B-299076, Fantastic Data, February 5, 2007

B-299076 Feb 05, 2007 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Fantastic Data protests the decision of the Department of the Army not to fund its phase I proposal under Department of Defense (DOD) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program solicitation No. FY06.2. We deny the protest. View Decision B-299076, Fantastic Data, February 5, 2007 Decision Matter of: Fantastic Data File: B-299076 Date: February 5, 2007 Dale Pitman for the protester. Peter Giella, Esq., and Vera Meza, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Charles W. Morrow, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest against procuring agency's decision not to fund protester's Phase I proposal under the Department of Defense Small Business Innovative Research program is denied where the record shows that the agency reasonably evaluated the proposal. DECISION Fantastic Data protests the decision of the Department of the Army not to fund its phase I proposal under Department of Defense (DOD) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program solicitation No. FY06.2. We deny the protest. The SBIR program is conducted pursuant to the Small Business Innovation Development Act, 15 U.S.C. sect. 638 (2000), which requires certain federal agencies to reserve a portion of their research and development funds for awards to small businesses. As part of its SBIR program, DOD issues an SBIR solicitation twice a year listing the research topics for which it will consider SBIR program admission. Firms first apply for a 6-month phase I award to test the scientific, technical, and commercial merit and feasibility of a certain concept. If phase I is successful, the firm may be invited to apply for a phase II award to further develop the concept. After the completion of phase II, firms are expected to obtain funding from the private sector and/or non-SBIR government sources to develop the concept into a product for sale in private sector and/or military markets. See DOD's SBIR Website, http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/overview/index.htm. The solicitation included Army Topic A06-039, –Versatile Sensor Network/Data Fusion Optimization System.— The objective of this topic is to –[d]evelop a versatile wireless acoustic sensor network development system which will allow the optimization of high performance collaborative data fusion within scalable distributed sensor network architectures.—[1] Agency Report, Tab B, Topic A06-039, at 1. In the area of acoustic signal processing,[2] the military customarily has relied on low cost distributed networks using 15 to 60 randomly placed sensor nodes.[3] The utility of the process has been enhanced by the development of communication networks based upon MESH/Ad-hoc and ZigBee[4] which allow scaling of the network to increase the number of nodes. The challenge has been how to optimize –sensor algorithms and hardware/software solutions for high performance data fusion within scalable sensor networks— because most networks rely upon –small collaborative networks which do not optimize what can be realized with high performance data fusion . . . in scalable networks.— Thus, the Army sought here to acquire an –innovative development approach and wireless system architecture to facilitate the optimization of data fusion for scalable networks.— Id. In this connection, the topic describes a system comprised of –at least 40 wireless acoustic sensing/processing nodes capable of communicating over distances of approximately 200 meters between nodes—; that the –[n]odes should embrace an open architecture that will enable third-party developers to port their software algorithms through downloadable applets that encode, filter, condition and classify acoustic signals—; that the –design of each node should allow common microphone interface and preamp, a processor to house the sensor processing and data fusion algorithms, computer interface to monitor and reprogram sensor/data fusion algorithms, and [the] communication system—; and that the –[n]odes should be capable of forwarding acoustic processed or unprocessed information over the wireless network to a central processing console,— including being –able to time stamp information packets forwarded from each node with time precision accuracy of less than 1 millisecond.— Also, the nodes had to be designed to –accommodate a wide range of potential sensor functionalities, ranging from minimal data fusion collaboration to more complex gateway level data fusion functionality [and] [t]he central processing console should be capable of performing further signal processing and system level data fusion using third-party algorithms as well as recording all acquired data within the sensor network.— Id. With respect to phase I, the topic requires the following: Review existing acoustic algorithms, data fusion approaches, and network architecture des...