Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)

Pulse width modulation (PWM) is a method for binary signals generation, which has 2 signal periods
(high and low). The PWM signal has a fixed frequency. The width (W) of each pulse varies between 0 and the
period (T). The duty cycle (D) of a signal is the ratio of pulse width to period. The following figure shows a
PWM output waveform:

The following figure shows three different PWM waveforms with 33%, 50% and 75% of duty cycle:

Pulse Width Modulation can be used for controlling analog circuits with the digital outputs of the
processor. PWM is employed in a wide variety of applications, ranging from measurement and communications
to power control and conversion.

Pulse width modulation is also used to reduce the total power delivered to a load without resulting in
loss, which normally occurs when a power source is limited by a resistive element. The underlying principle in
the whole process is that the average power delivered is directly proportional to the duty cycle modulation.