> Functions of Load_Monitor

Load_Monitor Board presents 4 incorporated functions:

• Siemens Simatic S-115 I/O Interface.
• Load_Monitor Display, Task Load Display.
• Watch Dog.
• Real Time Clock.

> Siemens Simatic S-115 I/O Interface

A DB-37 connector for a Siemens Simatic S-115 Expansion Rack cable is located on the board panel. A standard cable of the Simatic S-115 system is connected from the board to a Simatic S-115, IM-304 module.

The PC can access any I/O in the expansion racks and it is possible to connect up to 2048 inputs or outputs in any analogic, digital or counter configuration. The input or output limit depends on the current consumption of the configuration input or output blocks. The digital inputs and outputs consume less resources than the analogic inputs and outputs and counters.

> dPCsIO for Siemens Simatic S-115 I/O

dPCsIO is an intelligent driver. dPCsIO leads the access to digital and analogic input and high precision counters. If the parameters in the API calls go beyong the permitted ranks, a bug value different from 0 indicates that the call failed and in which checking it did so.

The dPCsIO API is open, that is, "C", Pascal, Assembler and other programs can access the I/O.

> Load_Monitor Display

Load_Monitor Display is a connector with a 16 LED bar display cable for showing the CPU Load in each task (only the first 16) under the KERNEL. A LED indicates a bug if the "Watch Dog" has detected a lack in the load during a task, this indicates a possible bug in the software.

> Watch-Dog

The "Watch Dog" checks that the load in each KERNEL task is within the permitted rank. On the contrary, there is a possible bug in the software (usually the case) or in the hardware. When the Watch-Dog detects a bug, a rele is desactivated and all the digital outputs are desactivated to indicate to the environment that the PC no longer controls the system.