High-Precise Portable Time Interval and Frequency Counter

R. Szplet, Z. Jachna, K. Rozyc, and P. Kwiatkowski

Abstract:	We describe a precise, portable time interval and frequency counter module controlled and powered via the USB port. To obtain both wide measurement range and high precision the counting of periods of a reference clock is combined with a two-stage interpolation within a single clock period. In the second stage of interpolation newly developed multiple independent coding lines are used to provide the time-to-digital conversion with a resolution of 1.8 ps and precision not worse than 10 ps. The counter module allows measurement of time intervals within the range from 0 up to 1000 s and frequency from 1 mHz up to 3.5 GHz. The main units of the counter are integrated in an FPGA device. The on-board DDR RAM memory supported by a dedicated memory controller block, integrated in FPGA, allows the decrease of the dead time of the counter and achieves the maximum measurement rate of 5×106 measurements per second. The comprehensive control, diagnostics, and statistical data processing are provided by the dedicated software.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 44th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting November 26 - 29, 2012 Hyatt Regency Reston Town Center Reston, Virginia
Pages:	247 - 256
Cite this article:	Szplet, R., Jachna, Z., Rozyc, K., Kwiatkowski, P., "High-Precise Portable Time Interval and Frequency Counter," Proceedings of the 44th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting, Reston, Virginia, November 2012, pp. 247-256.
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