Display device having a stepper motor and a watchdog timer

Abstract

A display device, having a microcontroller, a graphics controller, and a pointer driven by a stepper motor. The graphics controller does not have an arithmetic logic unit and can be controlled by the microcontroller and by command sequences of a command sequencer contained in the graphics controller. The graphics controller has a stepper motor controller and the command sequencer has a watchdog timer. The watchdog timer is designed to monitor a connection signal between the microcontroller and the graphics controller and to start a first command sequence if the connection signal is overdue. The first command sequence is designed to use an internal cyclical signal to repeatedly start a second command sequence designed to move the stepper motor one step in the direction of a stop or a home position by the stepper motor controller.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.