The BUCK2 regulator integrates a dedicated thermal sense cell with thermal warning and shutdown thresholds. Thermal warning and shutdown are built-in monitoring and self-protection mechanisms to limit junction temperature and help prevent damage due to thermal overstress.

If the junction temperature exceeds the thermal warning threshold level (T_{WARN_TH}), the BUCK2_OT_WARN status bit is set and the ENDRV/nIRQ pin is driven low to interrupt the external MCU, if the BUCK2_OT_WARN_IRQ_EN bit is set to 1b.

If the junction temperature exceeds the thermal shut-down threshold level (T_{STD_TH}), the results are as follows:

• The device goes into the SAFE state.
• The BUCK2 regulator is switched off.
  Note: The device goes into the RESET state as the BUCK2 output discharges to less than its UV-threshold level, if the BUCK2 UV event is configured as a RESET state condition (the BUCK2_UV_RST_EN bit is set to 1b).
• The BUCK2_EN control bit is cleared.
• The BUCK2_OT_STD status bit is set.
• The device error counter (DEV_ERR_CNT) increments.
• The ENDRV/nIRQ output is driven low.

After receiving an interrupt (the ENDRV/nIRQ pin is driven low), the system MCU can try to enable the BUCK2 regulator again by setting the BUCK2_EN control bit. However, the BUCK2 regulator stays disabled until the junction temperature decreases to less than the T_{WARN_TH} – T_{WARN_TH_HYS} threshold, while the BUCK2_EN control bit stays set.

The device error counter and its power-down threshold is a protection mechanism that protects against multiple repeats caused by a persistent failure condition.