Duty cycle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A duty cycle is the percent of time that an entity spends in an active state as a fraction of the total time under
consideration.[1][2] The term is often used pertaining to electrical devices, e.g., switching power supplies. It is
also sometimes used pertaining to living systems such as the firing of action potentials byneurons. In an
electrical device, a 60% duty cycle means the power is on 60% of the time and off 40% of the time. The "on
time" for a 60% duty cycle could be a fraction of a second – or for say, irrigation pumps, days – depending on
how long the device's period is. Here one period is the length of time it takes for the device to go through a
complete on/off cycle. The term "duty cycle" has no agreed meaning for aperiodic devices. [citation needed]

Contents

  [hide] 

 1 Definition

 2 Examples

o 2.1 Electronics and digital signal processing

o 2.2 Electrical devices

o 2.3 Biological systems

 3 References

Definition[edit]

The duty cycle   is defined as the ratio between the pulse duration ( ) and the period ( ) of a rectangular waveform

In a periodic event, duty cycle is the ratio of the duration of the event to the total period of a signal.

[3]
duty cycle 

where

 is the duration that the function is active.

 is the period of the function.

Examples[edit]
Electronics and digital signal processing[edit]
In an ideal pulse train (one having rectangular pulses), the duty cycle is the pulse duration divided
by the pulse period.[4] For example, a pulse train in which the pulse duration is 1 μs and the pulse
period is 4 μs has a duty cycle of 25%. The pulse duration is normally calculated for positive
pulses unless "negative duty cycle" is specified.

The duty cycle of a non-rectangular waveform, such as a sine or triangle wave, is defined as the
fraction of the period the waveform spends above 0.[5]

In a continuously variable slope delta (CVSD) modulation converter, the mean proportion

of binary "1" digits at the converter output in which each "1" indicates a run of a specified number
of consecutive bits of the same polarity in the digital output signal.

Electrical devices[edit]
Electrical motors typically use less than a 100% duty cycle. For example, if a motor runs for one
out of 100 seconds, or 1/100 of the time, then, its duty cycle is 1/100, or 1 percent. [6]

In electronic music, music synthesizers vary the duty cycle of their audio-frequency oscillators to

obtain a subtle effect on the tone colors. This technique is known as pulse-width
modulation (PWM).

In the printer / copier industry, the duty cycle specification refers to the rated throughput (that is,
printed pages) of a device per month.

In a welding power supply, the maximum duty cycle is defined as the percentage of time in a 10
minute period that it can be operated continuously before overheating. [7]