Cautions; General Cautions On Use Of Watchdog Timer; Cautions On Μ Pd784038 Subseries Watchdog Timer - NEC uPD784038 Series User Manual

16-bit single-chip microcontrollers
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12.4 CAUTIONS

12.4.1 General Cautions on Use of Watchdog Timer

(1) The watchdog timer is one means of detecting inadvertent program loops, but it cannot detect all inadvertent program
loops. Therefore, in equipment that requires a high level of reliability, you should not rely on the on-chip watchdog
timer alone, but should use external circuitry for early detection of inadvertent program loops, to enable processing
to be performed that will restore the normal state or establish a stable state and then stop the operation.
(2) The watchdog timer cannot detect inadvertent program loops in the following cases.
<1> If watchdog timer clearance is performed in the timer interrupt service program
<2> If cases where an interrupt request or macro service is held pending (see 22.9) occur consecutively
<3> If the watchdog timer is cleared periodically when inadvertent program looping is due to an error in the program
logic (if each module of the program functions normally but the overall program does not)
<4> If the watchdog timer is periodically cleared by a group of instructions executed when an inadvertent program
loop occurs
<5> If the STOP mode, HALT mode, or IDLE mode is entered as the result of an inadvertent program loop
<6> If watchdog timer runaway also occurs in the event of CPU runaway due to external noise
In cases <1>, <2> and <3> the program can be amended to allow detection to be performed.
In case <4>, the watchdog timer can only be cleared by a 4-byte dedicated instruction. Similarly, in case <5>, the STOP
mode, HALT mode, or IDLE mode cannot be set unless a 4-byte dedicated instruction is used. For state <2> to be
entered as the result of an inadvertent program loop, 3 or more consecutive bytes of data must comprise a specific
pattern (e.g. BT PSWL.bit, $$, etc.). Therefore, the establishment of state <2> as the result of <4>, <5> or an inadvertent
program loop is likely to be extremely rare.
12.4.2 Cautions on µ µ µ µ µ PD784038 Subseries Watchdog Timer
(1) The watchdog timer mode register (WDM) can only be written to with a dedicated instruction (MOV WDM, #byte).
(2) The same value should be written each time in writes to the watchdog timer mode register (WDM) to set (to 1) the RUN
bit. The contents written the first time cannot be changed even if a different value is written.
(3) Once the RUN bit has been set (to 1), it cannot be reset (to 0) by software.
CHAPTER 12 WATCHDOG TIMER FUNCTION
User's Manual U11316EJ4V1UD
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