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JMcGa.1
Associate
Feb 23, 2021 3:22 PM UTC
Solved

Does STM32L4 boost mode affect reliability?

We are using an STM32L4R5VIT6 in a medical design and would like to run at 120MHz. The documentation refers to "boost" mode as "overvolting" which sounds dangerous to my manager. I assume there is no reliability impact in using boost mode, but would like confirmation from STM.

This topic has been closed for replies.
JMcGa.1
JMcGa.1Best answer
Associate
Feb 24, 2021 3:37 PM UTC

Here's the answer from the FAE... “The voltage scaling refers to the low power functionality of the L4+ MCUs. If the MCU needs to run at 80-120MHz, VCORE needs to be set to 1.28V to achieve the highest performance. If they want to save power and don’t need as much performance they can lower VCORE to save on power consumption. This works well in conjunction with the SMPS to save power. There is no impact on the reliability of the MCU when running at the full 120MHz.�?

3 replies

Uwe Bonnes
Chief
Feb 23, 2021 4:09 PM UTC

Do you already use CCM and functions in RAM? That is the first step to speed up. Otherwise ask your FAE.

Piranha
Principal III
Feb 24, 2021 3:33 PM UTC

The same question is applicable to the "over-drive mode" on F7.

Note that H7 has an AN5337, but it's on a 40-nm process node with much higher frequencies.

JMcGa.1
JMcGa.1AuthorBest answer
Associate
Feb 24, 2021 3:37 PM UTC

Here's the answer from the FAE... “The voltage scaling refers to the low power functionality of the L4+ MCUs. If the MCU needs to run at 80-120MHz, VCORE needs to be set to 1.28V to achieve the highest performance. If they want to save power and don’t need as much performance they can lower VCORE to save on power consumption. This works well in conjunction with the SMPS to save power. There is no impact on the reliability of the MCU when running at the full 120MHz.�?