A VRO-based TDC with a constant timing resolution ratio between coarse-tuning and fine-tuning stages for a light sensor application

IF 1.9 3区工程技术 Q3 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC

Microelectronics Journal Pub Date : 2025-03-07 DOI:10.1016/j.mejo.2025.106637

Jen-Chieh Liu , Jian-Sheng Li , Yan-Xun Chen , Yu-Lung Lo

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study designs a vernier ring oscillator (VRO)-based time-to-digital converter (TDC), ensuring a proportional relationship between the timing resolutions of the coarse-tuning stage (CTS) and fine-tuning stage (FTS) under process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) variations. The design allows flexibility in extending the bit number to a wide input range during CTS. The timing resolutions of CTS and FTS were defined by the rise and fall times. Therefore, the timing ratio between CTS and FTS of VRO-based TDC remained constant under the PVT variations. This 14-bit TDC was fabricated using a 0.18 μm standard CMOS process with a core area of 45 μm × 200 μm. The measured timing resolution of the proposed VRO-based TDC was 125 ps, and the input range was from 10 to 200 ns. The DNL and INL values were less than ±0.244 and ± 0.336 LSB, respectively. The proposed VRO-based TDC was also integrated with a light sensor for Internet of Things applications.

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一种基于vro的TDC，在粗调谐和微调阶段之间具有恒定的时间分辨率，用于光传感器应用

本研究设计了一种基于游标环振荡器（VRO）的时间-数字转换器（TDC），确保粗调谐阶段（CTS）和微调阶段（FTS）在工艺、电压和温度（PVT）变化下的时序分辨率成比例关系。该设计允许在CTS期间将位数扩展到宽输入范围的灵活性。CTS和FTS的时间分辨率由上升和下降时间定义。因此，在PVT变化的情况下，基于vro的TDC的CTS与FTS的时序比保持不变。该14位TDC采用0.18 μm标准CMOS工艺，核心面积为45 μm × 200 μm。所提出的基于vro的TDC的测量时序分辨率为125 ps，输入范围为10 ~ 200 ns。DNL和INL值分别小于±0.244和±0.336 LSB。拟议的基于vr的TDC还集成了用于物联网应用的光传感器。

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来源期刊

Microelectronics Journal 工程技术-工程：电子与电气

CiteScore

4.00

自引率

27.30%

发文量

222

审稿时长

43 days

期刊介绍： Published since 1969, the Microelectronics Journal is an international forum for the dissemination of research and applications of microelectronic systems, circuits, and emerging technologies. Papers published in the Microelectronics Journal have undergone peer review to ensure originality, relevance, and timeliness. The journal thus provides a worldwide, regular, and comprehensive update on microelectronic circuits and systems. The Microelectronics Journal invites papers describing significant research and applications in all of the areas listed below. Comprehensive review/survey papers covering recent developments will also be considered. The Microelectronics Journal covers circuits and systems. This topic includes but is not limited to: Analog, digital, mixed, and RF circuits and related design methodologies; Logic, architectural, and system level synthesis; Testing, design for testability, built-in self-test; Area, power, and thermal analysis and design; Mixed-domain simulation and design; Embedded systems; Non-von Neumann computing and related technologies and circuits; Design and test of high complexity systems integration; SoC, NoC, SIP, and NIP design and test; 3-D integration design and analysis; Emerging device technologies and circuits, such as FinFETs, SETs, spintronics, SFQ, MTJ, etc. Application aspects such as signal and image processing including circuits for cryptography, sensors, and actuators including sensor networks, reliability and quality issues, and economic models are also welcome.