Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

TITLE: Study of Industrial Wireless Network Deployments and Testbed Experimentation for Factory Automation RESPONSE DATE: May 7, 2019 CONTACT POINTS: Brian Jamieson, Contract Specialist, (301)975-8276... TITLE: Study of Industrial Wireless Network Deployments and Testbed Experimentation for Factory Automation RESPONSE DATE: May 7, 2019 CONTACT POINTS: Brian Jamieson, Contract Specialist, (301)975-8276 Keith Bubar, Contracting Officer, (301) 975-8329 DESCRIPTION: THIS IS A COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS PREPARED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FORMAT IN FAR SUBPART 12.6-STREAMLINED PROCEDURES FOR EVALUATION AND SOLICITATION FOR COMMERCIAL ITEMS-AS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THIS NOTICE. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONSTITUTES THE ONLY SOLICITATION; QUOTATIONS ARE BEING REQUESTED, AND A SEPARATE WRITTEN SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED. THE SOLICITATION IS BEING ISSUED USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION UNDER FAR PART 13. Background Information: The Advanced Network Technology Division (ANTD) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is collaborating with the Intelligent Systems Division (ISD) at NIST to develop a best-practice guideline for deployment of wireless technology in smart manufacturing environments. Much of ANTD’s efforts have concentrated on wireless network design and deployments in industrial environments as well as developing innovative information dissemination and network measurement approaches to enable reliable and secure wireless transmissions of sensing and control message updates in manufacturing plants. ANTD has developed a software evaluation framework for wireless data transmissions in a standard chemical production plant and evaluated individual packet receptions in harsh industrial environments. ANTD has also conducted channel usage analysis based on passive channel measurements in different industrial plants and conducted a comprehensive survey of existing and potential wireless control applications in various industrial Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios. ANTD has designed a work-cell communication network prototype with hardwired Ethernet connections. ANTD wishes to leverage our past work to incorporate wireless network connections into the factory automation testbed and explore, measure, and demonstrate key technical elements in the development of networked factory control solutions. The main objective of this new project is to build an industrial wireless testbed that demonstrates representative industrial data transmissions between components of a typical work-cell in complex radio environments. This would also require developing and expanding current function libraries in the simulation-based evaluation framework to evaluate testbed design proposals before actual implementations. The associated North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 541690 Scientific and Technical Consulting with a small business size standard of $15 million. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-101. This solicitation is being competed as a small business set-aside. SCHEDULE OF REQUIRED ITEMS: The Contractor shall work closely in a multi-disciplinary team of engineers to design, build, and test a wireless testbed to mimic a typical discrete system control use case in manufacturing industries. The Contractor shall develop a testing solution to enable the real-time performance measurement and event logging in the testbed architecture. The Contractor shall also assess the collected experiment data and apply proper data engineering and mining techniques to evaluate the performance of work-cell operations with wireless connections. The Contractor shall be responsible for project oversight, equipment, administration, and technical execution of this contract. The Contractor shall deliver a report on testing use cases of wireless control application in the developed testbed with new measurement and data analysis approaches along with the following specific tasks in the twelve months of the project. 1. Support the deployment of an industrial wireless testbed in the EL lab that mimics routine work-cell operations with robots. Participate as part of a team to design and prototype wireless network solutions using off-the-shelf radio modules or new radios from industrial partners. Verify and program PLCs to meet requirements of new use cases based on the testbed capability. 2. Design performance measurement approaches to record testbed data in experiments of Task 1. Collect data based on measurement needs and conduct data processing to build a reference data model to align the recorded operation events with the captured network activities for offline analysis. 3. Conduct wireless network study to enable time-sensitive networking (TSN) in wireless connections for the testbed operations through appropriate approaches in communication layers such as MAC, network, transport, and application. Evaluate these approaches in the industrial applications of Task 1 as a use case. 4. Explore new data science approaches, e.g., machine learning, to tackle industrial wireless system modeling and performance measurement challenges using data collected in Task 2. 5. Document the results and findings as appropriate, particularly in the form of technical paper(s) in relevant technical conference. I. DELIVERABLES AND DELIVERABLE DUE DATES The following deliverables shall be completed during the period of performance in Phase I. All deliverables are subject to clause 52.227-17, Rights in Data—Special Works. Description Format Due date (no later than) 1 Monthly progress review meetings with the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) Progress report Monthly 2 Design documents and study materials on the industrial wireless testbed implementation Written hardcopy report and/or PowerPoint presentation Specified by the lead of the testbed project according to the project schedule 3 Implement the testbed function modules NIST GitLab commits and document Specified by the lead of the testbed project according to the project schedule 4 Wireless network study report on real-time industrial applications Written report and/or PowerPoint presentation February 28, 2020 5 Final report on the overall system and its performance Written report, conference paper submission and PowerPoint presentation April 30, 2020 Standards for Acceptance of Deliverables: The COR shall provide comments on each deliverable within __14___ calendars days from receipt of a given deliverable. The Contractor shall make any needed changes to the deliverables within __14___ calendar days from receipt of electronic or written comments from the COR. II. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE The period of performance shall be May 14, 2019 – May 13, 2020. III. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE All the tasks specified shall be accomplished at NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland. The Contractor shall work Monday through Friday with the exception of Federal holidays or other official closures. IV. GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY, DATA AND/OR INFORMATION All property, data and information provided by the Government in the performance of this requirement remains the property of the Government and shall be surrendered to the Government upon completion or termination of this requirement. Likewise, all deliverables remain the property of the Government. Upon award of this requirement, NIST will provide on-site office space, workstation, PC, email and Internet access, telephone, routine office supplies, and access to all facilities needed for the project. The Contractor shall only access low risk general-purpose IT equipment and common network services available to NIST associates. V. RISK ASSESSMENT The HSPD-12 Security Risk Level assigned to this contract is low risk. VI. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT SURVELLIANCE MATRIX Desired Output Required Service Performance Standard Monitoring Method Continuous interaction between the Contractor and the Government during the course of the project Meeting between the Contractor and COR on a weekly basis The Contractor shall demonstrate step-by-step progress in developing the testbed implementations and research tasks NIST COR shall monitor the Contractor productivity on a weekly basis. Design documents and experiment plans on the testbed with wireless interfaces Design documents and experiment plans depict the functions and interfaces of modules in the testbed architecture as well use cases in industrial implementations. The design should follow the performance and environmental requirements as specified by the project team in collaboration with NIST EL researchers. The proposed module interfaces should follow the standardized data flows in the whole architecture and specific configuration instructions provided by the tested radio modules. NIST COR shall review the written report and determine its acceptability. Testbed function modules The code/script enables PLCs in the testbed to mimic industrial applications with real communication traffic requests, which posts requirements on time-sensitive industrial data transmissions in wireless/hardwired connections. The modules should be compatible with communication protocol stack implemented in the testbed. Necessary modifications in the related functions modules should be made to support specific data transmissions. Additional diagnostic interfaces should be added to enable the performance monitoring and status recording in the platform for offline analysis. NIST COR shall review the progress of the model development and determine its acceptability. Wireless network study report on TSN in industrial applications The study aims to identify key design elements that influence the fulfillment of the real-time performance in time-sensitive industrial applications given the highly dynamics in user requests and traffic loads. The work-cell supervisor is trained with the collected experiment data and domain-specific knowledge to predict user traffic patterns with time/frequency/space distributions and adopt the best response. The proposed study report should address design elements in communication protocol layers, such as MAC, network, transport, and application, and compare the performance of different approaches. Recent progress in machine learning and in 5G development should be included which covers architecture design and real implementation cases. NIST COR shall review the progress of the model development and determine its acceptability. Final report covers the design, test and evaluation work in this project. Demonstrations and suggestions on expanding the design to test bed are also desired as the project output. Review the development of the testbed and function modules to conclude design remarks for wireless system design in industrial applications. Key design factors and deployment notes are concluded, and comparison is made with different wireless communication solutions in critical service metrics. The final report should be of high quality so that it can be submitted for publication at IEEE conferences and journals related to industrial communications and wireless networks. NIST COR shall review the written report and determine its acceptability. VII. MINIMUM CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS The tasks and deliverables defined in this PWS require the Contractor to possess theoretical knowledge and practical experience in wireless communications, machine-to-machine communications, and in particular, industrial wireless network protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi, WirlessHART/ISA100.11a, and massive and ultra-reliable low latency communications in 5G). The Contractor should be able to independently conduct mathematical modeling of discrete system control systems and basic controller design. The Contractor should also be familiar with PLC programming languages (e.g., Structured Text) and interfaces between PLCs or with external sensors/actuators (e.g., digital I/O, Modbus, TCP/IP, Ethernet). In addition, the Contractor should be proficient in the use of OMNET++/C++ to develop new modules for the simulation-based evaluation framework during the course of this project. The Contractor should be familiar with network packet capturing software, such as Wireshark and tcpdump. Knowledge of Matlab, Python, and Linux is required for data processing and analysis. Software version control knowledge, e.g., GitHub/GitLab, and Sharepoint project management are also appreciated. PROVISIONS AND CLAUSES: The following provisions and clauses apply to this acquisition and are hereby incorporated by reference. All FAR clauses may be viewed at http://acquisition.gov/comp/far/index.html. All Commerce Acquisition Regulations (CAR) clauses may be viewed at http://farsite.hill.af.mil/VFCARA.HTM Provisions: 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial Items 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items FAR Clauses: 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions-Commercial Items 52.212-5 Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders-Commercial Items-Commercial Items including subparagraphs: 52.203-19 Prohibition on Requiring Certain Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statements 52.204-10 Reporting Executive compensation and first-Tier Subcontract Awards 52.219-28 Post Award Small Business Program Re-representation; 52.222-3 Convict Labor; 52.222-19 Child Labor - Cooperation with Authorities And Remedies; 52.222-21 Prohibition of Segregated Facilities; 52.222-26 Equal Opportunity 52.222-36 Equal Opportunity for Workers with Disabilities; 52.222-50 52.223-18 Combating Trafficking in Persons Encouraging Contractor Policies to Ban Text Messaging While Driving 52.225-13 Restriction on Certain Foreign Purchases; 52.232-33 Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer-System for Award Management Commerce Acquisition Regulations (CAR) Clauses: 1352.201-70, Contracting Officer's Authority 1352.209-73, Compliance With the Laws 1352.209-74, Organizational Conflict of Interest 1352.215-72, Inquiries Offerors must submit all questions concerning this solicitation in writing to the Contracting Officer. Questions should be received no later than 12:00 pm EST, August 20, 2018. Any responses to questions will be made in writing, without identification of the questioner, and will be included in an amendment to the solicitation. Requests shall include complete company name, address, telephone and e-mail address. FAX AND OR PHONE REQUESTS ARE NOT AUTHORIZED AND WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. 1352.233-70, Agency Protests (APR 2010) (a) An agency protest may be filed with either: (1) The contracting officer, or (2) at a level above the contracting officer, with the appropriate agency Protest Decision Authority. See 64 FR 16,651 (April 6, 1999). (b) Agency protests filed with the Contracting Officer shall be sent to the following address: NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION ATTN: Todd Hill, CONTRACTING OFFICER 100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (c) Agency protests filed with the agency Protest Decision Authority shall be sent to the following address: NIST/ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT DIVISION ATTN: HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE (HCO) 100 Bureau Drive, MS 1640 Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (d) A complete copy of all agency protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel within one day of filing a protest with either the Contracting Officer or the Protest Decision Authority. (e) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows: U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. Washington, DC 20230 FAX: (202) 482-5858. (End of clause) 1352.233-71, GAO and Court of Federal Claims Protests (APR 2010) (a) A protest may be filed with either the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or the Court of Federal Claims unless an agency protest has been filed. (b) A complete copy of all GAO or Court of Federal Claims protests, including all attachments, shall be served upon (i) the Contracting Officer, and (ii) the Contract Law Division of the Office of the General Counsel, within one day of filing a protest with either GAO or the Court of Federal Claims. (c) Service upon the Contract Law Division shall be made as follows: U.S. Department of Commerce Office of the General Counsel Chief, Contract Law Division Room 5893 Herbert C. Hoover Building 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. Washington, DC 20230 FAX: (202) 482-5858. (End of clause) NIST Local Clause_54 Electronic Billing NIST requires that Invoice/Voucher submissions are sent electronically via email to INVOICE@NIST.GOV. Each Invoice or Voucher submitted shall include the following: (1) Contract number; (2) Contractor name and address; (3) Unique entity identifier (see www.sam.gov for the designated entity for establishing unique entity identifiers); (4) Date of invoice; (5) Invoice number; (6) Amount of invoice and cumulative amount invoiced to-date; (7) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN); (8) Description, quantity, unit of measure, unit price, and extended price of supplies/services delivered; (9) Prompt payment discount terms, if offered; and (10) Any other information or documentation required by the contract. (End of clause) Addendum to Far 52.212-1, Quotation Preparation Instructions: 1. Price Quotation- The Offeror shall propose a firm-fixed-price for the CLINs identified in the Schedule of Required Items. 2. Technical Quotation- Offerors shall provide sufficient documentation to demonstrate that all requirements of the Schedule of Required Items have been complied with. All offerors shall provide documentation to certify that they are authorized resellers or distributors of the product(s) they are proposing or are the Manufacturer. Award will not be made to any offeror without the requested documentation. 3. All offerors shall submit the information/documentation required by the provisions in this solicitation. Quotation Evaluation: The Government intends to award a purchase order resulting from this solicitation to the lowest price, technically acceptable Offeror. To be technically acceptable, the quotation must clearly demonstrate compliance with the requirements. The Government will evaluate quotations based on the following evaluation criteria: (1) Technical Capability and (2) Price. 1. Technical Capability An offeror’s failure to quote all of the products/services listed above may be considered indicative of the offeror’s lack of understanding of the Government’s requirements and may result in the offer being determined unacceptable. If an evaluation of Non-Acceptable is received, the Offeror will not be considered for Award. An evaluation of Technically Acceptable / Non-Acceptable will be assigned upon completion of the technical quotation evaluation. Offerors who fail to provide sufficient information (e.g. documentation, specifications, etc.) that clearly demonstrates an ability to meet the Government’s technical specifications will be considered non-acceptable. If an evaluation of Non-Acceptable is received, the Offeror will not be considered for Award. All offerors must be authorized to sell and service the products they are proposing to the Government, by the original manufacturer(OEM) certified engineers or technicians. 2. Price Price will be evaluated for reasonableness. Your company is encouraged to discount its rates. If price discounts are offered, identify the percentage of price discount and/or price reduction offered. The Government does not intend to enter into discussion and may award a purchase order on the basis of initial offers received, without discussions. Therefore, each initial quotation shall contain the offeror’s best terms. Nonetheless, the Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if it is in the best interest of the Government. Due Date and Response Information Offerors capable of furnishing the specified repair in this combined synopsis/solicitation should submit their quote in writing to: Brian Jamieson electronically at brian.jamieson@nist.gov. FAX quotations shall not be accepted. Offerors shall submit their quotations so that NIST receives them not later than May 7, 10:00 am, EST.