To improve the reliability and availability of mission-critical COTS applications, Kontron has introduced the chassis monitoring board for VPX and VME systems to streamline system monitoring and management of rugged applications. The board centralises out-of-band monitoring and management of installed boards and relevant system parameters, such as temperature, airflow and power supply, in mission-critical COTS systems. The board is designed for multi-board and multi-vendor environments, as it is based on common interface technology, such as I²C and GPIOs, to provide out-of-band chassis management and monitoring. The high MTBF, according to the MIL-HDBK217F-2 standard, enables it to be used in a range of environments from ground benign conditions (603,005hr at 25°C) to extremely demanding, air rotary wing applications (20,485hr at 55°C). It has a compact footprint and requires less than 1W to simplify system development for space-restricted applications, claims the company. The board can be used to continuously and simultaneously monitor and control up to eight power modules, eight temperature sensors and eight fans. Out-of-band monitoring and management of up to eight installed VME or VPX boards is additionally possible.
