Design of a Time Detector with Adjustable Resolution

With the continuous improvement of integrated circuit technology, the time detector, especially one with adjustable resolution, has a good development prospect. In this paper, a multi-bit time detector with adjustable resolution and configurable measurement range is presented, whose timing link composed of identical timing units is similar to ring oscillator. To adjust the resolution, the current and link of the timing unit are controlled by control code. The proposed time detector is implemented in CMOS 180nm technology. Simulation results show that the measuring range can reach the microsecond level under a 1.8-V supply. Meanwhile, the resolution corresponding to the control code 00, 01, 10 and 11 are 13.3ns, 25.8ns, 39.7ns and 48.5ns, respectively. Therefore, there is a linear relationship between the resolution and the value of control code.