document the LED1642GW and ledcontroller modules

led1642gw.c

@@ -13,15 +13,29 @@
 
 #include <string.h>
 #include "led1642gw.h"
-#include <util/delay.h>
 
 #include "led1642gw_config.h"
 
-#define NUM_LED1642GW_CHANNELS (16)
+#define NUM_LED1642GW_CHANNELS (16) // number of LED channels per IC
+
+//total numer of channels. needed to calculate the buffer size.
 #define NUM_LED_CHANNELS (NUM_LED1642GW_CHANNELS*NUM_LED1642GW_ICs)
 
+
+/* The buffer to hold the LED values.
+ * The data in this buffer can be manipulated with
+ * e.g. led1642gw_set().
+ * calling led1642gw_flush() sends the data in this buffer
+ * the data registers of the LED1642 ICs.
+ */
 static uint16_t ledbuffer[NUM_LED_CHANNELS];
 
+
+/*
+ * Write 16 bits of \data, with LE set high
+ * for the number of clock cycles specified in \le_clocks.
+ * MSB comes first, LSB is last.
+ */
 static void write_data(uint16_t data, uint8_t le_clocks)
 {
   uint16_t mask = 0x8000;
@@ -44,6 +58,7 @@ static void write_data(uint16_t data, uint8_t le_clocks)
     mask >>= 1;
  }
   
+  // set all pins to low after transmission
   SET_CLK_L();
   SET_LE_L();
   SET_SDI_L();
@@ -51,46 +66,67 @@ static void write_data(uint16_t data, uint8_t le_clocks)
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * Write data to BRIGHTNESS DATA LATCH register.
+ * that means setting LE high for 3 or 4 clock cycles
+ */
 static void write_data_latch(uint16_t data)
 {
   write_data(data, 4);
 }
 
+/* 
+ * Write data to BRIGHTNESS GLOBAL LATCH register.
+ * that means setting LE high for 5 or 6 clock cycles
+ */
 static void write_global_latch(uint16_t data)
 {
   write_data(data, 6);
 }
 
+/*
+ * This function shifts data through the 16bit shift
+ * register of the LED1642GW, without writing the data
+ * to any internal register of the IC.
+ * This way, we can daisy chain an bunch of LED1642GW ICs,
+ * and still get data through to any of those.
+ */
 static void write_no_command(uint16_t data)
 {
   write_data(data, 0);
 }
 
 
+/* 
+ * Turn all channels on, so the data in the DATA LATCH 
+ * register affects the LEDs attached to the IC.
+ */
 void led1642gw_turn_all_on(void)
 {
   
   write_data(0xffff, 2);
-  _delay_us(10);
   write_data(0xffff, 2);
-  _delay_us(10);
   write_data(0xffff, 2);
-  _delay_us(10);
 }
 
 
+/* 
+ * Turn all channels off,
+ */
 void led1642gw_turn_all_off(void)
 {
   
   write_data(0x0000, 2);
-  _delay_us(10);
   write_data(0x0000, 2);
-  _delay_us(10);
   write_data(0x0000, 2);
-  _delay_us(10);
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * Initialize the pins of the ATMega processor
+ * to drive the data signals to the ICs
+ * and initialize the LED buffer to zero.
+ */
 void led1642gw_init(void)
 {
 
@@ -105,19 +141,42 @@ void led1642gw_init(void)
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * Transmit data from the ledbuffer to the BRIGHTNESS latches of
+ * the LED driver ICs.
+ * Let's assume, we have n LED1642GW ICs daisy chained. Then
+ * we write n-1 times with write_no_command, to shift all
+ * data through the 16bit shift registers of each of the ICs.
+ * Then we once write with write_data_latch to store the data
+ * in the BRIGHTNESS DATA registers of the respective ICs.
+ * We do this for all but the last set of brightness data,
+ * where we don't write to the DATA LATCH, but to the GLOBAL DATA LATCH.
+ */
 void led1642gw_flush(void)
 {
   uint8_t channel;
   uint8_t ic;
+
+  // for each of the first 15 channels, do the following:
   for (channel=0; channel<NUM_LED1642GW_CHANNELS-1; channel++) {
+	  // shift data throught the first n-1 ICs with write_no_command
 	  for (ic=0; ic<(NUM_LED1642GW_ICs-1); ic++) {
 		  write_no_command(ledbuffer[channel+(NUM_LED1642GW_CHANNELS*ic)]);
 	  }
+	  // then, when the brightness data has propagated through the
+	  // shift registers, write all data into the DATA LATCH of
+	  // all of the ICs.
 	  write_data_latch(ledbuffer[channel+(ic*NUM_LED1642GW_CHANNELS)]);
   }
+  // for the 16th channel, we don't write to the DATA LATCH, but
+  // to the CLOBAL data latch.
+  // once more, we do the trick with write_no_command, to 
+  // shift data through all the ICs
   for (ic=1; ic<NUM_LED1642GW_ICs; ic++) {
 	  write_no_command(ledbuffer[(ic*NUM_LED1642GW_CHANNELS)-1]);
   }
+  // than, at last, write data to the global latch, to force 
+  // the ICs to update their brightness data from the DATA LATCHES.
   write_global_latch(ledbuffer[(ic*NUM_LED1642GW_CHANNELS)-1]);
 
 }

ledcontroller.c

@@ -19,7 +19,10 @@
 #include "ledcontroller.h"
 #include "led1642gw.h"
 
-
+/*
+ * Application specific mapping of LEDs and there respective color channels
+ * to the respective channels of the three LED1642GW ICs.
+ */
 static int8_t map_lednum_to_channels(uint8_t lednum, uint8_t *channel_r, uint8_t *channel_g, uint8_t *channel_b)
 {
   uint8_t ret=0;
@@ -107,7 +110,12 @@ static int8_t map_lednum_to_channels(uint8_t lednum, uint8_t *channel_r, uint8_t
 
 }
 
-
+/*
+ * set one RGB LED to a RGB value.
+ * This only changes the Red, Green and Blue values in the
+ * internal LED buffer, the physical LED will still remain in its previous
+ * state, until you call led_flush().
+ */
 void led_set(uint8_t lednum, uint16_t red, uint16_t green, uint16_t blue)
 {
 	uint8_t c_r, c_g, c_b;
@@ -120,24 +128,41 @@ void led_set(uint8_t lednum, uint16_t red, uint16_t green, uint16_t blue)
 
 }
 
+/*
+ * Write the data stored in the LED buffers via led_set().
+ */
 void led_flush(void)
 {
 	led1642gw_flush();
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * Clear the LED buffer.
+ * This function only affects the LED buffer, but not the LEDs, until
+ * you call led_flush().
+ */
 void led_clear(void)
 {
 	led1642gw_clear();
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * Initialize the leddriver.
+ * Must be called before any other function in this module.
+ */
 void led_init(void)
 {
 	led1642gw_init();
 }
 
 
+/*
+ * Turn all channels on on every LED1642GW IC.
+ * If you don't turn the channels on, led_set
+ * won't have any effect, and the LEDs will remain dark.
+ */
 void led_turn_all_on(void)
 {
 	led1642gw_turn_all_on();