The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 22, 2019
Filed:
Oct. 24, 2016
Analog Devices, Inc., Norwood, MA (US);
Ralph D. Moore, Greensboro, NC (US);
Ryan Lee Bunch, Greensboro, NC (US);
Carroll C. Speir, Pleasant Garden, NC (US);
ANALOG DEVICES, INC., Norwood, MA (US);
Abstract
A time-to-digital converter (TDC) detects a timing relationship between signals representing two temporal events. Several samples are acquired over a certain time period for each event, and the signals related to the different events are digitized or quantized either by separate TDCs or by a single TDC in a time-sequential manner. The quantized results are then processed, for example added to/subtracted from one another, and used to determine the phase or time difference between the two events. When information being quantized is quasi-static over time periods where the measurement is performed, the instantaneous or 'one shot' accuracy of a TDC need not be as good as or better than the desired time resolution. Digitally processing the signals and averaging the results moves an otherwise difficult analog quantizer problem to the digital domain where savings in power and chip area can be easily achieved without sacrificing accuracy.