UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO - NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD A SINGLE SOURCE CONTRACT: #21-059
Keysight Signal Analyzer upgrades
The University of Waterloo (UW) intends to award a single source contract to Keysight Technologies of Mississauga, Ontario, for upgrading a Keysight N9041B Signal Analyzer with the replacement of a new generation of analyzer, N9042B, to provide an economical path to increased analysis bandwidth and lower path loss, as well as higher measurement accuracy at all frequencies important to the research.
This is an advanced Notice indicating to the supplier community that UW intends to award a contract for these goods to the pre-identified supplier. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date of this notice, a statement of qualifications within budget that can satisfy the stated requirements set out in this Notice, the competitive requirements of the University are considered to have been met. Following notification to any suppliers not successful in demonstrating that their statement of qualifications meets the requirements set out in this Notice, the contract may then be awarded to the pre-identified supplier.
If other potential suppliers submit statements of qualifications during the fifteen calendar day posting period, and meet the requirements set out in this Notice, UW will proceed to a Request for Proposal process, in order to award the contract.
DESCRIPTION:
The University of Waterloo wishes to upgrade its existing Keysight Signal Analyzer to extend the service life, share existing software licenses, increase accuracy and capabilities. This upgrade of an existing instrument will allow measurements at wider bandwidths, allow measurements of new devices with increased real sensitivity, increase amplitude and phase accuracy by factor of 10 across almost every measurement, and extend the support life of the equipment by over three (3) years.
The budget for this acquisition is approximately $140,000 CAD.
SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION:
Obtaining this capability separately, instead of upgrading existing OEM equipment, would cost in excess of $400,000 CAD, well beyond the budget available to the Centre for Intelligent Antenna and Radio Systems (‘CIARS’) lab.
No other equipment manufacturer can upgrade the existing Keysight Signal Analyzer owned by UW. The proposed upgrade from the N9041B to N9042B leverages the ancillary equipment and items obtained when the original unit was purchased in 2018. It also leverages the programming, and procedures since both are extensions of the original equipment. Keysight is the only company that can offer the wideband analysis to 8GHz without extra equipment and up to 11GHz using other digitizing equipment already owned by UW. In addition, no other manufacturer offers the receiver calibration accessory and algorithms that would work with existing equipment, and other analyzers already owned by CIARS, thereby creating a unique capability for our labs.
This is an exceptionally advantageous offer that the University is not aware that other suppliers can match: Keysight is the only company offering the technical capabilities needed at a price that fits the RTI budget obtained for equipment/capability upgrades.
Process:
Suppliers who can provide the functionality described herein, within budget, may submit a statement of qualifications, in writing, to the contact person identified below on or before the closing date of this Notice.
The budget for this acquisition is approximately $140,000 CAD, not including GST/HST.
Date of Issue: June 24, 2021
Closing Date: July 12, 2021
Christine Wagner, CPPB, CSCP
Procurement Specialist, Research
Procurement and Contract Services
University of Waterloo
Email – cpwagner@uwaterloo.ca , or, procure@uwaterloo.ca
