shall be considered by the agency. All inquiries should be emailed to Richard Childres, richard.childres@us.af.mil.

Responses must be submitted by the date/time listed on the notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government in future procurements.

Responses received will be evaluated; however a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates an award date on or before 15 September 2021.