![]() ![]() Figure 1: An example of a PWM signal shown at several duty cycles and a high voltage level of 5 volts. PWM “fakes” an analog-like result by applying power in pulses, or short bursts of regulated voltage. It’s one of the primary means by which MCUs drive analog devices like variable-speed motors, dimmable lights, actuators, and speakers. Another way to put it is that you can output a modulating signal from a digital device such as an MCU to drive an analog device. PWM is a way to control analog devices with a digital output. Often engineers will translate that analog input into digital input for the microcontroller (MCU) by using an analog-to-digital converter. The two are handled very differently in electronics, but very often must work together (that’s when we call it “mixed signal electronics.”) Sometimes we have to take an analog (real world) input signal (e.g., temperature) into a microcontroller (which only understands digital). ![]() ![]() Analog signals, on the other hand, can be on, off, half-way, two-thirds the way to on, and an infinite number of positions between 0 and 1 either approaching 1 or descending down to zero. Digital signals have two positions: on or off, interpreted in shorthand as 1 or 0. ![]()
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