Q&A: Watchdogs in i.MX6

[#1]

Question:

1)      Is WDOG2 somehow accessible from customers code in normal mode? Is it only used within the trust zone to protect against DOS attacks from normal world?)

2)      Is there any mechanism preventing changing of the watchdog registers like being able to write them only during a period after Reset? If yes, which registers are protected?

Answer:

WDOG1 and WDOG2 are identical the only difference is how the signals are connected. There is nothing presenting someone from using both WDOGs for non-secure purposes.

There is no time window for WDOG access but there are some write-once only bits in the register, which can be written only once after reset, after that all following writes will be ignored. They are clearly described in the RM.

The bits are: WDZST, WDBG, WDW, WDE, WDT, WIE, WICT, and PDE.