International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064

Impact Factor (2012): 3.358

Implementation of Space Vector Pulse Width

Modulation using Arduino
Asma1, Naik R. L.2 and Jangamshetti Suresh H.3
1

Student Member IEEE, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Basaveshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot
2

Member IEEE Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Basaveshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot

Senior Member IEEE Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Basaveshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot

Abstract: Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) method is an advanced computational intensive PWM algorithm for
voltage source converter. Among various PWM techniques, SVPWM is most preferred technique because of higher DC bus utilization
and ease in implementation. Traditionally processors like Microprocessors, Microcontrollers, DSP and dsPICs are used to implement
SVPWM. However these processors are having limitations like moderate processing, complex implementation and higher switching
losses. To overcome these aspects ATmega microcontroller is proposed for implementing SVPWM. The paper presents a review of
different processors like DSP, dsPIC and ATmega further implementation of SVPWM using ATmega328P has been presented. The
results shows that the space vector PWM waveforms generated are symmetric with respect to the middle of each PWM period. It has
been concluded that ATmega microcontroller is the suitable processor for implementing SVPWM technique.

Keywords: Arduino, ATmega, DSP, dsPIC, SPWM, SVPWM.

1. Introduction
In recent years, the SVPWM is widely used for three-phase
PWM inverters since it gives higher output voltage and
lower harmonic distortion than the conventional Sinusoidal
Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) method [8]. SVPWM is
an advanced real time control mechanism that can be used to
generate balanced three phase ac voltages of the desired
magnitude and frequency at the output of an inverter. To
implement space vector modulation a reference signal Vref is
sampled with a frequency fs (Ts = 1/fs). The reference vector
is then synthesized using a combination of the two adjacent
active switching vectors and one or both of the zero vectors.
SVPWM technique can be implemented using different
processors like DSP [1], dsPIC [2] and ATmega [4]. It is
observed from the literature survey that implementation of
SVPWM in DSP using look up table, increases the execution
time and overload the processor during closed loop
operation [1]. Further DSPs do not have built-in PWM units
to control switches of inverter. These features increase
circuit complication and computational burden [5]. While
implementing SVPWM in dsPIC, unconventional mnemonic
names are present, inefficient lookup tables, no add/subtract
with carry, small stack, paged architecture becomes a real
pain. The PIC18 architecture addresses many of the above
said issues, however implementation of SVPWM at higher
switching frequency adds extra limitation in program
environment [6]. SVPWM program developed in DSP and
dsPIC has to be executed in Code Composer and MPLAB
respectively. To execute the program, library referencing has
to be made for the created project. This library referencing is
processor dependent, which creates in-convenience to
program developers.

GCC based IDE that is free for the whole range of their
processors. Power consumption is much lower as compared
to PIC. UART (TX and RX) can be enabled separately
which is useful for multi-processor on a common bus.
Hence this paper presents the review of different processors
like DSP, dsPIC and ATmega along with implementation of
SVPWM using ATmega328P. Section II presents the basic
principle of SVPWM, section III presents brief description
regarding DSP and dsPIC processors and also algorithm for
implementing SVPWM using ATmega328P. The results
shows that the space vector PWM waveforms generated are
symmetric with respect to the middle of each PWM period.
Symmetric waveform generation will eliminate even
harmonics and reduces the odd harmonics. It has been
concluded that to overcome the limitations of DSP and
dsPIC, ATmega is the suitable processor for implementing
SVPWM technique used for the voltage source converter.

2. Principle of SVPWM
Space vector PWM refers to a switching scheme of the six
power switches of a 3-phase VSI. It generates minimum
harmonic distortion and also provides more efficient use of
DC supply voltage in comparison with the sinusoidal
modulation method. The topology of conventional two level
voltage source inverter is shown in Fig.1

To overcome the above said aspects ATmega

microcontroller is proposed for implementing SVPWM.
ATmega is an 8-bit CPU and on the same clock it is 4 times
faster than 8-bit PIC and 12 times faster than 8051. It has a

Paper ID: 020141254

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International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Impact Factor (2012): 3.358

3. Processors for Implementing SVPWM

Space vector pulse width modulation is an optimum pulse

width modulation technique for a two level inverter which
can be implemented using different processors as follows.
A. DSP

Figure 1: Structure of typical 3-phase VSI

Modeling of two level voltage source inverter in terms of

switching function is given by (1)

Where S1, S3, S5 are the switching functions.

The space phasor can be defined by using two voltages V

and V and are given by (2) & (3), [1]

The space phasor voltage can be obtained from following

equations (4) and (5),

SVPWM treats the inverter as a single unit. Specifically the

inverter can be driven into eight unique states. Modulation is
accomplished by switching the state of inverter. Space
vector pulse width modulation treats the sinusoidal voltage
as a constant amplitude vector rotating at constant
frequency. This PWM technique approximates the reference
voltage V by a combination of the eight switching patterns

Texas Instrument Microcontroller TMS320F2812 is a new

generation of controller with a main frequency of 150 MHz.
TMS320F2812 consists of two event manager modules (A &
B), inbuilt Analog to Digital converter and consists of 12
PWM output pins, 6 pins for each Event Manager
Module[1]. The ADC module include 12 bit core with built
in dual sample and hold circuits with fast conversion at 25
MHz. Module takes the input between 0 to 3V. The start of
conversion process can be triggered through the event
manager. The module has 16 channels, configurable as two
independent 8 channel modules to serve event manager
modules. Two independent modules can be cascaded to form
a 16 channel module. The two 8-channel modules have
capability to auto sequence a series of conversions. Each
module has the choice of selecting any one of the respective
eight channels available through an analog MUX. In
cascaded mode auto sequencer functions as a single 16channel sequencer. Once conversion is complete the selected
channel value is stored in its respective ADCRESULT
register. Auto sequencing allows the system to convert the
same channel multiple times, allowing the user to perform
oversampling algorithms. Code Composer software is used
to interface the computer to the DSP kit of Texas
Instruments [1]. The setup process for PWM generation
includes the following steps [1]
Setup and load ACTRx
Initialize CMPRx
Setup and load COMCONx
Setup and load T1CON (for EVA) or T3CON (for EVB)
to start the operation
Rewrite CMPRx with newly determined values
B. dsPIC

ref

(V to V ) [1]. The vectors (V to V ) divide the plane into

0

six sectors, V

ref

is generated by two adjacent non-zero

vectors and two zero vectors.

Figure 2: Voltage space vectors

Paper ID: 020141254

dsPIC is suited for the application that requires DSP

processing, as normal PIC is not able to do DSP fast enough.
PIC is a family of modified Harvard architecture
microcontroller made by Microchip Technology. The dsPIC
includes 48 (Kbytes) on-chip flash program space, 2
(Kbytes) of on chip data RAM, 1 (Kbyte) of nonvolatile data
EEPROM, and processor speed up to 30 (MIPS). Peripheral
features consist of PWM and QEI modules for adjustable
motor speed control applications [2].
The microcontroller supports not only 9 channels, each has a
10-bit resolution A/D converter with fast response time but
also UART, CAN, and SPI communication. The
microcontroller is set to operate at 20 (MIPS), supplied by a
5 (V) source, to control the SVPWM inverter using PWM
module [2]. Required software for obtaining PWM signals is
developed with C programming language in MPLAB IDE
environment. dsPIC is way better at floating math work, as it
has accumulators that make heavy math work easier. But it
is of course more expensive and complex to use. The step of
programming for PWM generation logic is as following [7]

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International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Impact Factor (2012): 3.358
Disable the PWM pin (PxTCON) output drivers as an
input by setting the associated TRIS bit.
Set the PWM period by loading the TxTPER register.
Configure the CCP module for the PWM mode by
loading the PWMxCONy register with the appropriate
values.
Set the PWM duty cycle by loading the PxDCy register.
Set the dead time by loading the PxDTCONy register.
Configure and start Timer2.
Enable the PWMx pin output driver by clearing the
associated TRIS bit.

C. SVPWM USING ATmega328P

The Arduino Uno is a microcontroller board based on the
ATmega328. It has 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6
can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz
crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP
header, and a reset button as shown in Fig.3. Simply connect
it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-toDC adapter or battery to get started. The Arduino can do
standard mathematical operations. While floating point
numbers are allowed if declared as floats.

Figure 3: Arduino Board

toolbar with buttons for common functions, and a series of

menus. It connects to the Arduino hardware to upload
programs and communicate with them. Software written
using Arduino is called sketches. These sketches are written
in the text editor. It has features for cutting/pasting and for
searching/replacing text. The message area gives feedback
while saving and exporting and also displays errors. The
console displays text output by the Arduino environment
including complete error messages and other information.
The toolbar buttons allow you to verify and upload
programs, create, open, and save sketches, and open the
serial monitor.
E. PWM Module
The phase correct PWM mode (WGM2:0=1 or 5) provides a
high resolution phase correct PWM waveform generation
option. Phase correct PWM is based on a dual slope
operation. The counter counts repeatedly from BOTTOM to
TOP and then from TOP to BOTTOM. TOP is defined as
0xFF when WGM2:0=1, and OCR0A when WGM2:0=5[9].
In phase correct mode the counter is incremented until the
counter value matches TOP. When the counter reached TOP,
it changes the count direction. TCNT0 value will be equal to
TOP for one timer clock cycle. The compare unit allows
generation of PWM waveforms on the OC0xpins setting.
COM0x1:0=2 will produce a non-inverting PWM. An
inverting PWM output can be generated by setting the
COM0x1:0=3. Setting the COM0A0=1allows the OC0A pin
to toggle on compare matches if the WGM02 bit is set. The
actual OC0x value will only be visible on the port pin if the
direction for the port pin is set as output. The PWM
waveform is generated by setting the OC0x register at the
compare match between OCRx and TCNT0 when the
counter increments and setting the OCRx register at compare
match between OCRx and TCNT0 when the counter
decrements[9].
The generations of Space vector pulse Width Modulation
Waveforms are shown in below Fig.5.

D. Specifications
Microcontroller: ATmega328
Operating Voltage: 5V
Input Voltage (recommended): 7-12V
Input Voltage (limits): 6-20V
Digital I/O Pins: 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
Analog Input Pins: 6
DC Current per I/O Pin: 40 mA
DC Current for 3.3V Pin: 50 mA
Flash Memory: 32 KB (ATmega328) of which 0.5 KB used
by boot loader
SRAM: 2 KB (ATmega328)
EEPROM: 1 KB (ATmega328)
Clock Speed: 16MHz
Arduino also created software which is compatible with all
Arduino microcontrollers. The software, also called
Arduino, can be used to program any of the Arduino
microcontrollers by selecting them from a drop-down menu.
Being open source, and based around C.
The Arduino development environment contains a text
editor for writing code, a message area, a text console, a

Paper ID: 020141254

Figure 5: Generation of SVPWM waveforms

The algorithm used for implementing SVPWM inverter
using ATmega is as follows
Generate sine wave using look up table.

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International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Impact Factor (2012): 3.358
Initialize Time base control registers where center aligned
PWM operation takes place by selecting continuous
up/down count mode.
Initialize register values where duty cycles are loaded.
Calculate Vs and based on the requirement of V and
V .
Given a period T of carrier wave, calculate T1, T2, and T0.
Calculate duty cycles Ta, Tb & Tc in TIM1, TIM2& TIM3
registers. At the beginning of a new cycle (PWM interrupt
occurs) T1, T2, and T0 are computed. And then, the active
time of S1, S2,. . . , S6 switches are consequently written in
the TIM1, TIM2, and TIM3 registers of the ATmega328
microcontroller.
F. Flow Chart
The flow chart for implementing
ATmega328p is shown in Fig.6.

SVPWM

using

Figure 6: Flow chart for SVPWM Implementation

4. Results and Discussions

The space vector PWM waveforms generated are symmetric
with respect to the middle of each PWM period. Symmetric
waveform generation will eliminate even harmonics and
reduces the odd harmonics. Symmetric space vector PWM
generation is shown in Fig.7.

Figure 7: Symmetrical waveform generation

Paper ID: 020141254

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International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN (Online): 2319-7064
Impact Factor (2012): 3.358
Her areas of interest include Wind-Solar Energy Systems,
Transmission and Distribution systems.

5. Conclusion
The basic principle of SVPWM, brief description about
different processors like DSP, dsPIC and ATmega and the
algorithm of SVPWM using ATmega has been discussed in
this paper. It has been reviewed that ATmega with its
advanced features and the advantages over other processors
is the suitable processor for implementing Space Vector
Pulse Width Modulation technique for the inverter switching
control.

References
[1] Ronad B. F, Naik R. L, Jangamshetti Suresh.H. A
Novel Method to Eliminate Negative Time Period of
SVPWM using DSP TMS320F2812,International
Conferences on Renewable Energies and Power
Quality(ICREPQ11) Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
(Spain),13th to 15th April,2011.
[2] Duc-Cuong Quach, Quan Yin, Yu-Feng Shi and ChunJie Zhou, Design and Implementation of Three-phase
SVPWM Inverter with 16-bit dsPIC, 2012 12th
International Conference on Control, Automation,
Robotics & Vision Guangzhou, China, 5-7th December
2012 (ICARCV 2012).
[3] Zhenya Yu, Arefeen Mohammed, Issa Panahi,Review
of Three PWM techniques,Texas Instruments, DSP
Automotive/Industrial Applications, Houston, TX
77477.
[4] Slamet, Generation of Space Vector PWM Using
Microcontroller ATmega 16, International Journal of
Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 3,
March-2013 ISSN 2229-5518.
[5] Oscar Lopez Sanchez, SVPWM for multilevel
multiphase voltage source converters,Vigo,9th Jan
2009.
[6] Marwan A.A. Badran, Ahmad M. Tahir, Waleed F.
Faris, Digital Implementation of Space Vector Pulse
Width
Modulation
Technique
Using
8-bit
Microcontroller, World Applied Sciences Journal 21
(Mathematical Applications in Engineering): 21-28,
2013 ISSN 1818-4952 IDOSI Publications, 2013.
[7] Mr.N.D.Patel,H.D.Patel,R.R.Soni,T.H.Panchal,
Development and implementation of spwm Logic
using dspic33fj16gs402 for three Phase inverter,
Journal of information, knowledge and research in
Electrical engineering.
[8] Susovan Mukhopadhyay, Sujit K. Biswas, Nirmal K.
Deb, A Simple Sector Independent Space Vector
Modulation using DSP Processor, International Journal
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[9] ATMEL, Atmega328P datasheet
[10] dsPIC30F datasheet.

Naik. R. L Was born in Herigulbal, Karnataka, India

st
on 1 July 1974. He obtained B.E (Electrical and
Electronics) from Karnataka University Dharwad,
Karnataka, India in 1996 and M.Tech (Power and
Energy System) from NITK Surathkal Karnataka,
India in 2005. His areas of interest include Power Electronics,
Drives and Renewable Energy Sources. He has attended National
and International Conferences. Presently he is working as faculty
in the Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering at
Basaveshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot, India.
Dr. Suresh. H. Jangamshetti: (S'88, M'90, SM'97)
was born in Bijapur, Karnataka, India on May 28,
1963. He obtained his B.E (Electrical) degree from
Karnataka University Dharwad in 1985 and M.Tech.
(Power Systems) & Ph.D (Wind Energy Systems)
from IIT Kharagpur in 1989 & 2000 respectively. His areas of
interest include Wind-Solar Energy Systems, Energy
Conservation, Computer Applications to Power System and
FACTS He won the "Outstanding IEEE Student Branch
Counsellor" award for the year 1996(R10) and 2010 (IEEE
Bangalore Section) at Basaveshwar Engineering College,
Bagalkot, Karnataka, India. He was Fulbright-Nehru Visiting
Lecture Fellow at Michigan Technological University, Houghton
MI USA during Fall 2011. He is working as Professor in the
department of E&E at Basaveshwar Engineering College,
Bagalkot.

Author Profile
Asma was born in Mudhol, Karnataka, India on 7th
Dec. 1987. She obtained B.E (Electrical and
Electronics) from Kuvempu University, Karnataka,
India in 2009. She is currently pursuing M.Tech.
Degree in Power and Energy Systems in Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, Basaveshwar Engineering College, Bagalkot, India.

Paper ID: 020141254

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