High-resolution time-to-digital converters (TDCs) with a bidirectional encoder
Yu Wang, Wujun Xie, Haochang Chen, David Day-Uei Li

TL;DR
This paper presents a high-resolution FPGA-based TDC using wave union, dual-sampling, and sub-TDL techniques, achieving 0.4 ps resolution and 3.06 ps RMS precision suitable for scientific applications.
Contribution
It introduces a novel combination of wave union, dual-sampling, and sub-TDL methods with a bidirectional encoder for high-resolution TDCs in FPGA.
Findings
Achieves 0.4 ps resolution at 450 MHz sampling rate
Attains 3.06 ps RMS precision in best-case scenarios
Demonstrates suitability for particle physics and biomedical imaging
Abstract
A high-resolution time-to-digital converter (TDC) based on wave union (four-edge WU A), dual-sampling, and sub-TDL methods is proposed and implemented in a 16-nm Xilinx UltraScale+ field-programmable gate array (FPGA). We combine WU and dual-sampling techniques to achieve a high resolution. Besides, we use the sub-TDL method and the proposed bidirectional encoder to suppress bubbles and encode four-transition pseudo thermometer codes efficiently. Experimental results indicate the proposed TDC achieves a 0.4 ps resolution with a 450MHz sampling clock and a 3.06 ps RMS precision in the best-case scenario. These characteristics make this design suitable for particle physics, biomedical imaging (such as positron emission tomography, PET), and general-purpose scientific instruments.
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsAdvancements in PLL and VCO Technologies · Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Design · Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research
