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Contract Opportunity

This announcement constitutes a Sources Sought Synopsis (market survey). This is not a request for quote (RFQ) or a request for proposal (RFP). This announcement is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government, implied or otherwise, to issue a solicitation or award a contract. The Government will not pay for any cost incurred in responding to this announcement. Any information submitted by respondents to this Sources Sought synopsis shall be voluntary.

This Sources Sought Notice is for Market Research purposes only. The information submitted in response to the Sources Sought Notice will not be utilized to determine vendor standing in any future/potential Request for Quote/Request for Proposal, nor will it be utilized to determine if a vendor is qualified to submit a Request for Quote/Request for Proposal for any future/potential requirement. The notice and the information received shall not be used to determine how well respondents can perform a requirement, which can only be evaluated in response to a solicitation. Vendors will not receive formal notification or feedback on any information submitted in this Sources Sought request. All future/proposed submissions/solicitations requirements solicited on a Government Point of Entry will be evaluated independent of any information submitted in response to this Sources Sought Notice. No vendor will be provided information on solicitations issued on a Government Point of Entry based on this Sources Sought request.

Large and Small Businesses are invited to answer this market survey to determine market capabilities.

1. Background & Purpose

The 179th CW/MSC, Mansfield, OH, is seeking to identify capable sources that can provide high-performance, high-channel-density Software Defined Radios (SDRs) to serve as a laboratory baseline for complex electronic warfare algorithms.

The Government anticipates a requirement for the Ettus Research (National Instruments) USRP X400-Series (X410/X440) or an equivalent solution that meets the stringent hardware and software interoperability characteristics detailed below. The purpose of this notice is two-fold:

• To identify authorized commercial distributors and Value-Added Resellers (VARs) capable of supplying the specific Ettus Research brand-name equipment.


• To test the commercial marketplace to determine if any alternative "equivalent" products exist that can meet the Government's strict phase-coherency requirements without disrupting the existing proprietary software pipeline.

2. Salient Characteristics

Whether proposing the brand-name product or an equivalent, the SDR platform must be a single, monolithic COTS device (not a networked cluster of smaller radios) meeting the following specifications:

• Architecture: Direct RF sampling built upon advanced RFSoC technology (e.g., Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ ZU28DR-2 or equivalent).


• Channel Density: A minimum of eight (8) independent transmit and eight (8) independent receive channels natively on the single device.


• Instantaneous Bandwidth: Capable of capturing up to 1.6 GHz of bandwidth per channel.


• Frequency Range: Coverage across a 30 MHz to 4 GHz IF range.


• Phase Stability/Coherency: Must maintain strict phase coherency of
  

3. Alternative/Equivalent Products Only

The Government’s existing engineering pipeline relies heavily on custom signal processing algorithms built natively upon the USRP Hardware Driver (UHD) and RF Network-on-Chip (RFNoC) frameworks.

If a vendor is proposing an alternative or "equivalent" hardware platform, the capability statement MUST explicitly address how the product will integrate with this existing software ecosystem. Responses must include:

1. A technical transition plan detailing how existing UHD/RFNoC-dependent algorithms can be ported to the proposed platform's driver ecosystem.


2. An estimated timeline and Level of Effort (LOE) required to execute this software transition.


3. Confirmation of whether the alternative platform requires proprietary APIs or if it operates on open-source frameworks natively compatible with GNU Radio.

4. Submission Instructions

Interested parties must submit a Capability Statement (no more than 5 pages) clearly indicating which of the two categories they fall under:

Category A: Brand-Name Resellers (Providing Ettus Research/NI Products)

• Provide Company Name, CAGE Code, UEI, and Socio-Economic Status.


• Provide proof of authorization to resell/distribute National Instruments/Ettus Research products (e.g., an authorized reseller letter or distributor agreement).

Category B: Alternative / Equivalent Solution Providers

• Provide Company Name, CAGE Code, UEI, and Socio-Economic Status.


• Provide technical specification sheets proving compliance with the Salient Characteristics.


• Provide a direct, detailed response to the 3 items contained in Section 3

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