Methodology for Evaluating Microcontroller Susceptibility to Electromagnetic Influence in TEM Cell

Introduction. Conventional approaches to evaluating the electromagnetic interference (EMI) immunity of integrated circuits (ICs) focus on analyzing signals generated at their outputs. However, such methods fail to account for potential malfunctions in internal functional blocks, such as microcontrollers (MCUs). During operation, MCUs are exposed to external EMI, which can disrupt their functionality by altering data stored in their flashmemory, thereby increasing the risk of overall device failure. Consequently, there is a critical need to develop new methodologies for assessing MCU susceptibility and identifying EMI-vulnerable flash-memory locations.

Aim. To develop a comprehensive methodology for evaluating MCU susceptibility, encompassing analysis of generated signals and verification of flash-memory data integrity under EMI exposure in a TEM cell.

Materials and methods. A methodology for assessing MCU susceptibility in a TEM cell is described, including analysis of output signals and a data integrity verification algorithm for flash-memory. The approach localizes memory alterations using a checksum verification procedure.

Results. Experimental evaluation of IC signal susceptibility revealed deviations in the amplitude of the pulse-width modulated (PWM) signals, phase, and frequency of 33, 35, and 93 %, respectively, relative to baseline values. Flash-memory data corruption was observed at a clock frequency of 72 MHz under external EMI at 25 dBm (72 and 144 MHz). At 72 MHz, 40 % of the address space of the main program was modified, although the flash-memory retained its stored data. Exposure at 144 MHz altered 42.68 % of the address space and caused near-complete erasure of flash-memory data. Most flash-memory modifications occurred at the MCU’s fun-damental clock frequency and its harmonics.

Conclusion. The proposed TEM cell-based methodology for MCU susceptibility assessment, including flashmemory integrity testing, can be effectively applied to evaluate diverse MCUs.

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