Ballard Technology's 717 Monitor is a graphical user interface (GUI) designed for monitoring word values on an active 717 bus. Data values are displayed in both octal and binary representations. An intuitive interface allows for selection of word and subframe positions to be monitored. Support for superframes, or groupings of frames, adds the powerful capability to organize large amounts of data.
The 717 Monitor is provided with all Ballard ARINC 717 hardware interface devices, which are available for many platforms including USB, Ethernet, PCI, PCI Express, cPCI, PC/104 plus, VME, and PCMCIA.
The ARINC 717 databus can also be monitored through Ballard Technology's convenient handheld tester. The HT717-1 provides access to flight data by reading the Harvard biphase databus or the bipolar auxiliary output of a Quick Access Recorder (QAR). The user interface and display of this self-contained tester are similar to the monitor described above.
ARINC 717 is the specification that defines the communication protocol used between the Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit (DFDAU) and the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) used primarily on commercial aircraft. The DFDAU accumulates data from the aircraft systems and transmits it to the DFDR on an ARINC 717 databus. The flight data recorder is a device that records a history of flight information. In some applications, the information contained in the "black box" (flight data recorder) may be used for the diagnosis of failures leading to a crash.