Artery AT32 Timers, PWM and Advanced Control Peripherals: A Practical Guide

Timers are where an MCU stops being a calculator and starts controlling real power. For motor drives, digital power supplies and LED lighting, the timer block — especially the advanced timers with complementary PWM and dead-time control — is the part you design around. This guide is a practical tour of AT32 timer and PWM capabilities for control applications.

1. Timer types on AT32

• Advanced timers — complementary outputs, dead time, brake input, center-aligned PWM; the core of bridge drives.
• General-purpose timers — multiple independent PWM channels, input capture, output compare.
• Basic timers — time base and trigger sources for DAC or other blocks.

2. Building a half-bridge drive

A half-bridge needs two PWM signals that are never high at once. The advanced timer gives you complementary pairs with dead time and a brake pin that forces both outputs off on a fault. The checklist:

• Set the dead time from MOSFET turn-off plus margin; confirm with a scope, not the datasheet alone.
• Route the brake/fault input from your over-current or over-temperature comparator.
• Use center-aligned mode to reduce output ripple and EMI for motor and PFC stages.
• Sync the ADC to the PWM so current is sampled at a stable point in the cycle.

3. Typical applications

4. Validate on the bench

Dead time, brake behaviour and ADC synchronization must be confirmed under load and at temperature corners. We carry the AT32F403ACGT7 and can quote AT32 and supporting power parts together. For a broader peripheral picture, see the AT32F4 high-performance guide.

Frequently asked questions

What can the advanced timers on AT32 do that general-purpose timers cannot?

Advanced timers add complementary outputs with programmable dead time, brake (fault) inputs, and center-aligned PWM. Those are what you need for half-bridge and full-bridge drives, so the high-side and low-side switches never conduct at the same time and a fault shuts the output down safely.

How do I set dead time for a half-bridge?

Dead time is a small delay inserted between turning one switch off and the other on. Size it from the MOSFET turn-off time plus margin, then verify on the bench with an oscilloscope that there is no shoot-through and the resulting distortion is acceptable to your load.

Can one AT32 drive several motors or multiple PWM channels?

Yes. The AT32F4 family offers multiple advanced and general-purpose timers, so you can run several independent PWM channels, often enough for a multi-phase converter or more than one small motor, subject to timer and DMA resource planning.

Do you supply AT32 for motor and power designs?

We stock Artery AT32 MCUs as an independent distributor. Send the exact part, package and quantity for availability and a quote; we can also bundle gate drivers and power parts in the same BOM.

About us & trademarks: JTDZ Tech (Shenzhen Jingteng Electronics Technology Co., Ltd.) is an independent distributor of electronic components. We are not an authorised distributor or representative of the manufacturers named in this article. Manufacturer and part names are used for indicative purposes only, to help identify the components discussed; all trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. Always verify specifications against the official datasheet before design-in or purchase.