Watchdog Timers, STMicroelectronics
The Watchdog Timer integrated circuit is a self-contained device for preventing system failures. Certain types of hardware or software errors could cause the electronics system to fail. The watchdog timer has an input that is used to clear the watchdog timer periodically within a specified timeout period. While the system is operating correctly, the watchdog output is not asserted. If the watchdog timer is not cleared, the watchdog output generates a processor interrupt or reset.