#!/usr/bin/env python3 """ MBI5026 current set resistor calculations The MBI5026's output current is set by a current set via a single resistor connected to its R_ext pin. To get a larger inter-frame dynamic range Megumin can switch between four different current ranges. The ratio between one current range and the next smaller one is r=1:8 (eq. -lg(r)=3 bit). This means at b=12bit BCM range we get a minimum of bmin = b+lg(r) = 8bit @ r=1:16, b=12bit worst-case in the intermediate ranges using a static current setting. Megumin uses BC847 small-signal NPN transistors to switch between three current ranges: ┌─────────┐ │ MBI5026 │ │ │ │ Rext─┼──┬──┤R1├───────────GND │ │ │ └─────────┘ ├──┤R2├──┤BC847├──GND │ ├──┤R3├──┤BC847├──GND │ └──┤R4├──┤BC847├──GND The transistors are used to select either or none of {R2, R3, R4}. This means the R_ext pin sees either R1, R1||R2, R1||R3 or R1||R4. We don't do a full R-2R or similar DAC configuration as we only have to maintain the ratio r between ranges. Megumin's smallest BCM period is tb=250ns resulting in a base BCM rate of 4MHz minus control overhead. This results in a BCM period and frame rate of Tm = tb*(2**b) = 1.024ms @ tb=250ns, b=12bit. fm = 1/Tm ≈ 1kHz Now, if we want to modulate the display at a current range in between two of the preset ranges, we can switch between both ranges with a ratio of sqrt(r)=1:4 and still get a frame rate of f = fm/sqrt(r) = 250Hz @ fm=1kHz, r=1:16 Normalized to the larger of the two ranges (here r1=1) we get the following equation for the ratio of the resulting modulated range: r_im1 = sqrt(r)*r1 = 0.25 @ r=1:16, r1=1 r_im_tot = r_im1 + (1-sqrt(r))*r2 = 0.297 @ r2=r*r1 Including the 2 bit gained by inter-frame modulation this results in the following basic ranges at framerate f=250Hz with a slight mid-range discontinuity at the mixed ranges: Range max │ Total bits ───────────┼────────────────────── 1.000 │ 14 0.297 | 16 (14 at mid-range) 0.250 | 14 The resistances of the resistors R1, R2, R3, R4 used are calculated in this script. """ prefixes = {' ': 1, 'k': 1e3, 'M': 1e6, 'm': 1e-3, 'μ': 1e-6, 'n': 1e-9} def format_unit(val): for prefix, magnitude in prefixes.items(): if 1.0 <= val/magnitude < 1000.0: return val/magnitude, prefix else: if val<1: return val/10e-9, 'n' else: return val/10e6, 'M' def print_var(name, val, unit, **kwargs): scaled, prefix = format_unit(val) print('{} = {: >7.3f}{}{}'.format(name, scaled, prefix, unit), **kwargs) r = 1/16 stages = 3 mod_r = 1/8 I_max_led = 0.01 n_boards = 20 n_digits_per_board = 8*4 n_leds = n_boards*n_digits_per_board*8 V_fw = 1.9 # V print('r = 1:{:.0f}'.format(1/r)) I_min_led = I_max_led*(r**(stages-1)) # A I_max_mod = I_max_led/mod_r I_min_mod = I_min_led/mod_r print_var('I_max_led', I_max_led, 'A') print_var('I_max_mod', I_max_mod, 'A') print_var('I_min_mod', I_min_mod, 'A') if (I_max_mod > 0.09): print('\033[91mError: The MBI5026 has a maximum output current of 90mA!\033[0m') Vrext = 1.26 # V # Iout = 15 * Vrext/Rext | acc. to MBI5026 datasheet R1 = 15*Vrext/I_min_mod Itot_1 = n_leds * mod_r * I_min_mod Ptot_1 = Itot_1 * V_fw print_var('R1', R1, 'Ω', end='\t') print_var('I1', I_min_mod, 'A', end='\t') print_var('Itot_1', Itot_1, 'A', end='\t') print_var('Ptot_1', Ptot_1, 'W') for i in range(stages-2, -1, -1): # Rpar = 15*Vrext/(I_max_mod*r) # R1||R2 = 1/(1/R1 + 1/R2) =!= Rpar = 15*Vrext/(I_max_mod*r) # ⇒ 1/R1 + 1/R2 = 1/(15*Vrext/(I_max_mod*r)) # ⇒ 1/R2 = 1/(15*Vrext/(I_max_mod*r)) - 1/R1 # ⇒ R2 = 1/((I_max_mod*r)/(15*Vrext) - 1/R1) In = I_max_mod*(r**i) Rn = 1/(In/(15*Vrext) - 1/R1) Itot_n = n_leds * mod_r * In Ptot_n = Itot_n * V_fw scaled, prefix = format_unit(Rn) print_var('R{}'.format(stages-i), Rn, 'Ω', end='\t') print_var('I{}'.format(stages-i), In, 'A', end='\t') print_var('Itot_{}'.format(stages-i), Itot_n, 'A', end='\t') print_var('Ptot_{}'.format(stages-i), Ptot_n, 'W')