Base Station Emulator Upgrade of R&S CMW 500

This is a Notice of Intent to Issue a Sole Source Award by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, CO to Rohde & Schwarz USA, Inc. for the upgrade of a Rohde & Schwarz Base Station Emulator CMW 500. This Notice of Intent is supported by the following: JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (SOLE SOURCE) COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY Purchase Request No. NB672030-20-00433 1. Agency and contracting activity: Dept. of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology Acquisition Management Division 325 Broadway, Div 164, Bldg 111, M.S. 194 Boulder, CO 80305 2, Nature and/or description of action being approved: The action to be approved is the justification of the sole source requirement for the purchase of the upgrade of an existing base station emulator for the Communications Technology Laboratory. The procedures in FAR subpart 13.501 are to be used for this acquisition, in accordance with 41 USC 1901. 3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value): This requirement is for the purchase of an upgrade to the existing Base Station Emulator located at Boulder which is considered a proprietary commercial item. NIST is working on measurements for supply-chain security and exploring using traceable millimeter-wave over-the-air (OTA) tests to enable this work. To support these requirements, NIST needs to enhance its current Rohde and Schwarz CMW 500 Base-Station Emulator to transmit, acquire and process FR2 (frequency ranges above 6 GHz in millimeter-wave range) signals with Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and FR1 (frequency ranges below 6 GHz) signaling capability, support for 5G 3GPP tests, support at least two FR2 channels and possess triggers for acquiring data simultaneously with other instruments. The Rohde and Schwarz CMW 500 Base-Station Emulator includes software packages CMW-KA100, CMW-KA150, CMW-PK45, CMW-KT052, CMW-KS300, CMW-KM300, CMW-KM050, CMW-KM051, and is capable of performing the signaling functions required for this project and developed software and procedures specific to the CMW 500 that NIST intends to leverage for this project. 4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition: 41 USC 3304(a)(1) Only one responsible source. 5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited: The procurement of the supplies/services described above by other than full and open competition is appropriate because there is only one qualified source. Contractor: Rohde & Schwarz USA, Inc. 628 Benjamin Franklin Dr. Columbia, MD 21046-2683 DUNS 095609798 Expanding the capabilities of the current Rhode and Schwarz CMW 500 will require both hardware and software compatibility of any additional components connected to the system. To avoid system damage, delay and possible catastrophic failure, only components manufactured by Rhode and Schwarz, original equipment manufacturer of the government's CMW 500 Base-Station Emulator, are acceptable. If your company believes they are capable of fulfilling the above requirements, please submt a quote to Aron Krischel, Contracting Officer, at aron.krischel@nist.gov, no later than 10 Mar 2021.