Sunday, May 19, 2013

Reducing LED PWM Noise: Which is the best option?

Reducing LED PWM Noise: Which is the best option?

Driving an LED with a microcontroller should be easy. But when looking into noise, things can get complex...
As an instantaneous voltage indicator used in a variable power supply (which will be used to simulate a photovoltaic array of a student's designed satellite), I am using some LEDs controlled by PWM (~31 KHz).

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
After the first revision of the PCB I have realized that each one of the LEDs is generating 200 mVpp in the 5V line:

My question: which is the best way to reduce this noise? Why?
From my (small) design experience I could come with the following possibilities. Which is the most effective, taking into account real-world components (ESR in capacitors etc)? Any other suggestion? A combination of several?
(Note: changing the PWM frequency is not a good option because that same signal drives other devices)
a) Decoupling Capacitor

simulate this circuit
b) Low-pass filter
(The resistor forms an RC low pass filter with the gate capacitance of the MOSFET, removing the high frequency components of the switching)

simulate this circuit
c) Snubber

simulate this circuit

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