Clockless time-to-digital converter
US11415947B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 10, 2019 |
| Grant date | Aug 16, 2022 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 10, 2039 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH03M1/504
- WIPO fieldBasic communication processes
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Technologies are provided for time-to-digital conversion without reliance on a clocking signal. The technologies include a clockless TDC apparatus that can map continuous pulse-widths to binary bits represented via an iterative chaotic map (e.g., tent map, Bernoulli shift map, or similar). The clockless TDC apparatus can convert separated pulses to a single asynchronous digital pulse that turns on when a sensor detects a first pulse and turns off when the sensor detects a second pulse. The asynchronous digital pulse can be iteratively stretched and folded in time according to the chaotic map. The clockless TDC can generate a binary sequence that represents symbolic dynamics of the chaotic map. The process can be implemented by using an iterative time delay component until a precision of the binary output is either satisfied or overwhelmed by noise or other structural fluctuations of the TDC apparatus.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.