PWM VHDL Module

Here is yet another PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) module! What distinguishes this module from most other PWM modules is that it's parameterized. When dealing with LEDs this becomes a very useful feature since each type of LED responds differently (in terms of light) when presented with a PWM signal. This module will allow you to adjust the clock prescaler and the number of quantas. What does this mean you ask? Let me explain with the help of a simple picture...

Basically the PWM signal is produced via a multi-process module. The first process is a "prescaling process". This process takes the input clock and divides it down by the amount you specify. This process is not critical towards its operation and could be removed if you want to minimize your logic.

The next process is the "Accumulate process". This process is responsible for determining when to switch the PWM outputs logic state. Basically it takes the prescaler's divided clock and accumulates/increments a counter on each cycle. One time "quanta" is equivalent to one cycle of the PWM divided clock.

The final process is the "modulate" process. This is the key process to generating the PWM signal. It determines when to switch the PWM output signal based on the PWM accumulator and the PWM input signal. The accumulator continually counts up towards the maximum quanta value and then rolls over to 0 where the process continues to count. The PWM input determines when to bring the PWM output low. A larger PWM input means the PWM output will remain HI for a longer period of time which produces a brighter output on the LED (or dimmer depending on how the LED is connected). In order to maintain a constant level of illumination it is important to ensure that the refresh rate of the PWM cycle is above the human eye's flicker fusion rate. This is generally understood to be around 16Hz but you should target 60Hz or higher. The general criteria for these configurable parameters should satisfy the following equation:

60<=(f_CLK/prescaler)/quantas

For instance, a 100MHz clock prescaled by 3125 with 128 time quantas yields a refresh rate of 250Hz which is well above the minimum and should be visually flicker-free.

Here is a demo of this module running on a Terasic DE0-NANO.

Download: PWM.vhd