INTRODUCTION Communication network systems are rapidly growing in size and complexity. These systems have many high speed integrated circuits with critical operating param- eters and must provide extremely reliable service with zero down time. To maintain the performance of these systems, adequate environmental monitoring must be performed, so a failure or a data trend leading to a potential failure can be rapidly identified. Furthermore, this monitoring must be performed cheaply to keep sys- tem costs low. To minimize system down time and increase flexibility, these communication network systems feature modu- lar, hot-swappable components. Each component in the system typically contains multiple sub-systems that require monitoring. These sub-systems might include DC/DC regulators, high speed microprocessors, FPGAs, and cooling fans. Some of the monitored sys- tem parameters include power supply output voltage, power supply current, device temperature, ambient temperature, and fan speed. A network is required so all sensor data is collected and fed to a central computer for monitoring and analysis. Because many of the sensors are located in close prox- imity to each other, the I 2C bus offers a solution that can be implemented with minimal hardware cost. Fur- thermore, low cost microcontrollers (MCUs) with a wide range of peripherals and an I 2C interface are widely available.