Title :
Algorithmic time-to-digital converter
Author :
Keranen, Pekka ; Kostamovaara, J.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Univ. of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Abstract :
A novel time-to-digital converter is proposed. The TDC is based on a ring oscillator, and operates by switching the oscillation frequency in a cyclic manner. The operating principle resembles a cyclic/algorithmic ADC, where the quantization error is amplified and quantized recursively. Due to the recursive operation, the TDC can achieve very high resolution. Resolution is mainly limited by nonlinearities and the phase noise of the ring oscillator. Simulations on a standard 0.35μm CMOS process show that a maximum error due to process variations and mismatch is about ±2ps when the TDC is properly calibrated. Noise induced measurement error was simulated to have a standard deviation of 0.3ps.
Keywords :
CMOS integrated circuits; calibration; electric noise measurement; integrated circuit measurement; integrated circuit noise; measurement errors; oscillators; phase noise; time-digital conversion; TDC; algorithmic time-to-digital converter; calibration; cyclic-algorithmic ADC; noise induced measurement error; phase noise; quantization error amplification; recursive quantization; ring oscillator; size 0.35 mum; standard CMOS process; switching oscillation frequency; time 0.3 ps; Clocks; Radiation detectors; Ring oscillators; Switches; Time-frequency analysis;
Conference_Titel :
NORCHIP, 2013
Conference_Location :
Vilnius
DOI :
10.1109/NORCHIP.2013.6702022
