Robert Boschgmbh

Texas Instruments Corporation

Berthold Fehrenbacher

Gotthilf Koerner

Harald Tschentscher

Carsten Gebauer

Peter Sautter

Alexandre Pierre Palus

Bernd Stoehr

Helmut Binder

Achim Schaefer

Roy M Haley

Charles Ming-Fong Tsai

Venkata Kishore Gadde

Hoi-Man Low

Axel Breitmaier

Andreas Frey

Christian Wenzel-Benner

In order to detect a faulty error correcting unit () in an embedded system, wherein the error correcting unit () receives output data from a data source () and determines, whether the received data are incorrect, and wherein if the received data are incorrect, the error correcting unit () is expected to correct at least one error within the received data, output the corrected data and manipulate an error vector (), a method and a system (Ia) are suggested that enable to compare the output data of the error correcting unit () with at least one reference data, wherein the at least one reference data originate at least indirectly from the data source (). Both, the error vector () and the result of the comparison are input to a plausibility test in order to decide, whether the error correcting unit () is faulty. According to the result of the plausibility test, a failure vector () is manipulated in order to indicate whether a failure in the error correcting unit () is detected.

Method and system for detecting a failure in an error correcting unit

A microcontroller system includes a microcontroller, a device which is controllable by the microcontroller, and a monitoring device. Under the control of a normal operation program, the microcontroller outputs a normal operation indicating signal. If the normal operation indicating signal is absent, the monitoring device transfers the device into a secured state and, if it is absent over a predefined period of time, locks the device in that state. When predefined exceptional conditions occur, the microcontroller changes to an operation preparation program, and the monitoring device increments a register. If the contents of the register reach a predefined value, the monitoring device locks the device in the secured state.

Microcontroller system and operating method for secure device locking using counter and timer

A circuit configuration for converting analog signals to digital signals, having a multiplexer which has a plurality of analog signal inputs, an address input that is several bits wide and an output, and which is configured to connect one of the analog signal inputs to the output when an address assigned to the respective analog signal input is applied to the address input, and having an analog/digital converter, whose input is connected to the output of the multiplexer in order to digitize the respective analog signal emitted at the output. The circuit configuration includes at least one test signal source for supplying a test signal to a subset of the analog signal inputs of the multiplexer. In addition, an address is assigned to each of the analog signal inputs of this subset, of whose bits one has a first binary value, and all the others have a second binary value that is different from the first.

Circuit configuration for analog/digital conversion

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Markgroeningen, Germany

Berthold Fehrenbacher