A 4.8 ps root-mean-square resolution time-to-digital converter implemented in a 20 nm Cyclone-10 GX field-programmable gate array

It is difficult to improve the resolution and precision of a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based time-to-digital converter (TDC) in time interval measurement. In this study, we design a carry-look-ahead delay chain structure and integrate an interleaved sampling method with an online calibration and bin readjustment approach to implement a TDC. We take advantage of the adaptive logic module units applied in a Cyclone-10 GX (10CX220YF780E5G), which is a 20 nm low-power consumption and low-cost FPGA. In this new generation FPGA, we implemented a high-precision time interval measurement, which exceeded all our previous works with a 4.8 ps root-mean-square resolution and a 5.68 ps least-significant-bit resolution. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

In this study, we developed a new FPGA-based TDC that utilizes a carry-look-ahead delay chain structure, interleaved sampling method, and online calibration and bin readjustment approach. The TDC achieved high-resolution and high-precision time interval measurement.