A 45 PS Time-Interval Counter Board with a PCI Interface

Ryszard Szplet, Józef Kalisz, Zbigniew Jachna, and Krzysztof Rózyc

Abstract:	This paper describes the design and test results of a precise time-interval and frequency counter board with PCI interface. The counter utilizes two two-stage interpolators that provide 45 ps resolution (LSB) over the measurement range from 0 to 4400 s. The frequency is measured from 0.3 mHz to 3.5 GHz with the use of reciprocal method with two modes of operation. The counter board can also be used for estimation of frequency stability and frequency comparison of clock sources of the same nominal frequency. The main units of the counter are integrated in an FPGA device. The built-in digital clock manager units are used for frequency synthesis and for generation of the four-phase clock used in the first interpolation stage. The fast arithmetic carry chains are used as high-resolution tapped delay lines in the second interpolation stage. The internal FIFO memory allows one to decrease the dead time of the counter and achieve the maximum measurement rate of 5×106 measurements per second. The counter board is supported by the dedicated software, providing comprehensive control, diagnostics, and statistical data processing.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 39th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Meeting November 27 - 29, 2007 Hyatt Regency Long Beach Long Beach, California
Pages:	531 - 540
Cite this article:	Szplet, Ryszard, Kalisz, Józef, Jachna, Zbigniew, Rózyc, Krzysztof, "A 45 PS Time-Interval Counter Board with a PCI Interface," Proceedings of the 39th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Meeting, Long Beach, California, November 2007, pp. 531-540.
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