Early failure detection system for the SAB80C537 microcontroller

Accelerated life testing is an excellent methodology to study and validate the reliability of microcontrollers under harsh operating conditions. The purpose of the research presented in this paper is to develop equipment suitable to evaluate the reliability of microcontrollers operating in harsh environments. The Infineon SAB80C527 microcontroller was chosen to undertake stress tests simulating its function in harsh environments. To test the reliability of this microcontroller, we assembled a system where another microcontroller monitors the unit under test by running identical programs. A personal computer connected through a serial port to the controller board registers the results of the test. The accelerated environmental tests applied were based on MIL-STD-883E and included testing at different degrees of temperature and humidity over diverse periods of time.