18-348 Lab #10

Fall 2009

This lab is based on Lecture 19 - Analog Outputs and Lecture 20 - Analog Inputs.

Links to all files referenced in the lab and prelab can be found in the Files section at the end of this document.

Pre-Lab:

Goal:

• To learn about and implement analog I/O.

Discussion:

Refer to the lectures on D/A and A/D conversions.

Resolution is defined as "the smallest distinguishable change in input  ... that causes the digital output to change by 1" (Valvano, p. 573).

Procedure:

Answer the questions below.

Questions:

Part 1:

Q1:  State the period and duty cycle for each waveform shown in Figure 1.  Assume the figure is to scale in the horizontal dimension.  Assume that all signals are periodic.

Figure 1:  PWM Waveforms

Part 2: Resolution

Read section 12.3.2 and 12.4 of the MCU9S12 datasheet and answer the questions below.  PWM output is controlled by an 8-bit duty cycle register and an 8-bit period register.

Q2: What is the period of a waveform generated, given a PWM clock set to 0.5 MHz with a left-aligned, positive polarity waveform, and PWMPERx = 0xFF?  What is the resolution of the analog output?  Give your answers in microseconds. (Hint:  The resolution is the smallest change in the width of the positive pulse achievable by changing the PWMDTYx register).

Q3: Given the example in question 2, but with a PWM clock of 1 MHz, what is the period?  What is the resolution?  Does having a smaller resolution allow you to achieve a more accurate duty cycle? (Note: it is important for this question to keep in mind that duty cycle is by definition a ratio.)

Q4: What is the resolution of a basic A/D converter, in terms of Vdd (the reference voltage) for a 10-bit conversion?  for an 8-bit conversion?  How does this compare to the reference values given in section A.2 of the MC9S12 data sheet? Hint:  look at tables A-12 and A-13.

Hand-in Checklist: (60 points)

All non-code submissions shall be in a single PDF document.

1. (60 points) Answers the the questions above; 15 points each. SHOW YOUR WORK when answering questions.

Refer to the LAB FAQ for more information on lab handin procedures and file type requirements.  You MUST follow these procedures or we will not accept your submissions.

Lab:

Goal:

• In this lab, you will use A/D conversion to read analog inputs and and the onboard PWM module to produce analog outputs.

Discussion:

There are several ways to control the brightness of an LED.  One is to adjust the series resistance, since the brightness is proportional to the current.  However, digitally controlled potentiometers are expensive and not very robust.  A much simpler solution is to pulse-width modulate the LED.  By turning the LED on and off repeatedly at high frequencies, the average brightness of the LED is reduced.  The human eye is unable to see the high-frequency flashing so long as it isn't too slow, so the LED appears to be steady, but dim.

In this lab, you will convert an analog input to a PWM output on Port P0 to control the brightness of the LED.  You will use digital outputs to the LS138 chip to route the PWM signal to various LEDs, so that you can implement a variable-brightness LED chaser.  Note that the Port T1 output is tied to the active-low input G2B*.  This allows the MCU to be able to enable / disable the LED output.

In addition, you will use a second analog input to control the rate at which the LEDs chase.  You will use the analog input to adjust the compare value for the onboard timers.  Using timers in compare mode is slightly different than the way we have used timers in previous labs.  In output compare mode, an interrupt is generated when the TCNT register reaches a certain compare value (TCx).  The compare event can generate an interrupt, and in the interrupt you can adjust the digital outputs to the LS138 decoder accordingly.

For additional information about configuration register for the ATD module, PWM module, and Timer module, consult sections 8, 12, and 15 of the MC9S12 data sheet .  You should be used to figuring out the configuration of the MCU using control registers.  In the lab, you will be expected to figure out the correct configuration on your own.  Although the data is all there in the datasheet, do not wait until the last minute!  Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time for testing and debugging.

Procedure:

Part 1:  A/D and D/A Implementation

The program you implement shall meet the following requirements:

1. The program shall follow the configuration guidelines found in the comments in the skeleton file.
2. The LCD panel shall display the current result of the AD0 and AD1 analog-to-digital conversions, updated at least every 200ms.
3. The 8-bit digital conversion result of the analog panel-mount potentiometer shall be set to the 8-bit duty cycle value of the PWM output.
4. At minimum duty cycle (corresponding to analog input ~= 0V), the LEDs shall be turned off.  I.e. the minimum duty cycle shall be 0%.
5. At the maximum duty cycle (corresponding to analog input ~= 5V), the LEDS shall be turned on for the entire duration of the chase period.  I.e. the maximum duty cycle shall be 100%
6. The LED chase rate shall be defined as the amount of time from when an LED is first lit to the time when that LED is lit again after the LEDs have gone through one cycle.
7. The rate at which the LEDs chase shall be a function of the analog input from the potentiometer on the project board.
   • The minimum rate (corresponding to the analog input ~= 0V) shall be 100ms +/- 5 ms.
   • The maximum rate (corresponding to the analog input ~= 5V) shall be 1000ms +/- 5ms.
   • The rate between the minimum and maximum values shall be a linear function of the analog input.
8. When the PB1 button is pressed, the LED chaser shall pause, but the brightness control shall continue to function.

Follow these steps to implement the program described above.

1. Wire your board according to the Lab 10 Schematic.
2. Download the lab_10_skeleton.c file and rename it to lab_10_gxx.c.
3. Create a new C project replace the main program with lab_10_gxx.c.  Add the lcd_lib-1_2 and modclock files to your project.
4. Implement the program.  Be sure to follow the requirements above, especially following the comment guidelines given in the skeleton file.
5. Test the program to make sure it meets the requirements described above.
6. Q1. Hold down the pause button (PB1) and adjust the brightness of the LED using the panel-mount potentiometer.  For each range in Table 1 below, record the range of values for each of the subjective brightness views.  It may help to turn out the lights or stand a piece of paper up next to the LEDs when doing this part.  An example value has been included in the table.  Do NOT use this value in your results.

Table 1:  Subjective brightness of LEDs

Part 2:   Analog input and output measurement

1. Connect the oscilloscope to test point 2 and configure the oscilloscope to trigger on a rising edge of that signal.  You will be observing the PWM output from the MCU.
2. Q2. Measure the voltage at Test Point 1.  You may use the a multimeter or another channel of the oscilloscope.  Note that of the max and min duty cycles, there will be no edge to trigger on, so you will have to measure the analog voltages in these cases with a multimeter or find a way to force a trigger on the oscilloscope.
3. Q3. Adjust the panel mount potentiometer (analog input) until the value displayed on the LCD matches the value in the first row of Table 2 below.  For each row of the table, record the analog voltage and the duty cycle of PWM output. A sample entry has been included.  Do NOT use this sample entry in your data.
4. Q4. Graph analog input voltage vs. the digital conversion value.
5. Q5. Graph the digital conversion value vs. PWM duty cycle.

Table 2:  Analog inputs, intermediate digital value, and analog output.

Part 3:  Chase loop timing measurement

1. Connect an oscilloscope lead to test point 3.  Configure the oscilloscope to trigger on a falling edge on this input.  You will see a series of negative pulses in the signal.  Each of these pulses represents the first LED in the sequence being turned on. 
2. Q6. Measure the period of the LED chase sequence for each value of AD1 listed in Table 3 and record the results in the table.  A sample entry has been included.  Do NOT use this sample entry in your data.
3. Q7. Graph the the digital AD1 value vs. the LED chase period.

Table 3.1:  Intermediate digital value and LED chase period.

Part 4:  16-bit PWM

In this part, you will reconfigure the PWM for 16-bit resolution.

1. Make a copy of your lab_10_gxx.c.  Name the copy lab_10_16bpwm_gxx.c and use it for this part of the lab.
2. Modify the original program to meet the following constraints.  
   • Modify the LED chaser to run at a fixed rate of 1 second per chase cycle.  Modify the digital outputs on Port P so that the PTP1 is configured for PWM1 and PTP0 is always high.  (The last part is necessary to keep the LEDs enabled).
   • The pause button must have the same effect as previously.
   • Configure the PWM module to concatenate PWM channels 0 and 1 into a single, 16-bit PWM.  Note that this requires you to use PWM1 as an output.
   • Configure the PWM for you will have to use 0 polarity. This is necessary because the PWM1 output is connected to an active low enable.
   • Set the PWM period to 0xFFFF.
   • Change the PWM clock to run at the bus clock rate (8 MHz).
   • Set the most significant byte of the PWM duty cycle to the digital conversion result from the potentiometer input on the project board (AD1).  Set the least significant byte of the PWM duty cycle to the digital conversion result from the panel-mount potentiometer (AD0).
3. Connect the oscilloscope to Test Point 4 and configure the oscilloscope to trigger on the FALLING edge.  We use the falling edge because we're using the opposite polarity.
4. Q8. Adjust the two analog inputs and observe the effect on the brightness of the LED.  Which analog input gives fine-grained control of the PWM duty cycle?  Which analog input gives course-grained control of the PWM duty cycle?  Explain this in terms of which input controls which byte of the PWM duty cycle register.
5. Q9. Use the oscilloscope to measure the duty cycle.  Record the change in duty cycle for one step change (e.g. change from 0xF0 or 0xF1) in the coarse-grain analog.  For the fine-grained input, recored the change in % duty cycle when you go from 0x0 to 0xFF and divide this value by 255 to get the appropriate single step value.  Record the change-in-%-duty cycle for 1 step in each analog input.   Compare these measured values to the theoretical values and explain a possible source for any difference.

Demo Checklist: (80 + 8 points)

1. (20 points) Demonstrate to the TA that your program lab_10_gXX.c meets all the requirements given in the lab and code skeleton.
2. (20 points) Use the oscilloscope to demonstrate to the TA that the brightness control covers the whole range of PWM duty cycles.
3. (20 points) Use the oscilloscope to demonstrate the minimum and maximum LED chase periods.
4. (20 points) Use the oscilloscope to demonstrate both course and fine-grained control over the PWM period.
5. Bonus: (8 points) (Optional) Demonstrate your oscilloscope etch-a-sketch to the TA.
   

Hand-in Checklist: (150 + 15 points)

All non-code submissions shall be in a single PDF document. Each graph must have a title, your names, and correct, appropriate labels (describe the axis and give units, if any) to receive full credit.

1. (5 points) List any problems you encountered in the lab and pre-lab, and suggestions for future improvement of this lab. If none, then state so to get these points.
2. (50 points) Submit your final version of lab_10_gXX.c.  You must follow the Coding style sheet to receive full credit.
3. (5 points) Q1 (Table 1)
4. (5 points) Q2
5. (15 points) Q3 (Table 2)
6. (5 points) Q4 (graph)
7. (5 points) Q5 (graph)
8. (15 points) Q6 (Table 3)
9. (5 points) Q7 (graph)
10. (30) Submit lab_10_16bpwm_gxx.c.  You must follow the Coding style sheet to receive full credit.
11. (5 points) Q8
12. (5 points) Q9
13. (Bonus: 15 points) Implement the etch-a-sketch in part 5.  Submit your code as lab_10_etchasketch_gxx.c.  You must follow the Coding style sheet to receive full credit.

Refer to the LAB FAQ for more information on lab handin procedures and file type requirements.  You MUST follow these procedures or we will not accept your submissions. SHOW YOUR WORK when answering questions.

Hints and Suggestions:

• None

FILES for this lab:

• Lab 10 Schematic
• lab_10_skeleton.c
• lcd_lib-1_2
• modclock
  

Relevant reading:

• MC9S12 data sheet
• Coding style sheet
• HP 54600 Series Oscilloscopes User and Service Guide

Also, see the course materials repository page.