Pulse Width Modulator Circuit

EEE 54 Design Problem 2

Leiko Armand L. Ravelo
BS Computer Engineering
University of the Philippines Diliman
2013-14856
AbstractThis is a documentation on the second design
problem in EEE 54. We were tasked to create a PWM modulator
circuit with sawtooth waveform generated by a free-running ramp
as a sampling signal. Specifications regarding our circuit include
sawtooth waveform frequency, minimum and maximum voltages.

I.

CALCULATIONS AND SIMULATION

The specifications assigned for the PWM modulator are

shown below.
: 1 5
: 2 7.5
The circuit comprises of different modules as shown below.

R1 simulates the load being driven, which is the positive

terminal of the comparator. R2 is added to limit the current draw
of the input due to the op-amp non-idealities. C1 was set so that
the discharge time due to loading would be negligible.
When V- > V+, the op-amp output is negative which changes
the bias of the diode from forward to reverse biased. The
capacitor then discharges with a time constant of:
= < > = 1.5 0.01 ( @ 100)
Lastly, R3 and R4 set the appropriate DC value to raise the
signal. Since V+=Vmin=1V:
G = 1 =

H
12
H + J

When R4=1kW, the equation above would yield R3=11kW.

A simulation of the Clamper input and output is shown in the
figure below.

Figure 1: PWM Circuit components

A high slew rate IC was used for the comparator while op

amp circuits were used for the clamper and the free-running
ramp generator.
A. Clamper
Figure 3: Clamper Simulation

Figure 2: Op-amp clamper circuit

B. Bootstrap Ramp Generator

The next part of the circuit would be the free-running ramp,
consisting of the bootstrap ramp generator and a Schmitt trigger
in a feedback loop. The following figure shows the bootstrap
ramp generator part of the circuit.

through the use of a 10kW potentiometer. At that point, the

frequency should be 2kHz.
1
1
=
= 500
L 2
1
1
=
= 133.33
< 7.5

1=

A PNP transistor (Q1), connected to the Schmitt trigger

output, was used to switch the ramp generator. A 120kW resistor
was used as a base resistance of the switching transistor.

10.3 500
(10 + ) L

4=

10.3 133
L

500
= 3.623 .
133 10 +

L =
Figure 4: Bootstrap ramp generator

4=

10.3133
= 103.78
3.34
< = 10L =

C. Schmitt Trigger
The Schmitt trigger part of the free-running ramp is
shown below.

When transistor Q1 turns off, C1 would start charging up C2

through R6. In order to maintain the linearity of the ramp, the
voltage across C1 must be kept constant as much as possible.
This can be done by setting C1 to a value much greater than C2.
< = 10L
Since the bootstrap ramp generator is designed to be part of
a free-running ramp, its initial output then should be 1V. At that
point, the Schmitt trigger would have switched-off Q1,
constantly charging up C2 until 5V. The pertinent capacitor
equation is shown below.
=

Q<
=
L R L

S T = 5 1 = 4
Q< = 12 0.7 1 = 10.3
The minimum value of R6 is R, which would give the
maximum frequency (7.5kHz). R6 can be swept up to R+10kW

Figure 5: Schmitt Trigger

R3 and R4 set the VLTP of the circuit while R1 and R5 set the
VUTP. The pertinent equations are shown below.
>fg = hTi = 1

The output of the free-running ramp, and the clamper will be

connected to the inputs of a high slew-rate comparator. This part
was no longer simulated.

jfg = hkl = 5
>fg + m = 1.7 =

H
12
H + J

H . (std. val)
J (std. val)
hkl = 5 =
5 =

v
(wxy m )
v + <
v
11.3
v + <

v . (std. val)
< . (std. val)

Figure 8: Comparator circuit, VEE is grounded

II. ACTUAL CIRCUIT

Changes were made on the resistance values used in the
actual circuit to further fine-tune its output with the desired
specifications. The changes can be seen in the figure below.

Upon simulating the free-running ramp, adjustments were

made on the resistor values to compensate for the unaccounted
non-idealities, like the voltage drop across the Schmitt trigger
output due to the loading of the transistor Q1 and resistors R1
and R5. Figure 5 shows the actual resistor values used in the
simulation. The simulation output is shown below.

Figure 9: Final free-running ramp used

The following ICs were used for certain parts of the circuit:
-Clamper: LF353
-Bootstrap ramp generator: LF353
Figure 6: Bootstrap ramp and Schmitt Trigger output at R=13.3k

-Schmitt Trigger: LF353

-Comparator: LM393
Problems were encountered in the final output of the circuit
as the comparator output produced slew rate. As such, the PWM
signal quality degrades at high (>90%) and low (<10%) duty
cycles.
The next images show the output of the final free-running
ramp, as well as the PWM signal produced at the comparator
output.

Figure 7: Bootstrap ramp and Schmitt Trigger output at R=3.3k

Figure 10: Free-running ramp output at 1.94kHz

Figure 12: PWM signal produced, shown in pink

REFERENCES
[1]

Figure 11: Free-running ramp output at 7.48kHz

Bell, David. (1976). Solid State Pulse Circuits, 1st edition