The DS1232 IC is a low power Micro Monitor chip in 8 pin DIP package. It monitors 3 vital conditions such as power supply, software execution and external over-ride. First, a precision temperature compensated reference and comparator circuit monitors the status of VCC. When an out of tolerance condition occurs, an internal power-fail signal forces reset to the active state. When VCC returns to an in-tolerance condition, the reset signals are kept in the active state for a minimum of 250ms to allow the power supply and processor to stabilize. The second function is pushbutton reset control. The DS1232 debounces the pushbutton input and has an active reset pulse width of 250ms minimum. The third function is a watchdog timer. The DS1232 has an internal timer that forces the reset signals to the active state if the strobe input is not driven low prior to timeout. The watchdog timer function can be set to operate on timeout settings of 150ms, 600ms and 1.2s.