Methods for clock signal characterization using FPGA resources

Reliable measurement of clock signal parameters is an important tool for calibration and validation of circuits used in precise-timing applications. Such parameters include frequency, phase, duty cycle and channel-to-channel skew. Especially in applications in which testing time for multiple channels is a significant factor, efficient parallelization of measurements is crucial, often coming with significant extra cost. We present a technique for characterization of clock signal parameters using off-the-shelf (FPGA) evaluation hardware. Two methods for both static measurements (steady-state behaviour) as well as dynamic measurements are presented. For the two measurement methods proposed, case studies are presented and their performance discussed.

Subjects

Digital electronic circuits

Digital signal processing (DSP)

Radiation-hard electronics

Timing detectors

Options

Methods for clock signal characterization using FPGA resources