Time to digital converter with high resolution

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9568889-B1
Application number	US-201615183752-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 15, 2016
Priority date	Jun 15, 2016
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

A time to digital converter (TDC) with high resolution is provided. The TDC includes a counter, a reference value generator and a comparator. The counter samples an input signal according to a clock signal to calculate a pulse width of the input signal. The reference value generator samples a ruler signal according to the clock signal to generate a reference value. Herein, a frequency of the clock signal is greater than a frequency of the ruler signal, and the frequency of the ruler signal is greater than a frequency of the input signal. The comparator is coupled to the counter and the reference value generator, and compares the pulse width of the input signal and the reference value to generate a count result.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A time to digital converter with high resolution, comprising:
a first counter, sampling an input signal according to a clock signal to calculate a first pulse width of the input signal;
a reference value generator, sampling a ruler signal according to the clock signal to generate a reference value, wherein a frequency of the clock signal is greater than a frequency of the ruler signal, and the frequency of the ruler signal is greater than a frequency of the input signal; and
a comparator, coupled to the first counter and the reference value generator, and comparing the first pulse width of the input signal and the reference value to generate a count result,
wherein the reference value generator samples the ruler signal according to the clock signal to calculate a second pulse width of the ruler signal, and periodically latches the second pulse width according to the ruler signal to generate the reference value.

2. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the reference value generator comprises:
a second counter, sampling the ruler signal according to the clock signal to calculate the second pulse width of the ruler signal, and executing a reset operation according to an inverted signal of the ruler signal; and
a latch, coupled between the second counter and the comparator, and determining to transmit the second pulse width of the ruler signal to serve as the reference value or latch the second pulse width of the ruler signal to generate the reference value according to a logic level of the ruler signal.

3. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the reference value generator further comprises:
a delay circuit, coupled to the second counter and the latch, and receiving the ruler signal, and sequentially latching the ruler signal to respectively generate a latch enable signal and a counter reset signal, wherein the delay circuit outputs the latch enable signal to an enable terminal of the latch, and outputs the counter reset signal to a reset terminal of the second counter.

4. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the delay circuit comprises a first buffer and a second buffer coupled in series to each other.

5. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the second pulse width of the ruler signal is determined according to a predetermined capacitance variation.

6. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the comparator comprises:
a comparison circuit, coupled to the first counter and the reference value generator, and comparing the reference value and the first pulse width to output a comparison result;
a third counter, coupled to the comparison circuit, and counting the comparison result to generate a quotient obtained by performing a dividing operation to the first pulse width according to the reference value; and
a fourth counter, coupled to the comparison circuit and the reference value generator, and being enabled when a remainder obtained by performing the dividing operation to the first pulse width according to the reference value is not 0, wherein when the fourth counter is enabled, the fourth counter determines a fraction portion of the count result by comparing the remainder and the reference value.

7. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the first counter executes a reset operation according to the comparison result output by the comparison circuit.

8. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a first AND gate, coupled to the first counter, receiving the clock signal and the input signal, and outputting a first sampling result for providing to a clock input terminal of the first counter; and
a second AND gate, coupled to the reference value generator, receiving the clock signal and the ruler signal, and outputting a second sampling result for providing to a clock input terminal of the reference value generator.

9. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
a first double edge detecting circuit, coupled to the first counter, detecting a first logic level of the clock signal according to a rising edge and a falling edge of the input signal, and generating a first control signal in response to the detected first logic level of the clock signal, wherein the first counter determines whether to execute a count operation according o the first control signal.

10. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising:
a second double edge detecting circuit, coupled to the reference value generator, detecting a second logic level of the clock signal according to a rising edge and a falling edge of the ruler signal, and generating a second control signal in response to the detected second logic level of the clock signal, wherein the reference value generator determines whether to execute the count operation according o the second control signal.

11. The time to digital converter with high resolution as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the double edge detecting circuit is a D-type flip-flop, a clock input terminal of the D-type flip-flop receives the input signal, a signal input signal of the D-type flip-flop receives the clock signal, and an output terminal of the D-type flip-flop outputs the control signal to an enable terminal of the counter.

12. A time to digital converter with high resolution, comprising:
a phase-locked loop device, providing a clock signal;
a double edge detecting circuit, coupled to the phase-locked loop device, detecting a logic level of the clock signal according to a rising edge and a falling edge of an input signal, and generating a control signal in response to the detected logic level of the clock signal; and
a counter, coupled to the phase-locked loop device and the double edge detecting circuit, and determining whether to execute a count operation according to the control signal, wherein when the counter executes the count operation, the counter samples the input signal according to the clock signal to output a count result corresponding to the input signal.

Assignees

• Winbond Electronics Corp

Inventors

• Lee Chen-Yi

Classifications

• G04F10/005 Primary

  Time-to-digital converters [TDC] (analog-to-digital converters with intermediate conversion to time or phase H03M1/50, H03M1/60) · CPC title

• G04F10/04

  by counting pulses or half-cycles of an AC {(G04F10/005 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• G04F10/00

  Apparatus for measuring unknown time intervals by electric means · CPC title