학술논문
From Multiphase to Novel Single-Phase Multichannel Shift-Clock Fast Counter Time-to-Digital Converter
Document Type
Periodical
Author
Source
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron. Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on. 71(8):9886-9894 Aug, 2024
Subject
Language
ISSN
0278-0046
1557-9948
1557-9948
Abstract
With countless applications, time measurements are among industrial electronics' current most important challenges. This is not a matter of precision, which by now standard architectures have brought in the order of picoseconds and therefore at the physical limits of most common detection systems, but to the number of channels in continuous enormous growth. Just think about time-of-flight (TOF)-based applications like 3-D-imaging, time-of-arrival real-time locating systems, TOF positron emission tomography, and so on. This addresses the research on the design of new time-to-digital converters characterized by a huge number of channels and precision compliant with detectors' time resolution. In this context, field programmable gate array architectures provide fully digital and completely programmable solutions meeting the demands for flexible setups and speedy prototyping. The innovative contribution provided by the new counter architecture proposed consists of the reduction of the area required for implementation (only 110 SLICEs), with a consequent increase in the number of channels (up to hundreds in a tiny Aritx-7), much higher than the state-of-the-art multiphase solutions available today and of the new complete generation of the time estimates in real time, all while maintaining a state-of-the-art low power consumption and high resolution (up to 150 ps) and precision (up to 68.4 ps r.m.s.).