cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

STM32L4 Freezes At Freezing Temperatures

tomasf
Associate II

Hi Everybody,

I have an issue with STM32L433CCU6, when it's entering or exiting STOP 1 mode at temperatures from -36dC to -29dC uP completely freezes

Basic overview of program:

  • watchdog is set to 25 seconds
  • clock: HSE 8MHz -> PLL 16MHz (SYSCLK) -> /2 -> HCLK 8MHz
  • wake up clock is HSI
  • Clock Security System is running
  • uP is going to STOP 1 mode whenever it is possible
  • uP is woken up by LPTIM external trigger or by RTC every 20 seconds to reset watchdog 
  • BOOT0 pin is grounded
  • NRST pin is left floating

Overview of behavior:

  • when STOP 1 mode is disabled uP works from -60 dC to 70 dC without any problem
  • when STOP 1 mode is enabled:
    • from -29 dC to 70 dC: uP works fine
    • from -36 dC to -29 dC: after several minutes uP freezes
    • from -60 dC to -36 dC: uP occasionally freezes
  • sysclk is nominal during whole temperature range (USART communication)
  • VDD is nominal during whole temperature range and also in freeze state
  • consumption measured at the input of the STEPDOWN converter (from 15 V to 3.3V) is about 4 uA during STOP 1 mode
  • when uP freezes then consumption rises to value about 100 uA
  • uP in this mode cannot be reset with NRST
  • communication with uP through SWD cannot be established using ST-LINK V2 (connected under reset) and ST-LINK utility
  • when uP is under debug in OpenStm32 environment in moment of freezing GUI shows failure
  • uP stays in freeze mode also after reaching room temperature (even after several hours)
  • normal state can be reached only after disconnecting and reconnecting power voltage
  • after power toggle at mentioned temperature range (from -36 dC to -29 dC), uP runs several minutes and freezes again
  • this state was observed on 4 pieces of independent PCBs and during several tests in Cryostat or Climatic Chamber

I want to ask whether you experienced similar behavior even at room temperatures, and how to solve this problem.

I will be very grateful if you help me solve this issue. Thanks.

Tomas

11 REPLIES 11
tomasf
Associate II

Thanks you all for helpful advice.

My problem was hardware related. I found that uP doesn't work even directly with HSE with some crystals and room temperatures. I ran successfully same setup on another design ( same L4 and crystal ) without error, Main cause was insufficient grounding of crystal pads and crystal paths separation from another signals, therefore it was presented on all boards I have tested. It seems that PLL works differently with HSE and can overcome mentioned design error within some temperature range.

Problem was solved using HSI as main clock source as this clock source was sufficiently stable through whole temperature range.

Thanks for coming back with the finding and solution.

JW