Joint Portal Shield

SENTEL engineers and technicians provide full–life-cycle software and hardware development support to the Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) for Joint Portal Shield (JPS), a network of sensors used to defend air bases and seaports against the threat of weapons of mass destruction. This network is controlled by a central command post computer that monitors and operates the sensors via a radio modem or Ethernet connection.

SENTEL provides real-time software and hardware design and engineering for software to control the sensors, the sensor network, and the command post computer. SENTEL developed the capability to detect and identify biological warfare agents through the use of automation and air/fluid management. SENTEL also engineered software interfaces with the sensors’ peripheral devices, such as chemical detectors, radiation sensors, a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a weather station. The software for the JPS sensors and command post computer is designed for the Windows operating system. SENTEL implements a rigorous program of testing and evaluation for the JPS sensor, command post computer, and network software.

SENTEL also performs data collection, analysis, and reduction for all deployed JPS sensors. Because of the large number of sensors currently in the field and the volume of data created by each one every month, the data effort is substantial. SENTEL has been successful in providing quality data services, which has made a positive impact on operational maintenance.