As a pioneer in the Ground Sensor community, Nova Engineering has an abundance of experience in fielding highly reliable systems where size/power/weight considerations are paramount.

•	Air Force - TASS/PEWD Handheld Transceiver
•	Army - REMBASS II Repeater
•	Marines - TRSS Repeater Relay
•	Army - Mobile Automated Instrumentation Suite (MAIS)

Sensor Communications

Nova Engineering developed the original single board RF Transceiver for the Air Force's TASS (Tactical Automated Security System) Program. Nova Engineering's hardware was fielded worldwide, including deployment at Wright Patterson AFB during the Bosnia Peace Talks.

Following TASS, Nova Engineering invested heavily in advancing the state-of-the-art in communications systems for extended mission operations. Nova Engineering developed a number of low-cost STAR products, including VHF, UHF, and dual-band handheld transceivers, as well as the TRSS/RBS 1200 Transceiver Board Set. This VHF Transceiver is part of the Marines' Air Delivered Sensor for the TRSS (Tactical Remote Sensor Systems) Program.

Further enhancements to the sensor community's capabilities have been offered through encryption; Nova Engineering's development of the Command Module (CM) and Hand Held Monitor (HHM) for the TASS Program includes a low power implementation of Triple-DES encryption, suitable for use in low-power portable equipment. In addition, the open architecture design includes provisions to accommodate other algorithms, as dictated by NIST's Advanced Encryption Standard (AES).

Further, Nova Engineering's MAIS Transceiver, for the Army's Mobile Automated Instrumentation Suite, is one of the best examples of a miniature, low power communications device. The MAIS RF board set, a 64 kbps 5 Watt UHF transceiver, occupies only <9 cubic inches in satisfying this unique body-worn requirement.

Subsequently, the RT-1175C Repeater was developed for the REMBASS-II (Remotely Monitored Battlefield Assessment Sensor System) Program. The primary objective of this development was to upgrade the baseline low data rate RT-1175A design by adding a higher data rate waveform (including Forward Error Correction), while significantly reducing the unit's cost.

The development of the U.S. Marines' Repeater Relay (RR) for the TRSS Program is yet another example of revolutionizing the sensor communications community; Nova Engineering's RR design includes a broad range of data rates (1.2 kbps - 56 kbps), FEC, VHF/UHF operation, and a number of sleep modes to ensure extended mission life for unattended operations.