A 19 ps Precision and 170 M Samples/s Time-to-Digital Converter Implemented in FPGA with Online Calibration
Source abstract
Abstract
This paper presents a 19 ps precision and 170 M samples/s time-to-digital converter (TDC) in FPGA. Through the direct count method and tapped delay line method, the coarse count and fine count can be extracted, respectively. The direct count is realized by the 350 M clock and the tapped delay line is constructed by the CARRY4 block. The ones-counter encoder is used to convert the thermometer code with bubble errors into binary code, which is applicable to all the FPGA chips. This work not only explains the schematic of the ones-counter encoder, but also shows how to configure it. Owing to the inconsistency of delay elements caused by process, bin-by-bin calibration is utilized to improve the differential nonlinearities (DNL) and integral nonlinearities (INL) of the TDC. A novel method was developed to compensate the influence of voltage and temperature. As the delay elements vary with voltage and temperature, a frequency counter is used to extrapolate and compensate its effect on the delay line. All of the above strategies use online calibration and improve the precision and sampling rate of TDC. The experimental results show the least significant bit (LSB) achieves 17.4 ps, the DNL is within [−0.90, 1.67] LSB, and the INL is in the range of [−1.90, 3.31] LSB.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Advancements in PLL and VCO Technologies · Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Design · Advanced Electrical Measurement Techniques
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Silicon Devices, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Funding
National Key Research and Development Plan of China “New Energy Vehicle Special”
References (31)
Show source-provided references
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