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STM32 PWM Output Example Code

(PWM Generation Tutorial)
by Khaled Magdy

In this tutorial, we’ll discuss the STM32 PWM output generation using STM32 timer modules
in the PWM mode. You’ll learn how the PWM signal is generated, how to control its
frequency, duty cycle, and how to estimate the PWM resolution. And how to set up the
timer module to operate in PWM mode and write a simple STM32 PWM Example Code (LED
dimmer). And without further ado, let’s get right into it!

Table of Contents
1. STM32 PWM Introduction
 2. STM32 PWM Mode in Timer Explained
3. STM32 PWM HAL Functions
4. STM32 PWM Output Example LED Dimmer
5. STM32 PWM Example LED Dimmer
6. STM32 PWM Wrap-Up

STM32 PWM Introduction

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is a technique for generating a continuous HIGH/LOW
alternating digital signal and programmatically controlling its pulse width and frequency.
Certain loads like (LEDs, Motors, etc) will respond to the average voltage of the signal
which gets higher as the PWM signal’s pulse width is increased. This technique is widely
used in embedded systems to control LEDs brightness, motor speed, and other applications.

PWM Frequency
The PWM signal captures a few features. The first of which is the frequency, which is
basically a measure of how fast the PWM signal keeps alternating between HIGH and LOW.
The frequency is measured in Hz and it’s the inverse of the full period time interval. Here is
how it looks graphically and its mathematical formula.

PWM Duty Cycle

The PWM’s duty cycle is the most important feature that we’re always interested in. It’s a
measure of how long the PWM signal stays ON relative to the full PWM’s cycle period. The
PWM’s duty cycle equation is as follows:

The duty cycle is usually expressed as a percentage (%) value because it’s a ratio between
two-time quantities. And it directly affects the PWM’s total (average) voltage that most
devices respond to. That’s why we typically change the duty cycle to control things like LED
brightness, DC motor speed, etc.

PWM Resolution
The PWM resolution is expressed in (bits). It’s the number of bits that are used to represent
the duty cycle value. It can be 8bits, 10, 12, or even 16bits. The PWM resolution can be
defined as the number of discrete duty cycle levels between 0% and 100%. The higher the
PWM resolution, the higher the number of discrete levels over the entire range of the
PWM’s duty cycle.

A PWM resolution of only 3 bits means there are only 8 discrete levels for the duty cycle
over the entire range (from 0% up to 100%). On the other hand, a PWM with a resolution of
8 bits will have 256 discrete levels for the duty cycle over the entire range (from 0% up to
100%). You can use the interactive tool below to test this yourself.

Average voltage: 1.65v

LED

PWM Duty Cycle: 50.00 %

PWM Frequency: x Hz
 PWM Duty Cycle Resolution:
3 bits

Set the PWM resolution to 3-bit and sweep across the entire range of PWM's duty cycle.
And change the resolution up to 8 bits or even 16 bits to see the huge difference in the
degree of control you'll have over the duty cycle value. It becomes incredibly smooth as the
resolution increases and we become more able to fine-tune the duty cycle. You can use the
keyboard arrow keys for fine adjustment of the duty cycle while testing high resolutions.

❕ Note
After playing around with the interactive tool above, you can easily tell that a higher
PWM resolution is always a desirable thing to have. However, it's always in inverse
proportion to the PWM's frequency. The higher the PWM frequency you choose, the
lower the PWM resolution becomes. There is no way to go around this fact.

STM32 PWM Mode in Timer Explained

As we've discussed in an earlier tutorial, the STM32 timer modules can operate a variety of
modes one of which is the PWM mode. Where the timer gets clocked from an internal
source and counts up to the auto-reload register value, then the output channel pin is driven
HIGH. And it remains until the timer counts reach the CCRx register value, the match event
causes the output channel pin to be driven LOW. And it remains until the timer counts up to
the auto-reload register value, and so on.

The resulting waveform is called PWM (pulse-width modulated) signal. Whose frequency is
determined by the internal clock, the Prescaler, and the ARRx register. And its duty cycle is
defined by the channel CCRx register value. The PWM doesn't always have to be following
this exact same procedure for PWM generation, however, it's the very basic one and the
easier to understand the concept. It's called the up-counting PWM mode. We'll discuss
further advanced PWM generation techniques as we go on in this series of tutorials.
The following diagram shows you how the ARR value affects the period (frequency) of the
PWM signal. And how the CCRx value affects the corresponding PWM signal's duty cycle.
And illustrates the whole process of PWM signal generation in the up-counting normal
mode.

STM32 Timers - PWM Output Channels

Each Capture/Compare channel is built around a capture/compare register (including a
shadow register), an input stage for capture (with a digital filter, multiplexing, and Prescaler)
and an output stage (with comparator and output control). The output stage generates an
intermediate waveform which is then used for reference: OCxRef (active high). The polarity
acts at the end of the chain.

And here is a diagram for the capture/compare channel 1 Full Circuitry

And here is a diagram for the output stage that driver the OCx pins

A single STM32 timer usually has multiple channels (4, 6, or whatever is found in the
datasheet). Therefore, using a single timer you can independently generate multiple PWM
signals with different duty cycles of course, but they'll share the same timing (same
frequency), and all of them will be in sync. We'll do this in the 2nd LAB in this tutorial after
we set up a single PWM channel and get everything up and running.

Here is a snapshot of the general-purpose Timer2 diagram, which highlights the presence
of multiple output compare channels and output drivers.

STM32 Timers In PWM Mode

Pulse width modulation mode allows for generating a signal with a frequency determined by
the value of the TIMx_ARR register and a duty cycle determined by the value of the
TIMx_CCRx register. The PWM mode can be selected independently on each channel (one
PWM per OCx output) by writing 110 (PWM mode 1) or ‘111 (PWM mode 2) in the OCxM
bits in the TIMx_CCMRx register.

The user must enable the corresponding preload register by setting the OCxPE bit in the
TIMx_CCMRx register, and eventually the auto-reload preload register by setting the ARPE
bit in the TIMx_CR1 register.

OCx polarity is software programmable using the CCxP bit in the TIMx_CCER register. It
can be programmed as active high or active low. For applications where you need to
generate complementary PWM signals, this option will be suitable for you.

In PWM mode (1 or 2), TIMx_CNT and TIMx_CCRx are always compared to determine
whether TIMx_CCRx ≤ TIMx_CNT or TIMx_CNT ≤ TIMx_CCRx (depending on the direction
of the counter). The timer is able to generate PWM in edge-aligned mode or center-aligned
mode depending on the CMS bits in the TIMx_CR1 register.

❕ Note
Note That PWM signals have a lot of properties that we need to control in various
applications. The first of which is the frequency of the signal. And secondly, and
probably the most important one, is the duty cycle. Third, is the PWM resolution. And
much more to be discussed in later tutorials, we'll get into those 3 properties in the
next sections below.

STM32 PWM Frequency

In various applications, you'll be in need to generate a PWM signal with a specific
frequency. In servo motor control, LED drivers, motor drivers, and many more situations
where you'll be in need to set your desired frequency for the output PWM signal.

The PWM period (1/FPWM) is defined by the following parameters: ARR value, the Prescaler
value, and the internal clock itself which drives the timer module FCLK. The formula down
below is to be used for calculating the FPWM for the output. You can set the clock you're
using, the Prescaler, and solve for the ARR value in order to control the FPWM and get what
you want.

STM32 PWM Duty Cycle

In normal settings, assuming you're using the timer module in PWM mode and generating a
PWM signal in edge-aligned mode with up-counting configuration. The duty cycle
percentage is controlled by changing the value of the CCRx register. And the duty cycle
equals (CCRx/ARR) [%].

STM32 PWM Resolution

One of the most important properties of a PWM signal is the resolution. It's the number of
discrete duty cycle levels that you can set it to. This number determines how many steps
the duty cycle can take until it reaches the maximum value. So, the step size or the number
of duty cycle steps can tell how fine can you change the duty cycle in order to achieve a
certain percentage. This can be extremely important in some audio applications, motor
control, or even light control systems.

This is the STM32 PWM resolution formula that can be used to calculate the resolution of
the PWM signal at a specific frequency or even the opposite. If you're willing to get a 10-Bit
resolution PWM signal, what should the frequency be in order to achieve this? And so on..

In other situations, you'll need to adjust the ARR value. Therefore, you'll need to know the
relationship between it and the PWM resolution. This is not a new formula, it's derived from
the first one and the FPWM equation that you've seen earlier in this tutorial. We'll need it in
later tutorials to design our Motor driver library and some other applications.

Check this table which shows you some example frequencies and the PWM resolution at
each FPWM frequency.

STM32 PWM Different Modes

The PWM signal generation can be done in different modes, I'll be discussing two of them in
this section. The edge-aligned and the center-aligned modes.

1- Edge-Aligned Mode

In the edge-aligned PWM mode there exist a couple of possible configurations:

Up-Counting Configuration
Down-Counting Configuration

In the following example, we consider PWM mode 1. The reference PWM signal OCxREF is
high as long as TIMx_CNT <TIMx_CCRx else it becomes low. If the compare value in
TIMx_CCRx is greater than the auto-reload value (in TIMx_ARR) then OCxREF is held at
‘1. If the compare value is 0 then OCxREF is held at ‘0.

2- Center-Aligned Mode
The compare flag is set when the counter counts up when it counts down or both when it
counts up and down depending on the CMS bits configuration. The direction bit (DIR) in the
TIMx_CR1 register is updated by hardware and must not be changed by software.

The diagram below shows some center-aligned PWM waveforms in an example where:
TIMx_ARR=8, PWM mode is the PWM mode 1.

STM32 PWM HAL Functions

The STM32 PWM HAL functions that you'll need to use is the HAL_TIM_PWM_Start() and
HAL_TIM_PWM_Stop() functions. These are used to enable or disable the PWM channel
output signal. You just need to configure the PWM output channel properly at first using
CubeMX as we'll see in the example hereafter.

Both functions take two parameters only (the timer module handle, and the PWM channel
number). Here is an example call to the HAL_TIM_PWM_Start() function to enable the
PWM_CH1 in hardware Timer2 peripheral.
 HAL_TIM_PWM_Start(&htim2, TIM_CHANNEL_1);

To change the duty cycle of the PWM signal, you only need to write the value to the
corresponding CCR register. Let's consider the same example of PWM_CH1 in hardware
Timer2 which has an ARR register value of 65535. Let's say we'd like to set this channel's
PWM output duty cycle to 25%. Here is how to do it in code.

DutyCycle = CCR/ARR

0.25 = CCR / 65535

The value we need to write to the CCR register to set the duty cycle to 25% is, therefore,
16383. So, we can set the PWM's duty cycle in code as shown below:

TIM2->CCR1 = 16383;

You can change the line above TIMx->CCRy to match the numbers of the hardware timer
you're using (x) and the PWM output channel (y) and you're good to go.

STM32 PWM Output Example LED

Dimmer
In this STM32 PWM example, we'll do the following:

Set up timer 2 to operate in PWM mode with the internal clock. And enable CH1 to
be the PWM output channel.
Set the ARR value to the maximum 65535 for example, so the frequency should be
1098Hz
Control the duty cycle by writing to the CCR1 register
Make Duty Cycle sweep from 0% up to 100% back and forth

STM32 PWM Example LED Dimmer

In this LAB, our goal is to build a system that sweeps the duty cycle of the PWM channel1
from 0 up to 100% back and forth. So that the LED brightness follows the same pattern.
The auto-reload register will be set to a maximum value which is 65535, for no particular
reason.

But you should know that the output FPWM frequency is expected to be 1098.6Hz from the
equation we've seen earlier. And the PWM resolution is estimated to be 16-Bit which is the
maximum possible value for this module.

STM32 PWM CubeMX HAL Configuration Steps

#1

Open CubeMX, Create a New Project, Choose The Target MCU & Double-Click
Its Name

#2

Configure Timer2 Peripheral To Operate In PWM Mode With CH1 Output

 #3

Set The RCC External Clock Source

#4

Go To The Clock Configuration, Set The System Clock to 72MHz

 #5

Name & Generate The Project Initialization Code For CubeIDE or The IDE
You're Using

STM32 PWM Example Code

#include "main.h"

TIM_HandleTypeDef htim2;

void SystemClock_Config(void);
static void MX_GPIO_Init(void);
static void MX_TIM2_Init(void);

int main(void)
{
int32_t CH1_DC = 0;

HAL_Init();
SystemClock_Config();
MX_GPIO_Init();
MX_TIM2_Init();
HAL_TIM_PWM_Start(&htim2, TIM_CHANNEL_1);
while (1)
 {
while(CH1_DC < 65535)
{
TIM2->CCR1 = CH1_DC;
CH1_DC += 70;
HAL_Delay(1);
}
while(CH1_DC > 0)
{
TIM2->CCR1 = CH1_DC;
CH1_DC -= 70;
HAL_Delay(1);
}
}
}

Testing Results
Note that the frequency is exactly 1098.6Hz!

STM32 PWM Example LAB12 Result

The resulting PWM LED Dimmer

 STM32 PWM Example LED Dimmer - Timer PWM Mode LA…
LA…

Required Parts For STM32 Examples

All the example Code/LABs/Projects in this STM32 Series of Tutorials are done using the
Dev boards & Electronic Parts Below:

QTY. Component Name [Link] AliExpress eBay

STM32-F103 BluePill Board

1 Amazon AliExpress eBay
(ARM Cortex-M3 @ 72MHz)

Nucleo-L432KC (ARM Cortex-

1 Amazon AliExpress eBay
M4 @ 80MHz)

1 ST-Link V2 Debugger Amazon AliExpress eBay

2 BreadBoard Amazon AliExpress eBay

Amazon
1 LEDs Kit AliExpress eBay
& Amazon
 Amazon
1 Resistors Kit AliExpress eBay
& Amazon

Amazon AliExpress &

1 Capacitors Kit eBay & eBay
& Amazon AliExpress

Amazon AliExpress &

1 Jumper Wires Pack eBay & eBay
& Amazon AliExpress

Amazon
1 Push Buttons AliExpress eBay
& Amazon

1 Potentiometers Amazon AliExpress eBay

1 Micro USB Cable Amazon AliExpress eBay

★ Check The Links Below For The Full Course Kit List & LAB Test Equipment Required For
Debugging ★

STM32 Course Kit

LAB Test Equipment Setup

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STM32 PWM Wrap-Up
To conclude this tutorial, we'd like to highlight the fact that you can easily generate PWM
signals with STM32 microcontrollers using the hardware timers in PWM mode. Which
generates a PWM signal and we can control its frequency & duty cycle. This tutorial is a
fundamental part of our STM32 Series of Tutorials because we’ll use it in so many tutorials
and projects hereafter. So make sure, you’ve learned all the concepts and implemented the
practice examples.

This was the 1st tutorial in the STM32 PWM Tutorial Series which you can navigate
through using the links in the table below.

(1) STM32 PWM Output Tutorial (2) PWM Frequency & Resolution

(5) 3-Phase PWM (Center-Aligned) (6) 3-Phase PWM (Edge-Aligned)

(3) PWM Input Mode (4) Complementary PWM & Dead-Time

 (7) STM32 PWM Phase Shift (Timer- (8) STM32 PWM Shutdown (Break
Synchronized) Input)

If you're just getting started with STM32, you need to check out the STM32 Getting
Started Tutorial here.

And follow this STM32 Series of Tutorials to learn more about STM32 Microcontrollers
Programming.

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Author

Khaled Magdy

Embedded systems engineer with several years of experience in embedded software

and hardware design. I work as an embedded SW engineer in the Automotive & e-
Mobility industry. However, I still do Hardware design and SW development for DSP,
Control Systems, Robotics, AI/ML, and other fields I'm passionate about.
I love reading, writing, creating projects, and teaching. A reader by day and a writer
by night, it's my lifestyle. I believe that the combination of brilliant minds, bold ideas,
and a complete disregard for what is possible, can and will change the world! I will
be there when it happens, will you?

5 thoughts on “STM32 PWM Output

Example Code (PWM Generation Tutorial)”
 Christiaan Meerkerk
January 17, 2021 at 12:34 AM

My project isnt recognising those 3 rows

SystemClock_Config();
MX_GPIO_Init();
MX_TIM2_Init();
Where are they and how are they generated?

Reply

Khaled Magdy
January 17, 2021 at 2:03 AM

Those functions are generated by CubeMX and you can find the definition of each
function in the main.c file

Reply

Reza Ikhsan Ardhani

January 21, 2021 at 5:08 AM

can you give wiring this experiment?

thank you

Reply
Pingback: Part 3: Initial design of the real-time platform – Low cost real-time closed-loop
control of a consumer printer – Max’ Control Systems blog

Kamran Rashid
April 27, 2024 at 4:40 AM

Hi I want to to learn STM32CUBEIDE code for a 3 phase bldc motor to control

speed with pot cw ccw start stop can you help coding min max speed

Reply

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