A Level 9618 7

Computer Science 9618 Notes Unit 7 Monitoring & Control Subject Teacher: Fahim Siddiq 03336581412
Monitoring Systems
A monitoring system can be used to create a record of the condition of a system over a period of
time. A monitoring system is used more often to detect when a particular physical property of a
system goes outside a desired range; for example, if the CPU is too hot.
Let’s consider temperature as an example. If this was being monitored under human control, the
measurement could be made with a standard mercury thermometer. However, in this chapter
we are interested in systems where a computer or microprocessor is being used. These systems
require a measuring device that records a value which can be transmitted to the computer. Such
a measuring device is a called a sensor. An example of a sensor for measuring temperature is a
thermocouple, which outputs an electrical voltage that changes with temperature.
It is important to understand that in a monitoring system, a sensor does not have any built-in
intelligence, so it cannot take any action if there is a problem. If the temperature measured
becomes dangerously high it is the computer that sounds an alarm.
There are a wide variety of sensors available. For some the name indicates the property being
measured such as pressure, humidity, carbon monoxide, pH or sound. For others such as an
infrared sensor there are different methods of use. A passive infrared sensor just measures the
level of infrared light received. In other cases, there is transmission of infrared light with the
sensor possibly measuring the level of the light that is reflected back. Other sensors are given a
generic name such as a motion sensor, for which different examples will be measuring different
physical properties.
Control Systems
A control system has the monitoring activity plus the capability to control a system. The control
element of a monitoring and control system needs a device called an actuator. An actuator is an
electric motor that is connected to a controlling device. It might be used for switching on or off
or for adjusting a setting.
Sensor: A hardware device that measures a property and transmits a value to a controlling
computer.
Actuator: A hardware device that receives a signal from a computer and adjusts the setting of
a controlling device
Note that below figure includes an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analogue
converter (DAC) as separate components. In a real system they are likely to be integral to the
sensor or actuator device.
For the system below figure there is a continuing process where the computer at regularly timed
intervals signals the sensor to provide a measurement. If the measurement value received by the
computer is not in the desired range the computer initiates a control action. The next timed
measurement will happen after this control action has taken place. In effect this next
measurement provides feedback to the computer on the effect of the control action. Feedback
is essential in a control system.
A closed-loop feedback control system is a special type of monitoring and control system where
the feedback directly controls the operation. Below figure shows a schematic diagram of such a
system. A microprocessor functions as the controller. This compares the value for the actual
output, as read by the sensor, with the desired output. It then transmits a value to the actuator
which depends on the difference calculated.
Bit Manipulation to Control Devices
The controlling computer or microprocessor has to have a real-time program running

continuously. The program can set values for Boolean variables subject to what the sensors
detect. For instance, if a controlled environment had two properties to be monitored and
controlled, four Boolean variables could be used. Values could be set by assignment statements
such as:
IF SensorDifference1 > 0 THEN Sensor1HighFlag ← TRUE

IF SensorDifference1 < 0 THEN Sensor1LowFlag ← TRUE
IF SensorDifference2 > 0 THEN Sensor2HighFlag ← TRUE
IF SensorDifference2 < 0 THEN Sensor2LowFlag ← TRUE
Another part of the monitoring and control program would then be checking whether any of the
four flags were set. The machine code for running such a program could use individual bits to
represent each flag. The way that flags could be set and read are illustrated by the following
assembly language code fragments. In these code fragments the three least significant bits
(positions 0, 1 and 2) of the byte are used as flags.
LDD 0034 Loads a byte into the accumulator from an address.
AND #B00000000 Uses a bitwise AND operation of the contents of the accumulator with
the operand to convert each bit to 0.
STO 0034 Stores the altered byte in the original address.
The following illustrates the toggling of the value for one bit. This changes the value of the flag
it represents. It might be needed because a problem has been encountered or alternatively
because a problem has been solved.
XOR #B00000001 Uses a bitwise XOR operation of the contents of the accumulator with
the operand to toggle the value of the bit stored in position 0.
The following illustrates the setting of a bit to have value 1 irrespective of its existing value.
This would be a simple way of just reporting a condition repetitively.
OR #B00000100 Uses a bitwise OR operation of the contents of the accumulator with the
operand to set the flag represented by the bit in position 2. All other bit
positions remain unchanged.
The following illustrates setting all bits to zero except one bit which is of interest. Following
this operation a comparison can be made with a binary value to check if the bit is set. In this
example the value would be compared to the binary equivalent of denary 2.
AND #B00000010 Uses a bitwise AND operation of the contents of the accumulator with
the operand to leave the value in position 1 unchanged but to convert
every other bit to 0.

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Computer Science 9618 Notes Unit 7 Monitoring & Control Subject Teacher: Fahim Siddiq 03336581412

Bit Manipulation to Control Devices

The controlling computer or microprocessor has to have a real-time program running

IF SensorDifference1 > 0 THEN Sensor1HighFlag ← TRUE

LDD 0034 Loads a byte into the accumulator from an address.

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