duty cycle
In telecommunication and electronics, the term duty cycle has the following meanings:
The duty cycle D is defined as the ratio between the pulse duration and the period (T) of a rectangular waveform
Enlarge
The duty cycle D is defined as the ratio between the pulse duration and the period (T) of a rectangular waveform
* In a periodic phenomenon, the ratio of the duration of the phenomenon in a given period to the period.
duty cycle = \frac{\tau}{T} \
where
D is the duration that the function is non-zero
Τ is the period of the function.
For example, in an ideal pulse train (one having rectangular pulses), the duty cycle is the pulse duration divided by the pulse period. For a pulse train in which the pulse duration is 1 μs and the pulse period is 4 μs, the duty cycle is 0.25.
For another example, for a piece of electrical equipment, like an electric motor, the period for which it may be operated without deleterious effects, such as from overheating.
* The ratio of (a) the sum of all pulse durations during a specified period of continuous operation to (b) the total specified period of operation.
* 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.
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is used in some music synthesizers to vary the duty-cycle of an oscillator during the performance, which has a subtle effect on the tone colors obtained.