INTRODUCTION
Communication network systems are rapidly growing
in size and complexity. These systems have many high
speed integrated circuits with critical operating param-
eters and must provide extremely reliable service with
zero down time. To maintain the performance of these
systems, adequate environmental monitoring must be
performed, so a failure or a data trend leading to a
potential failure can be rapidly identified. Furthermore,
this monitoring must be performed cheaply to keep sys-
tem costs low.
To minimize system down time and increase flexibility,
these communication network systems feature modu-
lar, hot-swappable components. Each component in
the system typically contains multiple sub-systems that
require monitoring. These sub-systems might include
DC/DC regulators, high speed microprocessors,
FPGAs, and cooling fans. Some of the monitored sys-
tem parameters include power supply output voltage,
power supply current, device temperature, ambient
temperature, and fan speed.
A network is required so all sensor data is collected and
fed to a central computer for monitoring and analysis.
Because many of the sensors are located in close prox-
imity to each other, the I
2C bus offers a solution that
can be implemented with minimal hardware cost. Fur-
thermore, low cost microcontrollers (MCUs) with a wide
range of peripherals and an I
2C interface are widely
available.