Time measurement device and time measurement method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a time measurement device and a time measurement method. The time measurement device includes: a delay module, which is configured to perform a delay operation based on an input reference time signal and a time signal to be measured, so as to correspondingly generate a reference delay signal and a to-be-measured delay signal; a trigger unit, which is configured to output a reference level signal and a to-be-measured level signal based on the reference delay signal and the to-be-measured delay signal; a statistical unit, which is configured to respectively perform level statistics on the reference level signal and the to-be-measured level signal to obtain a reference level statistical result and a to-be-measured level statistical result; and an arithmetic unit, which is configured to perform an operation on the reference level statistical result and the to-be-measured level statistical result, so as to determine the duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result. The time measurement device according to the embodiment of the present invention can obtain a time measurement result with relatively high accuracy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to the technical field of time measurement. More specifically, the present invention relates to a time measurement device and a time measurement method. Background Art

[0002] Time measurement devices are widely used in various existing systems, such as analog-to-digital converters (referred to as ADCs) based on high-precision time-to-digital converters (referred to as TDCs), delay measurement, delay-locked loops (referred to as DLLs), time-of-flight measurement and other systems. However, existing time measurement devices have high requirements for the measurement environment, and their measurement results will deviate greatly with the change of environmental factors such as temperature.

[0003] In view of this, there is an urgent need to provide a time measurement device that can adapt to environmental changes. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to solve at least one or more of the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention proposes a time measurement device and a time measurement method in multiple aspects.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a time measurement device, including: a delay module, which is configured to perform a delay operation based on an input reference time signal and a time signal to be measured, so as to correspondingly generate a reference delay signal and a to-be-measured delay signal; a trigger unit, which is configured to output a reference level signal and a to-be-measured level signal based on the reference delay signal and the to-be-measured delay signal; a statistical unit, which is configured to perform level statistics on the reference level signal and the to-be-measured level signal respectively to obtain a reference level statistical result and a to-be-measured level statistical result; and an arithmetic unit, which is configured to perform an operation on the reference level statistical result and the to-be-measured level statistical result, so as to determine the to-be-measured time duration according to the operation result.

[0006] In some embodiments, the arithmetic unit is further configured to: perform a division operation on the to-be-measured level statistical result and the reference level statistical result to obtain a first ratio result between the to-be-measured level statistical result and the reference level statistical result; and calculate the to-be-measured time duration according to the first ratio result and the reference time duration.

[0007] In other embodiments, the time measurement device further includes: a step calculation unit, which is configured to perform an N-equal division operation on the reference level statistical result to obtain a step calculation result; the arithmetic unit is further configured to: perform a division operation on the to-be-measured level statistical result and the step calculation result to obtain a second ratio result between the to-be-measured level statistical result and the step calculation result; and calculate the to-be-measured time duration according to the second ratio result and the N-equal division duration of the reference time.

[0008] In some other embodiments, the delay module includes a delay chain composed of a plurality of delay units; and the trigger unit includes a plurality of first-stage flip-flops and a plurality of second-stage flip-flops, wherein the plurality of first-stage flip-flops are connected to the plurality of delay units in one-to-one correspondence, and the plurality of second-stage flip-flops are connected to the plurality of first-stage flip-flops in one-to-one correspondence.

[0009] In some embodiments, the reference time signal and the time signal to be measured are serially input to the delay module, and the time measurement device further includes: a first storage unit, which is connected to the statistical unit and is used to store the reference level statistical result; and a second storage unit, which is connected to the statistical unit and is used to store the statistical result of the level to be measured.

[0010] In some other embodiments, the delay module includes a first delay chain and a second delay chain. The first delay chain is composed of a plurality of first delay units, and the second delay chain is composed of a plurality of second delay units. The first delay chain is used to perform a delay operation based on the input reference time signal to generate a reference delay signal; the second delay chain is used to perform a delay operation based on the input time signal to be measured to generate a delay signal to be measured.

[0011] In some other embodiments, the trigger unit includes a first trigger group and a second trigger group. The first trigger group includes a plurality of first first-stage flip-flops and a plurality of first second-stage flip-flops, and the second trigger group includes a plurality of second first-stage flip-flops and a plurality of second second-stage flip-flops; the plurality of first first-stage flip-flops are connected to the plurality of first delay units in one-to-one correspondence; the plurality of first second-stage flip-flops are connected to the plurality of first first-stage flip-flops in one-to-one correspondence; the plurality of second first-stage flip-flops are connected to the plurality of second delay units in one-to-one correspondence; the plurality of second second-stage flip-flops are connected to the plurality of second first-stage flip-flops in one-to-one correspondence.

[0012] In some embodiments, the statistical unit includes: a first statistical circuit, which is connected to the output ends of the plurality of first second-stage flip-flops and is used to count the high level or low level of the reference level signal to obtain a reference level statistical result; and a second statistical circuit, which is connected to the output ends of the plurality of second second-stage flip-flops and is used to count the high level or low level of the level to be measured to obtain a statistical result of the level to be measured.

[0013] In some other embodiments, the number of the first delay units is equal to or not equal to the number of the second delay units.

[0014] In still other embodiments, the time measurement device further includes: a counting unit configured to count an input time signal to be measured based on a reference time signal to output a remaining signal to be measured that exceeds an integral multiple cycle of the reference time signal; and the second delay chain is further configured to: perform a delay operation on the input remaining signal to be measured to generate a delayed signal to be measured.

[0015] In some embodiments, the arithmetic unit includes a divider to perform the division operation.

[0016] In other embodiments, the arithmetic unit includes: an adder configured to perform an addition operation on the statistical result of the level to be measured; and a comparator configured to perform a comparison operation on the addition operation result and the statistical result of the reference level to obtain the second ratio result.

[0017] In some embodiments, the time measurement device further includes: an inverter configured to invert an input reference time signal and time signal to be measured to generate a clock signal for controlling the trigger unit.

[0018] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a time measurement method, including: performing a delay operation based on an input reference time signal and time signal to be measured to correspondingly generate a reference delayed signal and a delayed signal to be measured; outputting a reference level signal and a level signal to be measured based on the reference delayed signal and the delayed signal to be measured; respectively performing level statistics on the reference level signal and the level signal to be measured to obtain a statistical result of the reference level and a statistical result of the level to be measured; and performing an operation on the statistical result of the reference level and the statistical result of the level to be measured to determine a duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result.

[0019] In some embodiments, performing an operation on the statistical result of the reference level and the statistical result of the level to be measured to determine a duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result includes: performing a division operation on the statistical result of the level to be measured and the statistical result of the reference level to obtain a first ratio result between the statistical result of the level to be measured and the statistical result of the reference level; and calculating a duration of the time to be measured according to the first ratio result and a reference time duration.

[0020] In some other embodiments, before performing the operation, the time measurement method further includes: dividing the reference level statistical result into N equal parts to obtain a step calculation result; and performing an operation on the reference level statistical result and the statistical result of the level to be measured, so as to determine the duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result, including: performing a division operation on the statistical result of the level to be measured and the step calculation result to obtain a second ratio result between the statistical result of the level to be measured and the step calculation result; and calculating the duration of the time to be measured according to the second ratio result and the N-equal division duration of the reference time.

[0021] In still some other embodiments, generating a signal with a delay to be measured includes: counting an input signal with a time to be measured based on a reference time signal to output a remaining signal with a time to be measured that exceeds an integer multiple cycle of the reference time signal; and delaying the input remaining signal with a time to be measured to generate a signal with a delay to be measured.

[0022] Through the time measurement technical solution provided above, in the solution of the present invention, by introducing a reference time signal and processing the reference time signal and the signal with a time to be measured in the same circuit environment, the reference level statistical result and the statistical result of the level to be measured can change or be updated synchronously, and then a relatively accurate duration of the time to be measured can be obtained through the operation between the two. Further, in some embodiments, by dividing the reference level result into N equal parts, a reference step value with a relatively high measurement resolution can be obtained, which is beneficial to improving the measurement accuracy of the duration of the time to be measured and reducing the measurement error of the measurement result. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] By reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the above and other objects, features, and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become readily understood. In the drawings, several embodiments of the present invention are shown in an exemplary rather than restrictive manner, and the same or corresponding reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts, where:

[0024] Figure 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a time measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a time measurement device including a step calculation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a time measurement device including a multi-stage flip-flop according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of a time measurement device including a plurality of delay chains and a plurality of flip-flop groups according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0028] Figure 5 A flowchart of a time measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Detailed implementation manners

[0029] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0030] It should be understood that the terms "comprising" and "including" used in the specification and claims of the present invention indicate the presence of the described features, wholes, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, wholes, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or their combinations.

[0031] It should also be understood that the terms used in the specification of the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. As used in the specification and claims of the present invention, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms. It should be further understood that the term "and / or" used in the specification and claims of the present invention refers to any combination and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items, and includes these combinations.

[0032] As used in this specification and the claims, the term "if" can be interpreted as "when" or "once" or "in response to determining" or "in response to detecting" depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase "if determined" or "if detecting [the described condition or event]" can be interpreted as meaning "once determined" or "in response to determining" or "once detecting [the described condition or event]" or "in response to detecting [the described condition or event]" depending on the context.

[0033] The detailed implementation manners of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of a time measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. As Figure 1As shown in the figure, the time measurement device 100 may include: a delay module 110, which may be used to perform a delay operation based on an input reference time signal and a time signal to be measured, so as to correspondingly generate a reference delay signal and a time delay signal to be measured; a trigger unit 120, which may be used to output a reference level signal and a level signal to be measured based on the reference delay signal and the time delay signal to be measured; a statistical unit 130, which may be used to perform level statistics on the reference level signal and the level signal to be measured respectively to obtain a reference level statistical result and a level statistical result to be measured; and an arithmetic unit 140, which may be used to perform an operation on the reference level statistical result and the level statistical result to be measured, so as to determine the duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result.

[0035] Parameters such as the type and length of the reference time signal described above may be set as needed. In some embodiments, the reference time signal and the time signal to be measured may be serially input to the delay module 110. In some other embodiments, the reference time signal and the time signal to be measured may be input to the delay module 110 in parallel. In still some other embodiments, the delay module 110 may include one or more delay units. The delay amount of the delay unit may be set as needed. The finer the delay amount of each delay unit is set, the more accurate the measurement result of the duration of the time to be measured will be. In some embodiments, the reference time duration of the reference time signal may be set to be less than or equal to the total delay amount of the delay module 110. The delay module 110 may perform a delay operation on the input reference time signal to generate a reference delay signal; and may perform a delay operation on the input time signal to be measured to generate a time delay signal to be measured.

[0036] In some embodiments, the trigger unit 120 may include one or more flip-flops. In some other embodiments, the number of flip-flops may be equal to the number of delay units in the delay module 110 and may correspond one by one, that is, each flip-flop may be used to connect to the output of a delay unit. In still some other embodiments, the number of flip-flops may be more than the number of delay units. The trigger unit 120 may be used to receive the reference delay signal and output a reference level signal; and may be used to receive the time delay signal to be measured and output a level signal to be measured. In some embodiments, the reference level signal and / or the level signal to be measured may be a signal such as 11111100000000, or may be a signal such as 00000001111111, where 0 may represent a low level and 1 may represent a high level, and the number of 0s and 1s is not limited to this example and may be determined according to, for example, the number of delay units.

[0037] In some embodiments, the statistical unit 130 may be implemented by setting one or more leading 0 / 1 circuits, which are circuits for counting high levels / low levels. In some other embodiments, the reference level statistical result may include the statistical result of the high level and / or low level in the reference level signal, and the level to be measured statistical result may include the statistical result of the high level and / or low level in the level to be measured signal. In some application scenarios, when the input reference time signal is a high pulse signal, the reference level statistical result may include the statistical result of the high level in the reference level signal. In some other application scenarios, when the input reference time signal is a low pulse signal, the reference level statistical result may include the statistical result of the low level in the reference level signal. Similarly, in some other application scenarios, when the input time signal to be measured is a high pulse signal, the level to be measured statistical result may include the statistical result of the high level in the level to be measured signal. In some other application scenarios, when the input time signal to be measured is a low pulse signal, the level to be measured statistical result may include the statistical result of the low level in the level to be measured signal.

[0038] For example, assume that the reference time signal is a high pulse signal, and the reference level signal input to the statistical unit 130 is 11111100000000. Then the reference level statistical result may be the statistical result of the number of high levels in the reference level signal, that is, the six high levels of 111111. Also for example, assume that the reference time signal is a low pulse signal, and the reference level signal input to the statistical unit 130 is 00000001111111. Then the reference level statistical result may be the statistical result of the number of low levels in the reference level signal, that is, the seven low levels of 0000000.

[0039] After obtaining the reference level statistical result and the level to be measured statistical result at the statistical unit 130, the two can be operated on at the arithmetic unit 140 to determine the time duration to be measured according to the operation result. In some embodiments, the arithmetic unit 140 may perform a division operation or a comparison operation, etc. In some other embodiments, the arithmetic unit 140 may include a divider to perform a division operation. In some other embodiments, the divider may be implemented by a dedicated division circuit, etc., to meet the accuracy requirements for the operation.

[0040] In some embodiments, the arithmetic unit 140 may further be used to: perform a division operation on the level to be measured statistical result and the reference level statistical result to obtain a first ratio result between the level to be measured statistical result and the reference level statistical result; and calculate the time duration to be measured according to the first ratio result and the reference time duration. In some embodiments, the reference time duration may be expressed by the reference pulse width (i.e., the pulse width of the reference time signal). Generally, the reference pulse width can be obtained through the following formula one:

[0041] Reference pulse width = Statistical result of reference level × Delay amount of a single delay unit (Formula 1);

[0042] The duration of the time to be measured can be expressed by the pulse width to be measured (i.e., the pulse width of the time signal to be measured). Generally, the pulse width to be measured can be obtained through the following Formula 2:

[0043] Pulse width to be measured = Statistical result of level to be measured × Delay amount of a single delay unit (Formula 2);

[0044] Then, the first ratio result = Pulse width to be measured / Reference pulse width = Statistical result of level signal to be measured / Statistical result of reference level, that is, the first ratio result can be equivalent to the ratio between the pulse width to be measured and the reference pulse width. Thus, after determining the first ratio result, the duration of the time to be measured can be determined according to the multiplication result between the first ratio result and the reference time duration of the reference time signal.

[0045] The above combination Figure 1 An exemplary description of the time measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention has been given. It can be understood that, due to the introduction of the reference time signal and the determination of the duration of the time to be measured by operating on the statistical results of the reference level and the level to be measured, the influence of environmental changes on each unit and / or module is offset during the operation of the statistical results of the reference level and the level to be measured. For example, the delay change caused by the environmental change of the delay module is a synchronous change for the reference time signal and the time signal to be measured. Therefore, the influence of environmental changes on the measurement result can be eliminated through the operation. Based on this, compared with directly measuring time only using the time signal to be measured, the time measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention will have better environmental adaptability and higher measurement accuracy. It can also be understood that the above-described modules and / or units can be implemented in the form of software and / or hardware, and can also be implemented in ways such as integrated circuits or field programmable gate arrays, which are not limited in this article.

[0046] Figure 2 Shows a schematic block diagram of a time measurement device including a step calculation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. As Figure 2As shown, the time measurement device 200 may include a delay module 110, a trigger unit 120, a statistical unit 130, a step calculation unit 210, and an arithmetic unit 140. The step calculation unit 210 may be configured to perform an N-equal division operation on the reference level statistical result to obtain a step calculation result. The arithmetic unit 140 may be further configured to: perform a division operation on the statistical result of the level to be measured and the step calculation result to obtain a second ratio result between the statistical result of the level to be measured and the step calculation result; and calculate the duration of the time to be measured based on the second ratio result and the N-equal division duration of the reference time. The delay module 110, the trigger unit 120, and the statistical unit 130 have been described in detail in the previous text in combination with Figure 1 and will not be elaborated here.

[0047] The step calculation unit 210 performing an N-equal division operation on the reference level statistical result can also be understood as quantizing the reference pulse width into N widths, where N is a positive integer. In some embodiments, N can be set as needed. In other embodiments, N can be determined by a power operation of 2. For example, N = 2 1 or 2 2 or 2 3 and so on. By performing an N-equal division operation on the reference level statistical result, a reference step value with a relatively high measurement resolution (i.e., the step calculation result) can be obtained. In other embodiments, the division operation performed by the arithmetic unit 140 can be expressed as the following formula three:

[0048] Second ratio result = statistical result of the level to be measured / step calculation result = statistical result of the level to be measured × N / reference level statistical result (Formula Three).

[0049] Based on this, since the second ratio result (or the step value of the time to be measured) can also be regarded as the ratio of the pulse width to be measured to the N-equal division result of the reference pulse width, after obtaining the second ratio result, the duration of the time to be measured can be determined according to the multiplication result between the second ratio result and the N-equal division duration of the reference time. It can be understood that the larger N is, the higher the accuracy of the step value of the time to be measured and the more accurate the measurement of the time to be measured.

[0050] In some other embodiments, the operation unit 140 may further include: an adder for performing an addition operation on the statistical result of the level to be measured; and a comparator for performing a comparison operation on the addition operation result and the statistical result of the reference level to obtain a second ratio result. Specifically, it can be seen from Formula 3 that in the division operation of the statistical result of the level to be measured and the step calculation result by the operation unit 140, it may include an operation of multiplying the statistical result of the level to be measured by N times, that is, equivalent to the summation operation of N statistical results of the level to be measured. Therefore, an adder can be used to implement the summation operation of N statistical results of the level to be measured to obtain an addition operation result. Then, the operation unit 140 can use a comparator to perform a comparison operation on the addition operation result and the statistical result of the reference level to implement the function of dividing the statistical result of the level to be measured by the step calculation result.

[0051] In some other embodiments, a divider may also be used to implement the division operation of the statistical result of the level to be measured and the step calculation result. Since the structure of the divider is complex and the cost is high, when N is relatively small, using an adder and a comparator can help reduce the difficulty of device setting and the production cost of the device.

[0052] The above combination Figure 2 has given an exemplary description of the time measurement device including a step calculation unit according to the embodiments of the present invention. It can be understood that the above description is exemplary rather than restrictive. For example, the time measurement device according to the embodiments of the present invention may not be limited to only including the units and / or modules shown in the figure, and other elements may also be provided as needed. Further, according to the form of the input signal, the time measurement device according to the embodiments of the present invention may also have different deformations. For the sake of easy understanding, the following will be combined Figure 3 and Figure 4 to be described separately.

[0053] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a time measurement device including a multi-stage flip-flop according to an embodiment of the present invention. It can be known from the following description that Figure 3 the time measurement device 300 shown in Figure 1 may be a specific embodiment form of the time measurement device 100 described in combination with Figure 2 and the time measurement device 200 described in combination with Figure 1 Therefore, the description of the time measurement device 100 in combination with Figure 2 and the description of the time measurement device 200 in combination with

[0054] can also be applied to the description of the time measurement device 300 below. Figure 3As shown, the time measurement device 300 may include a delay module, a trigger unit (shown in a dashed box) 120, a statistical unit 130, a step calculation unit 210, and an arithmetic unit 140. The delay module may include a delay chain 310 (shown in a dashed box) composed of a plurality of delay units 311. The trigger unit 120 may include a plurality of first-level flip-flops 320 and a plurality of second-level flip-flops 330. The plurality of first-level flip-flops 320 may be connected to the plurality of delay units 311 in a one-to-one correspondence, and the plurality of second-level flip-flops 330 may be connected to the plurality of first-level flip-flops 320 in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0055] In some embodiments, the plurality of delay units 311 may be connected in series to form the delay chain 310. In some other embodiments, the input terminal of each first-level flip-flop 320 may be connected to the output terminal of the corresponding delay unit 311, the input terminal of each second-level flip-flop 330 may be connected to the output terminal of the corresponding first-level flip-flop 320, and the output terminals of the plurality of second-level flip-flops 330 may be connected to the statistical unit 130. In still some other embodiments, the number of first-level flip-flops, the number of second-level flip-flops, and the number of delay units 311 may be set to be the same. By providing two levels of flip-flops, it is beneficial to prevent the occurrence of circuit metastability problems and improve the reliability of the circuit.

[0056] As Figure 3 further shown, in some embodiments, the reference time signal and the time signal to be measured may be serially input into the delay module, and the time measurement device 300 may further include: a first storage unit 341, which may be connected to the statistical unit 130 and is used to store the reference level statistical result; and a second storage unit 342, which may be connected to the statistical unit 130 and is used to store the statistical result of the level to be measured. In some embodiments, the first storage unit 341 may include at least one of a memory, a flip-flop, etc.; the second storage unit 342 may include at least one of a memory, a flip-flop, etc.

[0057] In some other embodiments, the first storage unit 341 and the second storage unit 342 may perform operations of respectively storing the reference level statistical result and the statistical result of the level to be measured under the control of a control signal, and the control signal may include information such as the input order of the serially input reference time signal and the time signal to be measured. In some embodiments, the reference time signal and the time signal to be measured may be in the serial connection order shown in the figure, that is, the time signal to be measured is input first, and then the reference time signal is input; or they may also be serially input in the order of inputting the reference time signal first and then the time signal to be measured.

[0058] Further, in some embodiments, the time measurement device 300 may further include: an inverter 350, which may be used to invert the input reference time signal and the time signal to be measured to generate a clock signal for controlling the trigger unit 120. In some other embodiments, this clock signal is used to control the moment when the trigger unit 120 latches data. The output of the inverter 350 may be connected to the clocks of each first-stage flip-flop 320 and each second-stage flip-flop 330.

[0059] For the input high pulse signal, the falling edge is the moment when it latches data; for the input low pulse signal, the rising edge is the moment when it latches data. The inverter 350 can be selectively set as needed. For example, in some application scenarios, when the input reference time signal and the time signal to be measured are high pulse signals, and it is set that the rising edge is the moment to latch data in the trigger unit 120 as needed, the inverter 350 can be set to invert the high pulse signal to obtain the clock signal of the trigger unit 120. In some other application scenarios, when the input reference time signal and the time signal to be measured are low pulse signals, and it is set that the falling edge is the moment to latch data as needed, the inverter 350 can be set to invert the low pulse signal to obtain the clock signal of the trigger unit 120. In still some other application scenarios, when the input reference time signal and the time signal to be measured are high pulse signals, and the falling edge is set as the moment to latch data, the inverter 350 may not be set; or when the input reference time signal and the time signal to be measured are low pulse signals, and the rising edge is set as the moment to latch data, the inverter 350 may not be set.

[0060] The above combination Figure 3 has given an exemplary description of the time measurement device according to the embodiments of the present invention, which includes multi-stage flip-flops and can process input serial signals. It can be understood that the above description is exemplary rather than restrictive. For example, in some other embodiments, the step calculation unit 210 in the figure may not be set as needed, but the output of the first storage unit 341 may be directly connected to the operation unit 140, and the operation process of the operation unit 140 is the same as or similar to that described above in combination with Figure 1 and will not be elaborated here. Also, for example, the time measurement device according to the embodiments of the present invention may not be limited to being able to process the serially input reference time signal and the time signal to be measured, but may also process the parallelly input reference time signal and the time signal to be measured. The following will be described by combining Figure 4 for exemplary description.

[0061] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of a time measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention, which includes a plurality of delay chains and a plurality of flip-flop groups. It can be seen from the following description that Figure 4The time measurement device 400 shown in Figure 1 can be a specific embodiment of the time measurement device 100 described above in connection with Figure 2 and the time measurement device 200 described in connection with Figure 1 . Therefore, the description of the time measurement device 100 above in connection with Figure 2 and the description of the time measurement device 200 above in connection with

[0062] can also apply to the description of the time measurement device 400 below. Figure 4 As shown in Figure 4 , the time measurement device 400 may include a delay module, a trigger unit, a statistical unit, a step calculation unit 210, and an arithmetic unit 140. The delay module may include a first delay chain 410 (shown in a dashed box) and a second delay chain 420 (shown in a dashed box). The first delay chain 410 may be composed of a plurality of first delay units 411, and the second delay chain 420 may be composed of a plurality of second delay units 421. The first delay chain 410 may be configured to perform a delay operation based on an input reference time signal to generate a reference delay signal; the second delay chain 420 may be configured to perform a delay operation based on an input time signal to be measured to generate a to-be-measured delay signal.

[0063] In some embodiments, the plurality of first delay units 411 may be connected in series to form the first delay chain 410; the plurality of second delay units 421 may be connected in series to form the second delay chain 420. In other embodiments, the number of the first delay units 411 and the number of the second delay units 421 may be set to be equal or unequal. In some embodiments, the delay amount of the first delay unit 411 may be set to be equal to the delay amount of the second delay unit 421. In still other embodiments, the time measurement device 400 may further include: a counting unit, which may be configured to count an input time signal to be measured based on a reference time signal to output a to-be-measured remaining signal that exceeds an integer multiple cycle of the reference time signal; and the second delay chain 420 may be further configured to: perform a delay operation on the input to-be-measured remaining signal to generate a to-be-measured delay signal.

[0064] The counting unit can be arranged before the second delay chain 420 for counting the input time signal to be measured. The counting unit can be implemented by using existing implemented or future-implementable counting devices and / or counting circuits, etc., which are not limited in this article. The counting unit can compare the time signal to be measured with a reference time signal to obtain an integer multiple (e.g., one or more multiples) of the reference time signal contained in the time signal to be measured. Then, by obtaining the remaining signal to be measured in the time signal to be measured except for the integer multiple of the reference time signal, that is, the remaining signal exceeding the integer multiple of the reference time signal period (or pulse width). The second delay chain 420 can perform a delay operation on the remaining signal to be measured obtained based on the time signal to be measured to generate a delayed signal to be measured. Further, when finally calculating the duration to be measured based on the delayed signal to be measured, it is necessary to sum the duration to be measured and the integer multiple of the reference time duration counted by the counting unit to obtain the time duration to be measured.

[0065] By arranging the counting unit, the data processing amount in the subsequent measurement circuit for measuring the time signal to be measured in the time measurement device can be reduced, and the number of second delay units 421 can also be reduced. For example, the number of second delay units 421 can be set to be less than or equal to the number of first delay units 411, so as to realize the measurement of the time signal to be measured with a duration longer than the reference time signal. In some other embodiments, by setting the number of second delay units 421 to be more than the number of first delay units 411, the measurement of the time signal to be measured with a duration longer than the reference time signal can also be realized.

[0066] As Figure 4 Further shown in, in some other embodiments, the trigger unit can include a first trigger group 430 (shown in a dashed box) and a second trigger group 440 (shown in a dashed box). The first trigger group 430 can include a plurality of first primary triggers 431 and a plurality of first secondary triggers 432, and the second trigger group 440 can include a plurality of second primary triggers 441 and a plurality of second secondary triggers 442. The plurality of first primary triggers 431 can be connected to the plurality of first delay units 411 in a one-to-one correspondence. The plurality of first secondary triggers 432 can be connected to the plurality of first primary triggers 431 in a one-to-one correspondence. The plurality of second primary triggers 441 can be connected to the plurality of second delay units 421 in a one-to-one correspondence. The plurality of second secondary triggers 442 can be connected to the plurality of second primary triggers 441 in a one-to-one correspondence.

[0067] In some embodiments, the number of first first-level flip-flops 431, the number of first second-level flip-flops 432, and the number of first delay units 411 can be set to be the same; the number of second first-level flip-flops 441, the number of second second-level flip-flops 442, and the number of second delay units 421 can be set to be the same. By respectively arranging two levels of flip-flops in the circuit for processing the reference time signal and the circuit for processing the time signal to be measured, it is beneficial to prevent the occurrence of circuit metastability problems and improve the reliability of the circuit. In other embodiments, only one level of flip-flop or more levels of flip-flops can also be arranged as needed.

[0068] Further, as Figure 4 shown in, in some embodiments, the time measurement device 400 may further include: a first inverter 461, which is used to perform an inverting operation on the input reference time signal to generate a clock signal for controlling the first flip-flop group 430; and a second inverter 462, which is used to perform a reverse operation on the input time signal to be measured to generate a clock signal for controlling the second flip-flop group 440. The first inverter 461 and the second inverter are the same as or similar to the inverter 350 described in combination with Figure 3 above, and will not be described in detail here.

[0069] As Figure 4 further shown in, in some embodiments, the statistical unit may include: a first statistical circuit 451, which may be connected to the output terminals of a plurality of first second-level flip-flops 432 to statistically count the high level or low level of the reference level signal to obtain a reference level statistical result; and a second statistical circuit 452, which may be connected to the output terminals of a plurality of second second-level flip-flops 442 to statistically count the high level or low level of the time level signal to be measured to obtain a time level statistical result to be measured. In some embodiments, both the first statistical circuit 451 and the second statistical circuit 452 may be implemented by a leading 0 / 1 circuit. In other embodiments, the reference level statistical result may include the number of high levels and / or low levels in the reference level signal; the time level statistical result to be measured may include the number of high levels and / or low levels in the time level signal to be measured.

[0070] Next, the reference step value can be obtained by performing a step calculation on the reference level statistical result through the step calculation unit 210 in the figure, and further, the operation unit 140 can perform an operation according to the reference step value and the time level statistical result to be measured. At this time, the operation process of the operation unit 140 can be the same as or similar to that described in combination with Figure 2 above, and will not be described in detail here. In other embodiments, the step calculation unit 210 in the figure may not be provided as needed, but the output of the first statistical circuit 451 may be directly connected to the operation unit 140. At this time, the operation process of the operation unit 140 can be the same as or similar to that described in combination with Figure 1The description is the same as or similar to that above, and will not be repeated here.

[0071] Combined with the above Figure 4 An exemplary description of the time measurement device according to another embodiment of the present invention has been given. It can be understood that Figure 4 the time measurement device shown in

[0072] According to the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, in a second aspect, a time measurement method is also provided. The following will be combined with Figure 5 for description. Figure 5 shows a flowchart of the time measurement method according to the embodiment of the present invention. As Figure 5 shown in

[0073] In some embodiments, step 504 may include: performing a division operation on the measured level statistical result and the reference level statistical result to obtain a first ratio result between the measured level statistical result and the reference level statistical result; and calculating the measured time duration according to the first ratio result and the reference time duration.

[0074] In some other embodiments, before performing the operation in step 504, the time measurement method 500 may further include: performing an N-equal division operation on the reference level statistical result to obtain a step calculation result; and step 504 may include: performing a division operation on the measured level statistical result and the step calculation result to obtain a second ratio result between the measured level statistical result and the step calculation result; and calculating the measured time duration according to the second ratio result and the N-equal division duration of the reference time.

[0075] In still some other embodiments, generating the measured delay signal may include: counting the input measured time signal based on the reference time signal to output a measured remaining signal that exceeds an integer multiple cycle of the reference time signal; and delaying the input measured remaining signal to generate the measured delay signal.

[0076] The time measurement method according to the embodiments of the present invention has been described and explained in detail above in combination with the time measurement device, and will not be elaborated here.

[0077] Through the description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention and multiple embodiments above, those skilled in the art can understand that the time measurement device according to the embodiments of the present invention can introduce a reference time signal, and by performing operations on the statistical results of the reference level and the statistical results of the level to be measured, the measurement result is not easily affected by environmental changes, thereby facilitating the improvement of the accuracy and reliability of the time measurement result. Further, in some embodiments, by performing step-by-step calculations on the statistical results of the reference level, a reference step value with relatively high measurement resolution can be obtained, which can further facilitate the improvement of the measurement accuracy. For example, an accuracy accurate to the picosecond level can be achieved, thereby reducing the measurement error.

[0078] Although multiple embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Those skilled in the art can conceive of many changes, alterations, and alternative ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It should be understood that various alternative embodiments of the present invention described herein can be adopted in the practice of the present invention. The appended claims are intended to define the scope of protection of the present invention and thus cover equivalents or alternative solutions within the scope of these claims.

Claims

1. A time measurement device, comprising: A delay module configured to perform a delay operation based on an input reference time signal and a time signal to be measured, so as to correspondingly generate a reference delay signal and a time delay signal to be measured; A trigger unit configured to output a reference level signal and a level signal to be measured based on the reference delay signal and the time delay signal to be measured; A statistical unit configured to perform level statistics on the reference level signal and the level signal to be measured respectively to obtain a reference level statistical result and a level statistical result to be measured; And An arithmetic unit configured to perform an operation on the reference level statistical result and the level statistical result to be measured, so as to determine the duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result.

2. The time measurement device according to claim 1, wherein the arithmetic unit is further configured to: Perform a division operation on the level statistical result to be measured and the reference level statistical result to obtain a first ratio result between the level statistical result to be measured and the reference level statistical result; and Calculate the duration of the time to be measured according to the first ratio result and the reference time duration.

3. The time measurement device according to claim 1, further comprising: A step calculation unit configured to perform an N-equal division operation on the reference level statistical result to obtain a step calculation result; The arithmetic unit is further configured to: Perform a division operation on the level statistical result to be measured and the step calculation result to obtain a second ratio result between the level statistical result to be measured and the step calculation result; And Calculate the duration of the time to be measured according to the second ratio result and the N-equal division duration of the reference time.

4. The time measurement device according to claim 1, wherein The delay module comprises a delay chain composed of a plurality of delay units; and The trigger unit comprises a plurality of first-stage flip-flops and a plurality of second-stage flip-flops, wherein the plurality of first-stage flip-flops are connected to the plurality of delay units in a one-to-one correspondence, and the plurality of second-stage flip-flops are connected to the plurality of first-stage flip-flops in a one-to-one correspondence.

5. The time measurement device according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the reference time signal and the time signal to be measured are serially input into the delay module, and the time measurement device further comprises: A first storage unit connected to the statistical unit and configured to store the reference level statistical result; And A second storage unit connected to the statistical unit and configured to store the level statistical result to be measured.

6. The time measurement device according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the delay module comprises a first delay chain and a second delay chain, the first delay chain is composed of a plurality of first delay units, the second delay chain is composed of a plurality of second delay units, and The first delay chain is configured to perform a delay operation based on the input reference time signal to generate a reference delay signal; The second delay chain is configured to perform a delay operation based on the input time signal to be measured to generate a time delay signal to be measured.

7. The time measurement device according to claim 6, wherein the trigger unit includes a first trigger group and a second trigger group, and the first trigger group includes a plurality of first primary triggers and a plurality of first secondary triggers, and the second trigger group includes a plurality of second primary triggers and a plurality of second secondary triggers; The plurality of first primary triggers are connected to the plurality of first delay units in a one-to-one correspondence; The plurality of first secondary triggers are connected to the plurality of first primary triggers in a one-to-one correspondence; The plurality of second primary triggers are connected to the plurality of second delay units in a one-to-one correspondence; The plurality of second secondary triggers are connected to the plurality of second primary triggers in a one-to-one correspondence.

8. The time measurement device according to claim 7, wherein the statistical unit includes: A first statistical circuit, which is connected to the output ends of the plurality of first secondary triggers, and is used for statistically counting the high level or low level of the reference level signal to obtain a reference level statistical result; And A second statistical circuit, which is connected to the output ends of the plurality of second secondary triggers, and is used for statistically counting the high level or low level of the level to be measured signal to obtain a level to be measured statistical result.

9. The time measurement device according to claim 6, wherein the number of the first delay units is equal to or not equal to the number of the second delay units.

10. The time measurement device according to claim 9, further comprising: A counting unit, which is used for counting the input time signal to be measured based on the reference time signal to output a remaining signal to be measured that exceeds an integer multiple cycle of the reference time signal; and The second delay chain is further used for: Performing a delay operation on the input remaining signal to be measured to generate a delayed signal to be measured.

11. The time measurement device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein The operation unit includes a divider for performing the division operation.

12. The time measurement device according to claim 3, wherein the operation unit includes: An adder for performing an addition operation on the level to be measured statistical result; And A comparator for performing a comparison operation on the addition operation result and the reference level statistical result to obtain the second ratio result.

13. The time measurement device according to claim 1, further comprising: An inverter, which is used for inverting the input reference time signal and time signal to be measured to generate a clock signal for controlling the trigger unit.

14. A time measurement method, comprising: Performing a delay operation based on the input reference time signal and time signal to be measured to correspondingly generate a reference delayed signal and a delayed signal to be measured; Based on the reference delayed signal and the delayed signal to be measured, outputting a reference level signal and a level to be measured signal; Respectively performing level statistics on the reference level signal and the level to be measured signal to obtain a reference level statistical result and a level to be measured statistical result; And Performing an operation on the reference level statistical result and the level to be measured statistical result so as to determine the duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result.

15. The time measurement method according to claim 14, wherein performing an operation on the reference level statistical result and the level to be measured statistical result to determine the duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result includes: Performing a division operation on the level to be measured statistical result and the reference level statistical result to obtain a first ratio result between the level to be measured statistical result and the reference level statistical result; And Calculating the duration of the time to be measured according to the first ratio result and the reference time duration.

16. The time measurement method according to claim 14, before performing the operation, the time measurement method further includes: Performing an N-equal division operation on the reference level statistical result to obtain a step calculation result; And Performing an operation on the reference level statistical result and the level to be measured statistical result to determine the duration of the time to be measured according to the operation result includes: Performing a division operation on the level to be measured statistical result and the step calculation result to obtain a second ratio result between the level to be measured statistical result and the step calculation result; And Calculating the duration of the time to be measured according to the second ratio result and the N-equal division duration of the reference time.

17. The time measurement method according to claim 14, wherein generating a signal with a delay to be measured includes: Counting the input signal with a time to be measured based on the reference time signal to output a remaining signal with a time to be measured that exceeds an integer multiple cycle of the reference time signal; And Delaying the input remaining signal with a time to be measured to generate a signal with a delay to be measured.

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