Description

The intelligent AMC-110 is AMC’s latest offering for applications requiring the added reassurance of Watchdog and System Monitoring facilities in critical, fail-safe PC/AT applications. The board not only offers a Watchdog Timer function but also monitors a whole host of system parameters such as out of range voltages, temperature, fan fail together with external alarm inputs. The board can also generate numerous outputs both relay and TTL levels. For remote diagnosis the card has an RS-232 asynchronous serial port for system interrogation over a modem connection. The full list of features is listed below.

Hardware Feature List

• Texas InstrumentsTMS370 Microcontroller running at 4.9 MHz
• 128K of FLASH memory (512k as an option) which can be updated remotely over the ISA bus or the serial port
• Up to 24K of local static RAM
• Up to 2.5K bytes of EEPROM
• RS-232 asynchronous serial port running at up to 38400 baud
• Eight changeover relay outputs accessible from within the system or via a back panel connector
• Eight TTL outputs accessible from within the system
• Seven TTL outputs accessible via a back panel connector
• Four optically-isolated inputs accessible from within the system or via a back panel connector
• Six fan speed monitor inputs accessible from within the system
• Eight general purpose TTL compatible inputs accessible from within the system
• Voltage measurement and monitoring of +5V, +12V, -12V and -5V ISA supplies
• Ambient temperature measurement -40°C to +125°C
• Remote temperature measurement -40°C to +125°C accessible from within the system
• System reset driver
• Power supply control driver supporting system power cycling and soft on/off control
• Monitor card draws power from any of: the ISA bus, the power supply standby feed, on-board Ni-Cd / NiMH rechargeable cells or an external supply via a back panel connector
• Fully-featured 8-bit ISA bus interface capable of interrupting the host on any AT interrupt level, or generating a non-maskable interrupt to the system processor
• BIOS extension boot ROM programmable across ISA bus or via serial port
• Versatile high-speed serial expansion bus providing an internal network supporting multiple monitor cards and effectively unlimited expansion possibilities
• Audible piezo-electric sounder
• Isolated power supply accessible from within the system or via a back panel connector. May be used for volt-free operation of the optically-isolated inputs

The features in bold are extra-cost options

Software Feature List

• Programmable watchdog timer generating an interrupt, non-maskable interrupt, system reset or power cycle on time-out
• System serial number
• Power on hours, power off hours and standby hours logging
• System supply voltage and temperature monitor generating an interrupt, non-maskable interrupt, system reset or power cycle on out-of-range condition
• User-defined sign-on/copyright message on system boot
• With such a versatile hardware solution the range of features which may be implemented in software are almost without limit. We have total in-house control of both hardware and software designs allowing us complete flexibility to implement solutions tailored to your specific needs. The versatile serial expansion bus allows us to quickly implement cost-effective solutions of your hardware requirements including additional transducers, system control and display functions

• Dialling a support service using a modem when a fault occurs, or under other conditions such as exceeding a preset number of power-on hours
• Allowing a support engineer to monitor and control system functions using the serial port, either locally using a portable computer or remotely using a modem. As an example the engineer could cycle the power of a dysfunctional system by modem, or receive regular reports of system parameters by e-mail
• Regularly monitoring and logging system activity across the system LAN for later interrogation and statistical analysis
• Rebooting the system into a maintenance mode by altering the active boot ROM page

• 8-digit dot matrix alphanumeric display (expandable)
• Status lights / buttons / keypad
• CPU fan speed monitoring module (connects to most general purpose CPU cooling fans)