Reconfigurable time interval measurement circuit incorporating a programmable gain time difference amplifier

Abstract

Time interval measurement (TIM) is used in a wide range of applications, for example, physics experiments, dynamic testing of integrated circuits (IC), telecommunications, laser distance measurement, X-ray and UV imagers etc., requiring a range of measurement accuracy and resolution. In this work, a reconfigurable TIM is designed with an adjustable resolution range of 15 down to 0.5 ps and a measurement dynamic range of 480 to 16 ps to perform a variety of time related measurements which require different test specifications; such as set-up and hold time and jitter measurements. It is considered that a reconfigurable measurement system will occupy less chip area than a range of measurement circuits designed for one specific test. The reconfigurable TIM consists of two parts, a programmable time difference amplifier and 32 cells tapped delay line. The proposed programmable time difference amplifier is designed to have a variable gain ranging from 4 to 117 with a very wide dynamic input range.