Patent ID: 7287198

Claim:
A method for monitoring a microprocessor using an assigned watchdog, comprising: causing the watchdog to monitor a reception of a reset pulse within a time interval of a predetermined duration; causing the watchdog to initiate a reset of the microprocessor if the reset pulse is not received; and executing at least one check function of the watchdog in an operating phase of the microprocessor, each one of the at least one check function including a reset of the watchdog and an execution of a sequence of waiting loops, wherein a duration of the execution of the sequence of waiting loops of at least one of the at least one check function is greater than the predetermined duration of the time interval; incrementing a counter with the execution of the at least one check function, the execution of the at least one check function being a function of a content of the counter; wherein: the counter has four counter contents, an analysis is performed at one of the four counter contents, and the least one check function is executed each time at the other counter contents.