AN1178

Intelligent Fan Control

In a brushless fan, the armature is stationary and it is
Author: Justin Milks the permanent magnet that rotates, as shown in
Microchip Technology Inc. Figure 1. This magnet is in the shape of a ring with fan
blades attached. Many fans use 4 magnetic poles in
the ring magnet; however, the number of magnetic
INTRODUCTION poles can be increased to create a more powerful fan.

This application note describes the creation of an Finally, the pattern in which the armature is winded may
intelligent 4-wire fan. This design incorporates a PIC® vary. A two-phase fan will have two separate windings
microcontroller directly inside of the fan, enabling the which can be individually energized. These windings
fan to provide closed loop speed control, speed are always energized with current flowing in the same
feedback, and additional safety features. direction. Another option is a single-phase system in
which a single winding is constantly energized, but the
Topics covered will include: direction of the current is reversed.
• Brushless DC fan basics The two-phase method is lower cost, requiring one
• Necessary microcontroller peripherals MOSFET device per phase. However, since this
• Hardware, and software control techniques. method only utilizes half of the armature windings at
any given time, it is not suitable for higher power appli-
This application note is targeted toward the PIC16F616
cations. Since the single phase method energizes
and PIC12F615, however it can be adapted to many
every winding on the armature simultaneously, it is bet-
PIC® microcontrollers.
ter suited for higher power fan applications. However,
this method requires a total of 4 MOSFET devices.
BRUSHLESS DC THEORY The fan determines which phase to energize (or which
Since brushless DC fans are variants of basic brush- way to energize the single phase) by using a Hall
less DC motors, all of the same brushless DC motor sensor. These sensors are able to detect the magnetic
basics apply. There are several Microchip application poles of the ring magnet and provide the necessary
notes that cover brushless DC basics, and a listing of information to determine how to energize the armature.
these application notes can be found in the references These sensors will be discussed in more detail in the
section of this document. following sections.

FIGURE 1: FAN DIAGRAM

Magnetic Core

Armature

Ring Magnet

© 2008 Microchip Technology Inc. DS01178A-page 1

AN1178
FIGURE 2: FAN CONTROL BLOCK Interfacing Hall Effect Sensors
DIAGRAM
Since Hall effect sensors are digital devices, their inter-
face to a microcontroller is simple task. Any available
Position Speed
Controller interrupt-on-change (IOC) pin can be used. If an
Sense Input
open-collector Hall effect sensor is used, then the inter-
nal weak pull-ups may be utilized to reduce the
necessary component count.
Speed PWM Drives It is important to ensure that the low-level output from
Feedback for Coils the Hall effect sensor is within the acceptable range for
the input pin. If the low-level output is not within the
acceptable range, it is possible to use an analog
Figure 2 shows a generic fan controller block diagram. comparator to read the Hall effect sensor.
Software and hardware techniques relating to each
block in the diagram will be discussed in further detail Interfacing Hall Elements
in the following sections.
Interfacing a Hall element to most microcontrollers is
not as straightforward as the Hall effect sensor. As
POSITION SENSE mentioned earlier, the Hall element requires a current
Two types of position sensing devices are: Hall source. A low-cost solution is to simply use a resistor in
elements and Hall effect sensors. Either can be used. series with the Hall element. The disadvantage is lower
output levels.
Hall Elements vs. Hall Effect Sensors In order to read the low level, differential analog output
it is necessary to use both inputs of an analog compar-
The term Hall element is used to describe a device ator, as shown in Figure 4. Recalling the output of the
which produces a differential analog voltage Hall element in Figure 3, the typical comparator will suf-
corresponding to the strength of the magnetic field. fer problems when the difference between the two
The output of a Hall element is a relatively small, outputs is less than comparator input offset voltage.
differential analog voltage. Figure 3 shows the output A microcontroller with a comparator featuring internal
produced by a Hall element in the presence of the hysteresis, allows a Hall element to be used without
rotating ring magnet. compromise. The PIC12F615 and PIC16F616 are two
The main advantage to using a Hall element is low cost. microcontrollers that have these features.
However, for optimum performance, the Hall element
requires a constant current power source.
Furthermore, the low output voltage levels may require
amplification.
A Hall effect sensor removes these disadvantages by
incorporating a Hall element, a power source, and an
amplifier in a single package.
Hall sensors come in many varieties, including
open-collector and TTL level outputs. Many brushless
fans utilize latching Hall sensors, in which a north pole
will latch the device in one state until a south pole is
present and the device is latched in the opposite state.
Figure 3 shows the output of a Hall sensor produced by
rotating fan blades.

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 AN1178
FIGURE 3: HALL DEVICE OUTPUTS

Hall Element Output

(volts)

Time
Hall Sensor Output
(volts)

Time

FIGURE 4: HALL SENSOR DIAGRAM

+V

Hall
Element Output

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AN1178
PWM DRIVE FOR FAN WINDINGS FIGURE 6: PWM USING PIN STEERING
This section will describe several options for generating P1A is not the
Idle state
the necessary PWM drive depending on the available
microcontroller peripherals. Methods for increasing
PWM resolution and PWM frequency considerations P1A
will also be discussed.

Connecting the PWM Outputs

(1)
In a two phase fan application, the PWM outputs will be P1A*
connected to the MOSFET devices as shown in
Figure 5.

FIGURE 5: TWO PHASE SCHEMATIC

Supply
Output redirected

Note 1: P1A* is the alternate PWM output pin for

P1A.
PWM PWM
Phase Phase
1 2
To account for this, the following steps can be taken
when steering the PWM:
1. Disable the CCP module, removing its control of
In this configuration, only one MOSFET device will be the outputs
active at any moment in time. This will ensure that
2. Set both PWM outputs to the Idle state again
current is only flowing through one winding at a time. It
is important to note that the current always flows in the 3. Perform the PWM steering direction change
same direction through the winding. 4. Re-enable the CCP module
This sequence of steps will ensure that both CCP
Pin Steering to Generate Multiple Outputs outputs will not be active simultaneously.
Select PIC microcontrollers, such as the PIC12F615,
have the option of PWM pin steering. This allows the Using the ECCP to Generate Multiple
Capture Compare PWM (CCP) module to generate a Outputs
PWM that can be directed to one or more I/O pins.
Other PIC microcontrollers, such as the PIC16F616, do
This configuration is utilized for fan control in the follow- not have the pin steering capability. However these
ing manner: with each commutation (determined by the microcontrollers can still be used in the fan control
Hall element or Hall effect sensor) the PWM output is application by utilizing the different modes of the ECCP
re-directed to the appropriate pin. modules to generate an appropriate PWM output.
There are some considerations that need to be taken In Full-Bridge mode forward direction, the ECCP mod-
into account. Consider the condition in Figure 6 below. ule provides a PWM output on P1D while keeping pin
When the PWM is redirected, the output may remain in P1B in the Idle state, as shown in Figure 7 below. In
its previous state, and if care is not taken, both outputs Full-Bridge mode reverse direction, the ECCP module
may be active simultaneously. This will not only cause provides a PWM output on P1B while keeping P1D in
excess current draw, but it will also affect the speed of the Idle state.
the fan blades.

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 AN1178
FIGURE 7: PWM USING ECCP EQUATION 2: PWM RESOLUTION

log [ 4 ( PR2 + 1 ) ]
Resolution = ------------------------------------------ bits
P1B in Idle log ( 2 )
state
The frequency choice can affect the PWM resolution so
P1B some frequencies may not yield an integer number of
bits of PWM resolution. For example, a 20 kHz PWM
frequency with an 8 MHz oscillator yields a PR2 value
of 99 and a PWM resolution of 8.6438 bits (numbers
calculated using the equations in the CCP chapter of
P1D the data sheet which have been reproduced here as
Equation 1 and Equation 2). This means that the pos-
sible duty cycle values range from 0 to 399. Depending
on the output of the control loop software, the duty
cycle may have to be scaled up or down.
Scaling up from a value with less resolution to a value
PWM direction change with more resolution is undesirable. Doing this will
cause the duty cycle steps to be unequal, and this
method does not take full advantage of the available
With each commutation it is necessary to change the PWM resolution. Therefore a better choice is to scale
direction of the ECCP module. If we use the ECCP from a value with more resolution to a value with less
module in this method, it will ensure that both outputs resolution.
will never be active simultaneously.
In this case a range of 0 to 511 (9 bits) is scaled to
produce a range of 0 to 399 (8.6438 bits). The scaling
Choosing a PWM frequency is performed by taking the 9-bit control loop output,
One important constraint in choosing the PWM fre- multiplying by an 8-bit scaling factor, and discarding the
quency for the fan windings is to ensure the frequency low byte of the result. The formula for determining the
is above the audible 20 kHz. Given this constraint there scaling factor is shown in Equation 3 below.
are still multiple ways of deciding on a frequency.
EQUATION 3: DETERMINING THE
The frequency may be chosen such that the resulting
PWM resolution is an integer number of bits. For exam- SCALING FACTOR
ple, with an 8 MHz oscillator, a PWM resolution of
31.25 kHz will provide exactly 8 bits of resolution. Hav-
(maxoutput) • 256
Scaling Factor = --------------------------------------------
ing an integer number of bits of resolution will simplify (maxinput)
math routines. In this example, however, the higher
switching frequency may cause thermal problems with In determining the scaling factor, maxoutput is the
the fan MOSFETs. In this case it may be better to use maximum desired output of the scaling routine and
a lower frequency. maxinput is the maximum value for the input to the
It is also possible to choose the PWM frequency based scaling routine.
on other fan characteristics, such as fan winding char- When scaling from 9 bits to 8.6438 bits the scaling
acteristics, or to minimize switching losses. If in keep- factor will be 200 (decimal). Table 1 shows the input
ing the PWM resolution at an integer number of bits of and output of the scaling routine. As you can see, the
resolution is not a constraint. Choosing the lowest input value of 511, a full-scale 9-bit input, corresponds
frequency possible will minimize switching losses while to the maximum duty cycle of 399.
simultaneously maximizing PWM resolution.
TABLE 1: RESULTS OF SCALING
EQUATION 1: PWM PERIOD ROUTINE
PWM Period = [ ( PR2 ) + 1 ] • 4 • T OSC • 9 bit value High bytes of
Multiply by 200
(TMR2 Prescale Value) (0 - 511) result
127 25400 99
255 51000 199
383 76600 299
511 102200 399

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AN1178
Increasing PWM Resolution The downside to this type of software technique is the
required processing time. Every n PWM cycles, the
Depending on the particular fan characteristics, the microcontroller must execute the software necessary to
given PWM resolution may not be adequate. One way determine which PWM duty cycle to use. Furthermore,
to increase the PWM resolution is to lower the fre- care must be taken at the boundaries. For example, if
quency, but this may not be possible. It is possible, the PWM duty cycle is set to 100%, then the dithering
however, to use software techniques to increase the can not take place as there is no higher duty cycle.
effective PWM resolution. Also, when the duty cycle is set to zero it is important
A technique called PWM dithering can be used. PWM that the dithering routine does not attempt to increase
dithering is accomplished by changing between two dif- the duty cycle.
ferent duty cycles. For example, by continuously
switching between a 55% and 56% duty cycle, the MEASURING THE SPEED INPUT
average duty cycle will be 55.5%. It is important that the
system connected to the PWM output behave in a Several methods exist for providing the controller with
low-pass manner. The system (in this case the fan) the desired speed. Two of the most common are using
needs to respond to the average duty cycle and not a PWM input or using an analog voltage. Both will be
react quickly enough to show the discrete changes. discussed below:
The block diagram shown in Figure 8 illustrates the
software implementation of the PWM dithering routine. Using a PWM
A PWM input into the fan is a common way of com-
FIGURE 8: PWM DITHERING BLOCK manding the speed. The duty cycle of PWM input
DIAGRAM determines the fan operating speed. For example, a
duty cycle of 50% commands the fan to 50% of its
maximum speed and so on.
Overflow An input PWM frequency of 25 kHz is often used (this
is done to comply with several existing intelligent fan
control specifications). By utilizing several microcon-
Accumulator troller peripherals this PWM can be directly measured
Offset +
digitally.
Many PIC microcontrollers have a Timer1 gate feature.
As shown in Figure 9 below, the Timer1 gate allows the
Timer1 clock source to be disconnected from the coun-
ter. The source for the Timer1 gate can be a digital
input, or the output of an analog comparator.

One register is used as an accumulator, and another as FIGURE 9: TIMER1 GATE DIAGRAM
the offset. Every n PWM periods, the offset is added to
the accumulator. If the accumulator overflows, the
PWM period is increased by one for the next n PWM
periods. For example, with an 8-bit accumulator and
the offset loaded with 128, the accumulator would over-
flow every other cycle. If the offset was loaded with 1, Timer1 Timer1
then the accumulator would overflow 1 out of every 256 Clock Source Counter
cycles, and so on.

Timer1
Gate

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 AN1178
In this application, the Timer1 will be configured to use tolerances would be reflected in the measurement. By
the T1G pin as its gate source. To perform the measuring both the high and low time the oscillator
measurement, the following steps are taken: tolerance can be removed.
1. The Timer1 gate is configured to allow the timer The factor of 255 is present in Equation 4 as a scaling
to increment when the incoming signal is high. factor. This is done to scale a duty cycle of 100% to
Timer0 is cleared and used to time the 255. This effectively produces an 8-bit value from 0 to
measurement period. 255 that corresponds to the duty cycle of the input.
2. The Timer0 interrupt flag is set, signaling the It is important to ensure that the measurement period is
end of the measurement. The value in Timer1 is sufficiently longer than the period of the signal being
stored, and the Timer1 gate is reconfigured to measured. A measurement period 100 times larger
allow Timer1 to increment when the incoming than the period of the signal to be measured is a
signal is low. starting point.
3. The Timer0 interrupt flag is set, signaling the Another consideration is to ensure that the Timer1
end of the measurement. The value in Timer1 is peripheral is configured such that it will not roll over
stored and processed to determine the duty during the measurement period.
cycle.
Once the values for THIGH and TLOW have been deter-
This process is illustrated in Figure 10. The output of mined it is necessary to use a math routine to perform
this portion of the measurement process will be two val- the division. Since THIGH can assume a value up to 16
ues, referred to as THIGH and TLOW which correspond bits, the numerator could require up to 24 bits once the
to the high time and low time of the incoming signal scaling factor is taken into account. The denominator
during one measurement period. for the fraction will be the result of a 16 bit addition, and
Based on these two values, Equation 4 can be used to therefore up to 16 bits need to be allocated for it.
determine the duty cycle. Microchip application note AN617 “Fixed Point
Routines”, provides many fixed point math routines,
EQUATION 4: CALCULATING THE DUTY including a 24-bit by 16-bit unsigned division routine.
CYCLE
Once the division has been performed, the result will be
T HIGH the 0-255 value corresponding to the duty cycle of the
DutyCycle = ------------------------------------- • 255 input.
T HIGH + T LOW

In Equation 4, THIGH + TLOW represents the

measurement period determined by Timer0. The
measurement could be simplified by using a constant
for THIGH + TLOW. However, in doing so, any oscillator

FIGURE 10: PERFORMING DIGITAL DUTY CYCLE MEASUREMENT

Measurement Period Measurement Period

Timer configured to increment Timer configured to increment

when incoming signal is low. when incoming signal is high.

© 2008 Microchip Technology Inc. DS01178A-page 7

AN1178
Measuring Speed Input using the ADC Figure 12 shows a flowchart of the software measure-
ment technique that can be used to measure the Hall
The onboard ADC can also be used to determine the device period.
operating set point for the fan controller.
The analog input signal may be provided by a thermis- FIGURE 12: LOCKED ROTOR
tor or possibly the result of a filtered PWM signal DETECTION
through a low pass filter, as shown below in Figure 11.
Timer2 Interrupt
FIGURE 11: RC LOW-PASS CIRCUIT

R Measurement No
Low Freq. in Progress?
PWM To ADC

C Yes

Increment Counter

This method may be used when measuring the PWM

input directly is not possible, such as with very low
frequency inputs. In cases where the host system may No
be operating at a much lower voltage, (i.e., 3.3 volts or Counter ≥ max?
2.5 volts) the analog value can be read by the ADC and
the response can be adjusted to match the host system
voltage. It is also possible to use the ADC to interface Yes
to a thermistor in order to create a temperature
controlled fan. • Rotor is locked
• Measurement is over
MEASURING THE FAN SPEED
In order to implement the closed loop control, it is nec-
essary to measure the fan’s actual speed. This is done
by measuring the frequency of the Hall device output.
There are several considerations, however, that need
to be taken into account.
The locked rotor scenario is taken into account by com-
Creating a Software Timer paring the software counter against some maximum
value. Should the counter ever exceed this value, a flag
In the current application, Timer0 and Timer1 are used indicating the locked rotor condition is set. This allows
for PWM measurement, and Timer2 is used as a PWM the software to handle this condition appropriately.
time base. This configuration leaves no additional
However, even after the period measurement is com-
timers for fan speed measurement.
plete, the fan speed has still not been determined, as a
However, since Timer2 will never stop and will always math routine is required to translate the Hall device
interrupt at defined intervals, we can use it to create a period into RPM. This will be discussed next.
software counter that can be used for fan speed
measurement. This will be discussed in further detail
Measurement Math Routine
below.
The goal of the measurement math routine is to pro-
Measurement Duration / Locked Rotor duce an 8-bit value (0 to 255) that corresponds to the
given fan’s RPM. For example, for a fan that has a max
One difficulty in measuring the fan speed occurs during RPM of 3300, then 1650RPM would correspond to a
the locked rotor condition. Should the fan’s rotor value of 127 and 3300 RPM would correspond to a
become blocked, the measurement of fan speed would value of 255. This is similar to the PWM input in that the
take an infinite amount of time, as the frequency output value shows a percentage of full speed.
of the Hall devices is zero.

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 AN1178
The relationship between period and RPM is inversely Where FCOUNT is the frequency of the Timer2 interrupt
proportional, as shown in Equation 5: (i.e., the PWM frequency), 255 is a scaling factor show-
ing the desired full scale response, and 30 is the
EQUATION 5: conversion from RPM to pulses per second. RPMMAX
is the maximum RPM of the given fan.
1
frequency = ----------------- Note: The scaling factor of 30 assumes that the
period
Hall device will provide two pulses (4
edges) per revolution. This is true of 4-pole
More specifically, the output of the math routine is motors and would require adjustment if an
scaled so that it only assumes values 0 through 255 8 pole motor were to be used.
and these values are specific to the maximum RPM of
The numerator of Equation 6 is simply a constant that
the given fan. In this case the equation becomes:
must be chosen for the particular fan range. A better
method is to use a tool, such as Excel, to show the out-
EQUATION 6: DETERMINING MAX RPM put of the equation (considering the rounding) and to
CONSTANT optimize the constant to minimize rounding errors.
( F COUNT ⋅ 255 ⋅ 30 ) The graph shown below in Figure 13 shows the
-------------------------------------------------- relationship (for a given maximum RPM and given
RPM
MAX PWM frequency) between software measurement
Speed = ------------------------------------------------------
TimerCounts counts and the math routine output.

FIGURE 13: SPEED MEASUREMENT ROUTINE

300
54
64
250
74
82
Routine Output

200 92
99
150 110
120
100 128
138
50

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Timer2 Counts

One very important consideration is the condition TABLE 2: MEASUREMENT ROUTINE

where the fan may exceed its maximum speed. In OUTPUT
Equation 6, the low byte of the result returns the 8-bit
(0 to 255) value corresponding to fan speed. However, Fan Speed Routine Output Lower Byte
should the fan exceed its programmed maximum 1500 115 115
speed the routine would return a 9-bit result and since 3300 255 255
only the lower 8 bits are considered, it would appear as
though the fan were spinning very slowly. An example 3500 270 14
is shown in Table 2 below, assuming a fan with a max
speed of 3300 RPM.

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AN1178
Because of this situation it is necessary to ensure that The alarm signal is used to signal the host when a prob-
the result of the measurement math routine is valid. lem has occurred. Should the fan rotor become locked
This is simply done by checking the higher bytes of the or should the fan be unable to reach its desired speed
result, and should they ever assume a non-zero value, the alarm signal will be asserted to alert the connected
to set a flag indicating that the measurement is invalid. system.
One of the difficulties in creating the alarm output lies in
GENERATING A TACHOMETER the fact that the comparison is not instant. That is, the
OUTPUT fan speed needs to be below a threshold for a certain
amount of time to assert the alarm. If this were not the
Generating the tachometer output is a relatively simple case, then speed increases would assert the alarm
task for the microcontroller. There are still a number of until the fan reached a steady state, and this is typically
solutions that can be used. not the desired operation.
The flowchart shown below in Figure 14 illustrates the
General I/O Pin operation of the alarm routine. The first step is to calcu-
late the alarm threshold, and this is done dynamically.
Any general purpose I/O pin can be used to generate
For example, the alarm threshold may be set at 65% of
the tachometer output. The benefit of this method is
the commanded speed. In this case the threshold
that it puts the signal under complete software control.
would be 650 RPM for a commanded speed of 1000
In some conditions, such as during a locked rotor con-
RPM, 1300 RPM for a commanded speed of 2000
dition, it may be desirable to set the tachometer to a
RPM, and so on.
certain level (i.e., always high during locked rotor con-
ditions), and this can be done with the software
method. FIGURE 14: ALARM OUTPUT DIAGRAM
The obvious downside is that it requires software
processing for each transition. Commanded
Speed

Using the Full-Bridge ECCP

If the ECCP module is used in Full-Bridge mode (as Scaling
x
discussed earlier in the Section “PWM Drive For Fan Factor
Windings”), then the P1B and P1D pins are used as
the PWMs for the fan windings. The direction change
feature is used to transition from P1B to P1D.
A side effect of using the ECCP in this mode is that
each direction change, the P1A and P1C pins will also Current Speed ≥ Yes
transition. It is possible to use this output as the Speed Threshold
tachometer signal, and in this case it requires no
software processing to generate the tachometer. Clear
Counter
Using a Comparator Output No

As mentioned earlier in the Position Sense section, a Increment Counter

Hall element can be used to determine the rotor posi-
tion. In this configuration, the comparator is used to
interface the Hall element to the microcontroller, and
the comparator output provides the position data. The
comparator output can also be directed to an output No
Counter ≥ max?
pin, and in this configuration would provide the
tachometer output.

Yes
GENERATING AN ALARM OUTPUT
While a tachometer is one very common speed sense Set Alarm
output, the alarm signal is another.

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 AN1178
After the alarm threshold has been calculated, the FIGURE 15: AUTO-SHUTDOWN
routine will compare the current speed against the SCHEMATIC
threshold speed. If the current speed is too low, the
counter is incremented and compared against a max To Auto-shutdown
value to determine when to enter the alarm state. If the
current speed is above the threshold then the counter 0.6V
+
is cleared and the alarm condition is ended. Internal M1 M2
-
Reference
Note: There are several algorithms that could be
used to detect the alarm condition, and
this is just one possibility.
RSENSE
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
The following section will describe several additional
features that may be added to the design. In the Figure 15, M1 and M2 are the two switching
devices for the fan windings. The comparator is used to
Starting Ramp and Delay compare the voltage across the sense resistor,
RSENSE, to the internally generated 0.6 volt reference.
A typical brushless fan will draw a large amount of cur-
In this configuration the comparator is connected to the
rent when it is first energized. This can place additional
auto-shutdown logic of the PWM module. Should the
stress on power supplies and possibly cause sags in
comparator output trip, the PWM will automatically be
voltage. In order to avoid this, a starting delay and start-
placed in the Idle state. The device can be configured
ing ramp can be used.
such that once the comparator output is low the PWM
There are two situations in which the fan will delay its is once again allowed to operate.
start:
This hardware feature allows cycle-by-cycle current
1. The fan has recently been energized limiting of the winding current without requiring any
2. The fan was operating at zero speed and is software resources or user-intervention. Furthermore,
commanded to operate at a non-zero speed. an interrupt can be generated should the current
This delay will significantly lower the amount of inrush exceed the trip level and software actions can also be
current due to the fan. taken.

Furthermore, rather than instantly commanding the fan

to operate at full speed, a starting ramp can be used. SCHEMATIC OVERVIEW
This ramp will slowly increase the speed of the fan until An example hardware schematic is provided in
it reaches its operating speed. The combination of the Appendix A, and will be discussed here in further detail.
starting delay and the starting ramp will ensure that the
fan will never demand a high inrush current.
Protection Components
Current Limiting One of the most important aspects of the hardware
design is the inclusion of necessary protection
Depending on the device and configuration being used, components.
it is also possible to limit the current into the fan
windings. • Reverse polarity protection – Diode D1 is included
in the design in order to implement reverse polar-
The current limiting requires the use of an analog com- ity protection. This will prevent current flow should
parator. However, the direct Hall element interface also the power be connected backwards.
requires a comparator. Because of this, a device such
• R2, R3, and R4 are chosen to limit the amount of
as the PIC12F615 can not implement both a direct Hall
current that flows into the MOSET gates during
element interface and current limiting.
switching or during a MOSFET failure where
If an analog comparator is available, then the current excess current would be allowed to flow into the
limiting can be performed as shown in Figure 15 below. gate.
• Pull-down resistors R5 and R6 are used to pre-
vent any accumulation of charge that may occur
on the MOSFET gates. This will ensure when the
fan is energized for the first time that excess
current will not flow.

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AN1178
• Series resistor R9 is included to prevent micro- The characteristic response of the fan may also vary
controller damage during hot plugging. Hot plug- with supply voltage and with PWM duty cycle. For fan
ging is the act of plugging the fan into a powered number 1, shown in Figure 17, a very small range of
system. When this occurs, some pins may make duty cycles (0%-10%) covers a very wide range of
contact before other pins and cause excess speeds. It will be necessary for its control routine to
current flow. quickly switch between duty cycles in order to achieve
Specifically, should the PWM pin make connection a certain speed.
before the ground pin, there exists a path for cur- For fan number 2, shown in Figure 18, a much larger
rent to flow into the microcontroller and out of the range of duty cycles is useful (50%-100%). However,
PWM pin to the host system. This situation could duty cycles under 50% have no affect on the fan speed
damage both the microcontroller and the host and will only produce wasted energy. For this fan it is
system. important to design a controller that will attempt to
• Capacitors C1 and C2 are used to prevent the stabilize on the proper duty cycle for the given speed,
drain-source voltage from spiking and damaging as any change in duty cycle may be auditable.
the MOSFETs.
FIGURE 17: FAN #1 RESPONSE
Shunt Regulator Open Loop Response
In order to lower system cost, the PIC12F615 and
PIC16F616 microcontrollers are available with an HV 3500
option as the PIC12HV615 and PIC16HV616.
3000
These HV parts have an integrated shunt regulator that
can be used to replace traditional Zener regulators or Fan Speed (RPM) 2500
linear regulators. 2000
A diagram of the shunt regulator is shown below in 1500
Figure 16.
1000

FIGURE 16: SHUNT REGULATOR 500

SCHEMATIC 0
0% 50% 100%
VUNREG
Duty Cycle
Duty Cycle
IS RS VREG PIC12HV615

VDD
FIGURE 18: FAN #2 RESPONSE
C

VSS 5000
(RPM)
Speed (RPM)

4000

The shunt regulator is cost effective in that it only 3000

Fan Speed

requires a single resistor to operate, and does not have

the supply voltage limitations associated with linear 2000
regulators. Furthermore, it can also supply regulated
Fan

1000
voltage to other components.
0
FAN RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS 0% 50% 100% 150%

Two graphs are shown (Figure 17 and Figure 18) to Duty

Duty Cycle
Cycle
represent different fan response characteristics of two
different brushless DC fans. These graphs are
obtained by setting the PWM duty cycle to the fan
windings at a fixed value and observing the final speed
of the fan. Knowing how the fan speed varies with duty
cycle will make the implementation of the control
routine easier.

DS01178A-page 12 © 2008 Microchip Technology Inc.

 AN1178
CONTROL LOOP SOFTWARE PID Control (Fan #1)
The block diagram for our system is shown below in Proportional, Integral, Derivative (PID) control is a very
Figure 19. The speed measurement, set-point mea- common control technique for many applications. It has
surement, and PWM blocks have each been discussed been discussed in numerous application notes, such as
in detail in previous sections. The control loop will now AN258, AN964, and AN937. Specifically, the routine
be discussed. taken from AN258 was used as the control loop soft-
ware for fan #1.
Controlling a fan presents itself as an interesting
control problem in several aspects: Given the extremely long settling time of the fan, the
derivative term from the PID routine has very little effect
• The PIC microcontroller is only able to increase
on the system, and can often be omitted completely.
the speed of the fan, but not decrease it.
• The fan has an extremely long settling time and Increasing the gain (the proportional term) will cause
responds very slowly. the fan to reach its desired speed faster. However, in
some cases it may cause the fan to audibly change
• The fan’s operating conditions, including voltage
between different duty cycles.
and load, may change abruptly at any time.
One downside of the PID algorithm is the fact that it is
The control loop software will also depend on the
not easy to switch between different PID coefficients.
requirements. For example, most fan applications may
For example, when the fan’s speed is increased from a
require that the speed control software not introduce
low to a high set point, the controller is able to appropri-
extra noise (i.e., cycling between two duty cycles in an
ately control the duty cycle. However, if the speed is
auditable manner). This may come at the cost of a
suddenly decreased, the control loop has no way to
slower response or longer settling time.
slow the fan down, and the speed may end up falling
However, it is also possible to design a control loop that below the desired value.
will reach its set point very quickly, but this may come
For example, if the fan is operating near 100% and the
at the cost of overshoot and added noise.
set point is reduced to a minimum value (such as 10%)
the fan may undershoot such that it stalls. It is important
to test these cases to ensure the controller is operating
properly, and to find the PID constants that provide an
acceptable response in all conditions.

Integral Control (Fan #2)

Another possible controller is an integral only controller
which follows Equation 7. This type of controller was
used for fan #2.

FIGURE 19: CONTROL LOOP BLOCK DIAGRAM

Current
Speed
Speed Hall Device
Measurement

+ Σ error Control Duty Cycle

PWM
PWM
Software Outputs
−
PWM/ Set Point Set point
Analog In Measurement

EQUATION 7: I CONTROLLER

Output = ΣK i ⋅ Error

© 2008 Microchip Technology Inc. DS01178A-page 13

AN1178
One benefit of this type of controller is the constant Ki The dead band works by modifying the error signal. If
can be modified without abrupt changes in the output. the magnitude of the error is less than some amount,
Depending on the current speed condition, the the error will be set to zero. This is illustrated below:
appropriate Ki can be selected. For example:
• If the current speed is much larger than the EQUATION 8: DEAD BAND
desired speed, the fan needs to slow to the
desired speed without undershooting. This can be
accomplished by reducing the size of Ki. error = { error
0 if |error| < CONSTANT
otherwise
• If the current speed is close to the desired speed,
the Ki can be set to a standard operating value.
The dead band has the effect of ignoring small errors
• If the current speed is much lower than the
and considering them to be zero. This will eliminate jit-
desired speed the fan needs to increase speed.
ter that is caused by small errors. However there are a
The standard Ki can be used, but this may slow
few other side effects.
the response. The Ki can be increased to allow
the fan to respond faster. Ignoring small changes in the error will also have the
effect of ignoring small changes in the speed input. If
The integral controller was chosen for Fan #2 because
the dead band is set to 2, the speed input may need to
it allowed the elimination of undershoot when the
change by as much as 4 in order for the fan speed to
desired speed was reduced.
actually change.
This type of controller will often have a longer settling
Using the dead band may also require changes to the
time than the PID controller. However, since one of the
control loop state machine. If the error is very close to
main goals of the fan controller is to reduce noise, the
the dead band constant, it may still jitter (depending on
gradual changes may be desirable.
measurement accuracy), except the jitter will cause the
error signal to go between CONSTANT and 0, which
Eliminating Steady State Jitter may cause erratic behavior.
Under normal operation, the control loop software will It is more desirable to wait until the fan has actually
cause the actual fan speed to equal the desired fan reached the desired speed and then enable the dead
speed. However, due to limitations in PWM resolution band. If the fan speed falls out of the range such that
and speed measurement resolution, this may not be the dead band is no longer active, then the dead band
possible. can be disabled until the fan speed reaches its desired
In this case it is possible that the actual fan speed will speed again.
oscillate around the desired speed. The control loop
may choose a duty cycle too small and the fan speed
will be less than the desired speed, and consequently
the control loop will choose a larger duty cycle that may
be too large and cause the fan to spin too quickly.
If this oscillation about the desired speed happens
quickly, then it may not be auditable or noticeable.
However, if the oscillation happens very slowly, it may
be very noticeable and will cause problems.
Suggested here are two ways to eliminate the jitter:
1. Increase the PWM resolution
2. Use a dead band
Of these two methods, increasing the PWM resolution
is the most desirable. The PWM drive section of this
document describes to maximize the resolution in both
hardware and software.
However if maximizing the PWM resolution is not
possible, or if it still does not yield desirable results, a
dead band can be used.

DS01178A-page 14 © 2008 Microchip Technology Inc.

 AN1178
ULTIMATE RESPONSE
The graphs below illustrate the response of the finished
software. A transient response graph is shown
(Figure 20), illustrating speed versus time. The desired
speed is first set to a high value, then to a low value,
and then back to a high value. This is done to test and
show any over shoot or undershoot that occurs.
The second graph (Figure 21) shows the linearity of the
actual speed output (after settling) vs. input duty cycle
(desired speed). This is useful in determining how
accurate the fan is for a given speed input.

FIGURE 20: TRANSIENT RESPONSE

3500

3000

2500

2000
RPM

1500

1000

500

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Sample

FIGURE 21: LINEARITY

L in e a rity

88000
0 00
77000
0 00
66000
0 00
55000
0 00
RPM
RPM

44000
0 00
33000
0 00
22000
0 00
11000
0 00
0
0%
0% 20%
20 % 40%
4 0% 60%
60 % 80%
80 % 100%
10 0%
DDuty
u ty Cycle
C y cle

© 2008 Microchip Technology Inc. DS01178A-page 15

AN1178
SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION
Assembly language software is included for both the
PIC12F615 and PIC16F616 that implements all of the
features described in this application note.
The software uses a series of #define statements to
configure various options, such as tachometer or alarm
output, active high or active low coil PWM outputs, etc.
These options are documented using comments in the
source code.
The software uses around 800-900 words of program
memory and around 40-50 bytes of data memory. The
exact size is affected by the various build options.

REFERENCES
AN847 “RC Model Aircraft Motor Control”
(DS00847)
AN857 “Brushless DC Motor Control Made Easy”
(DS00857)
AN893 “Low-Cost Bidirectional Brushed DC Motor
Control Using the PIC16F684” (DS00893)
AN894 “Motor Control Sensor Feedback Circuits”
(DS00984)
AN898 “Determining MOSFET Driver Needs for
Motor Drive Applications” (DS00898)
AN905 “Brushed DC Motor Fundamentals”
(DS00905)

DS01178A-page 16 © 2008 Microchip Technology Inc.

 NOTES:

UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED;

RESISTANCE VALUES ARE IN OHMS.
RESISTORS ARE 1% TOLERANCE.
CAPACITANCE VALUES ARE IN UF.

TP1 (BLK)
APPENDIX A:

DEVICE NAMES AND NUMBERS SHOWN HERE ARE

GND D1 FOR REFERENCE ONLY AND MAY DIFFER FROM THE
ZHCS1006TA +12V
+5V +12V +12V ACTUAL NUMBER.
TP2 (YEL)
12V R7 R8 ITEMS LABELED WITH A ARE UNPOPULATED.
ZHCS1006CT-ND 475
(GRN) U1 1K U2 +12V
TP3 1/4W ITEMS LABELED WITH B ARE SOCKETED BUT
SENSE 1 VDD 1 ARE NOT POPULATED.

© 2008 Microchip Technology Inc.

Vss 14 GND IN
(BLU) 13 2 X C6
TP4 2 OSC1
RA0 ICSPDATA OUT ITEMS LABELED WITH C ARE SOCKETED AND
PWM 100 nF
CONTROL C5 3 12 3 POPULATED.
100 nF PWM OSC2 RA1 ICSPCLK IN
4 MCLR 11 JP2 4 X
3 VPP RA2 SENSE OUT
D 5 RC5 10
Q3 RC0 RC0
R4
SCHEMATIC

1G 6 9 HW-300B
SENSE 2N7002LT1 P1D RC4 RC1 ISENSE
S 7
100 2N7002LT1GOSCT-ND 8
2 RC3 RC2 P1B +5V

PIC16HV616/SL R9
10K

RC0

R10
THERMISTOR
TP7 +12V PICkit™ 2 PLUNGE HEADER
J1
VPP 1 VPP VDD 2 +5V
DC FAN MOTOR 3 GND 4
GND DAT ICSPDATA
5 CLK 6
ICSPCLK NC NO CONNECT
PK2

TP5 TP6

3 3
D D
Q1
R2 + C1 C2 + 1 R3
1 G ZXMN6A07F G
P1B 2.2 UF 2.2 UF P1D
S S
100 ZXMN6A07FCT-ND 35V 35V 100
R5 2 ZXMN6A07FCT-ND 2 R6
10K 10K
ISENSE
R1
2
1/2W

DS01178A-page 17
AN1178
AN1178
NOTES:

DS01178A-page 18 © 2008 Microchip Technology Inc.

Note the following details of the code protection feature on Microchip devices:
• Microchip products meet the specification contained in their particular Microchip Data Sheet.

• Microchip believes that its family of products is one of the most secure families of its kind on the market today, when used in the
intended manner and under normal conditions.

• There are dishonest and possibly illegal methods used to breach the code protection feature. All of these methods, to our
knowledge, require using the Microchip products in a manner outside the operating specifications contained in Microchip’s Data
Sheets. Most likely, the person doing so is engaged in theft of intellectual property.

• Microchip is willing to work with the customer who is concerned about the integrity of their code.

• Neither Microchip nor any other semiconductor manufacturer can guarantee the security of their code. Code protection does not
mean that we are guaranteeing the product as “unbreakable.”

Code protection is constantly evolving. We at Microchip are committed to continuously improving the code protection features of our
products. Attempts to break Microchip’s code protection feature may be a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If such acts
allow unauthorized access to your software or other copyrighted work, you may have a right to sue for relief under that Act.

Information contained in this publication regarding device Trademarks

applications and the like is provided only for your convenience
The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo, Accuron,
and may be superseded by updates. It is your responsibility to
dsPIC, KEELOQ, KEELOQ logo, MPLAB, PIC, PICmicro,
ensure that your application meets with your specifications.
PICSTART, PRO MATE, rfPIC and SmartShunt are registered
MICROCHIP MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR
trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WHETHER EXPRESS OR
U.S.A. and other countries.
IMPLIED, WRITTEN OR ORAL, STATUTORY OR
OTHERWISE, RELATED TO THE INFORMATION, FilterLab, Linear Active Thermistor, MXDEV, MXLAB,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ITS CONDITION, SEEVAL, SmartSensor and The Embedded Control Solutions
QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY OR Company are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology
FITNESS FOR PURPOSE. Microchip disclaims all liability Incorporated in the U.S.A.
arising from this information and its use. Use of Microchip Analog-for-the-Digital Age, Application Maestro, CodeGuard,
devices in life support and/or safety applications is entirely at dsPICDEM, dsPICDEM.net, dsPICworks, dsSPEAK, ECAN,
the buyer’s risk, and the buyer agrees to defend, indemnify and ECONOMONITOR, FanSense, In-Circuit Serial
hold harmless Microchip from any and all damages, claims, Programming, ICSP, ICEPIC, Mindi, MiWi, MPASM, MPLAB
suits, or expenses resulting from such use. No licenses are Certified logo, MPLIB, MPLINK, mTouch, PICkit, PICDEM,
conveyed, implicitly or otherwise, under any Microchip PICDEM.net, PICtail, PIC32 logo, PowerCal, PowerInfo,
intellectual property rights. PowerMate, PowerTool, REAL ICE, rfLAB, Select Mode, Total
Endurance, UNI/O, WiperLock and ZENA are trademarks of
Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other
countries.
SQTP is a service mark of Microchip Technology Incorporated
in the U.S.A.
All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their
respective companies.
© 2008, Microchip Technology Incorporated, Printed in the
U.S.A., All Rights Reserved.
Printed on recycled paper.

Microchip received ISO/TS-16949:2002 certification for its worldwide

headquarters, design and wafer fabrication facilities in Chandler and
Tempe, Arizona; Gresham, Oregon and design centers in California
and India. The Company’s quality system processes and procedures
are for its PIC® MCUs and dsPIC® DSCs, KEELOQ® code hopping
devices, Serial EEPROMs, microperipherals, nonvolatile memory and
analog products. In addition, Microchip’s quality system for the design
and manufacture of development systems is ISO 9001:2000 certified.

© 2008 Microchip Technology Inc. DS01178A-page 19

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DS01178A-page 20 © 2008 Microchip Technology Inc.