Introduction

A key requirement in most applications is the ability to generate and control waveforms at various frequencies. Most common demands for such sources are industrial test setups for providing frequency stimulus, communication equipment with low-noise requirements, or medical testing devices.

The Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) technique is gaining wide popularity and acceptance from the industrial community to achieve programmable analog outputs with accuracy and high resolution. The traditional Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM), which is commonly referred to as the poor man’s Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) was previously being used for this purpose. The PWM method has the limitation of generating arbitrary waveforms in low-frequency ranges, which is overcome using the DDS technique.

This application note focuses on the use of the Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO) module for designing a Sine Wave Generator. The NCO module uses the DDS technique for generating waveforms, and is available on various PIC16(L)F devices. For more information on other Core Independent Peripherals refer to www.microchip.com/CIP.