A time interval generation apparatus and method based on differential enhancement of two-phase regulating units
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202611332955.6
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2026-08-31
- Publication Date
- 2026-10-13
AI Technical Summary
[0005]本发明的目的在于提供一种基于双相位调节单元差分增强的时间间隔生成装置及方法，用以解决单个相位调节单元的固有相位步进限制时间分辨率的问题
[0029]本发明提供一种基于双相位调节单元差分增强的时间间隔生成装置及方法，其核心思想是使第一相位调节单元和第二相位调节单元具有不同的单位相位时间步进，并通过成对相位调节改变两个输出边沿之间的相对位置，该相对位置的单位变化量由两个单位相位时间步进之差确定，因此，当两个单位相位时间步进彼此接近时，可以在不改变任一相位调节单元内部相位细分结构的情况下，获得小于任一单独相位步进的有效时间步进。
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Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of precision time parameter generation and digital timing control technology, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for generating high-resolution time intervals using the phase step difference of two phase adjustment units. Background Technology
[0002] In automated test equipment, precision measuring instruments, sensor excitation, time calibration, and high-speed digital systems, it is often necessary to generate time signals with programmable pulse widths, edge delays, or phase shifts. The minimum adjustable step size of the time parameters determines the time resolution that the system can provide.
[0003] Existing time interval generation methods based on phase adjustment typically utilize a single phase adjustment unit to change the position of an output edge. This method has a simple structure and easily maintains the correlation between multiple output signals. However, its minimum time step is limited by the internal oscillation period, the number of phase subdivisions, and the phase control structure. When the phase adjustment unit can only switch between a limited number of discrete phase positions, changing the control logic alone cannot achieve a time resolution smaller than its inherent phase step.
[0004] To achieve finer time steps, delay chains, vernier delay structures, or dedicated phase interpolation structures can be used. These structures typically require additional dedicated delay resources or extra time approximation processes and may be limited by device architecture and implementation. Therefore, there is a need for a time interval generation scheme that does not further subdivide the internal structure of individual phase adjustment units, but instead utilizes the relative displacement between multiple phase adjustment units to obtain finer time steps. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The purpose of this invention is to provide a time interval generation device and method based on differential enhancement of dual-phase adjustment units, so as to solve the problem of time resolution limitation caused by the inherent phase step of a single phase adjustment unit.
[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:
[0007] A time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of dual-phase adjustment unit, characterized in that the device comprises: a common reference signal source, a first phase adjustment unit, a second phase adjustment unit, a cooperative phase control module, and an edge synthesis module;
[0008] The common reference signal source is used to provide a reference signal to the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit; the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are respectively used to output a first timing signal and a second timing signal, and have different unit phase time steps; the cooperative phase control module is used to perform paired phase adjustment on the two phase adjustment units according to a predetermined control relationship, so that the selected edges of the first timing signal and the second timing signal generate relative displacement, and the unit change of the relative displacement is determined by the difference between the two unit phase time steps; the edge synthesis module is used to generate a target time interval by using the selected edges of the first timing signal and the second timing signal as the two boundaries of the target time interval.
[0009] Furthermore, the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are driven by the same reference signal, and output timing signals with the same nominal frequency or with a periodically determined edge correspondence.
[0010] Furthermore, the difference in unit phase time step between the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit is formed by at least one difference among the internal oscillation frequency, the number of phase subdivisions, the frequency division parameter, the frequency multiplication parameter, the phase interpolation parameter, or the phase control step size.
[0011] Furthermore, let the unit phase time steps of the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit be respectively... and The effective differential time step is formed by a pairwise phase adjustment (each of the two phase adjustment units performs one unit phase adjustment). satisfy: .
[0012] Furthermore, the target time interval is expressed as: ,in, For the target time interval, As the time base period, This is a coarse time count value. The number of paired phase adjustments; using coarse time control can expand the time range, but it is not a necessary condition for forming an effective differential time step;
[0013] Based on this, the device further includes a coarse time control module, which is used to generate an integer periodic component of the target time interval according to the time reference period, and the cooperative phase control module is used to generate a differential fine time component that is smaller than the time reference period.
[0014] Furthermore, the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are respectively a mixed-mode clock management unit, a phase-locked loop, a delay-locked loop, a direct digital frequency synthesis unit, a phase interpolation unit, or a timing generation unit with discrete phase adjustment capability.
[0015] Meanwhile, the present invention provides a time interval generation method based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit, characterized by comprising the following steps:
[0016] Configure a first phase adjustment unit and a second phase adjustment unit so that they have different unit phase time steps;
[0017] The first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are driven by a reference signal. Paired phase adjustment is performed on the two phase adjustment units according to a predetermined control relationship to obtain an effective differential time step determined by the difference between the two unit phase time steps.
[0018] The relationship between the number of paired phase adjustments and the edge selection of the two output timing signals is determined based on the target time interval.
[0019] The target time interval is synthesized and output using selected edges of two output timing signals.
[0020] Furthermore, the target time interval is decomposed into an integer period coarse time component and a differential phase fine time component, and the number of pairwise phase adjustments is determined based on the differential phase fine time component and the effective differential time step.
[0021] Furthermore, the generated target time interval is used to represent the relative time relationship between pulse width, edge delay, phase offset, event interval, or multiple timing signals.
[0022] The time interval generation device provided by this invention includes a common reference signal source, a first phase adjustment unit, a second phase adjustment unit, a cooperative phase control module, and an edge synthesis module. The common reference signal source provides a reference signal with a defined time relationship to the two phase adjustment units; the two phase adjustment units output a first timing signal and a second timing signal, respectively; the cooperative phase control module generates a control sequence for the two phase adjustment units based on a target time parameter; and the edge synthesis module selects a target edge from the two output timing signals and constructs a target time interval using the selected two edges.
[0023] Let the unit phase time steps of the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit be respectively... and In a pairwise phase adjustment, each of the two phase adjustment units performs one unit phase adjustment. Therefore, the effective differential time step between the two corresponding edges is:
[0024] ,
[0025] After N pairs of phase adjustments, the differential fine time component formed under ideal conditions is: To extend the range of time intervals that can be generated, the target time interval can be decomposed into a coarse time component with integer periods and a fine time component with differential phases:
[0026] ,
[0027] in, For the target time interval, As the time base period, This is a coarse time count value. This refers to the number of paired phase adjustments. Coarse time control is only used to extend the time range and is not a necessary condition for forming an effective differential time step.
[0028] Based on the above technical solution, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:
[0029] This invention provides a time interval generation device and method based on differential enhancement of dual-phase adjustment units. The core idea is to enable the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit to have different unit phase time steps, and to change the relative position between the two output edges by pairwise phase adjustment. The unit change in the relative position is determined by the difference between the two unit phase time steps. Therefore, when the two unit phase time steps are close to each other, an effective time step smaller than either individual phase step can be obtained without changing the phase subdivision structure inside either phase adjustment unit.
[0030] In summary, the present invention has the following advantages: 1) It utilizes the difference between two discrete phase steps to form an effective fine time step, breaking through the limitation of time resolution on the inherent step of a single phase adjustment unit; 2) The two phase adjustment units are driven by a reference signal with a definite time relationship, which facilitates maintaining a stable correspondence between the two output edges; 3) It does not require the addition of a dedicated delay chain or the use of a stepwise approximation vernier process, and the structure is based on phase adjustment and edge synthesis; 4) It is not limited to specific phase adjustment devices and can be applied to different types of discrete phase adjustable timing generation units. Attached Figure Description
[0031] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit provided by the present invention.
[0032] Figure 2 The timing diagram for the dual-phase adjustable differential enhancement provided by this invention.
[0033] Figure 3This is a schematic flowchart of the time interval generation method based on differential enhancement of dual-phase adjustment unit provided by the present invention. Detailed Implementation
[0034] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and beneficial effects of this invention clearer, the invention will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The described embodiments are used to illustrate the core concept of this invention and do not limit the specific devices, frequency ranges, interface forms, and circuit implementation methods of the phase adjustment unit.
[0035] like Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of dual-phase adjustment units, including: a common reference signal source, a first phase adjustment unit, a second phase adjustment unit, a cooperative phase control module, and an edge synthesis module; the common reference signal source is used to provide a reference signal with a defined time relationship to the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit; the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are respectively used to output a first timing signal and a second timing signal, and the two have different unit phase time steps; the cooperative phase control module is used to perform paired phase adjustment on the two phase adjustment units according to a predetermined control relationship, so that the selected edges of the first timing signal and the second timing signal generate a relative displacement, and the unit change of the relative displacement is determined by the difference between the two unit phase time steps; the edge synthesis module is used to generate the target time interval by using the selected edges of the first timing signal and the second timing signal as the two boundaries of the target time interval.
[0036] To elaborate further:
[0037] The common reference signal source is connected to both the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit. The common reference signal source can provide the same reference signal to the two phase adjustment units, or it can provide the reference signal to both through a signal distribution structure with a defined transmission relationship. The two phase adjustment units generate the first timing signal and the second timing signal, respectively.
[0038] The first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are configured to have different unit phase time steps. This difference can be formed by differences in internal oscillation frequency, number of phase subdivisions, frequency division or frequency multiplication parameters, phase interpolation scale, or control step size. This invention does not require the two phase adjustment units to adopt completely identical internal structures, but only requires that there be a determinable time correspondence between their output edges.
[0039] The target time parameter is input to the cooperative phase control module. The cooperative phase control module determines the phase adjustment direction, phase adjustment number and edge selection relationship of the two phase adjustment units based on the two unit phase time steps and the target time interval. After the two phase adjustment units perform phase adjustment according to the predetermined relationship, the first timing signal and the second timing signal are sent to the edge synthesis module.
[0040] like Figure 2 As shown, the time displacement corresponding to a single phase adjustment by the first phase adjustment unit is... The time displacement corresponding to a single phase adjustment by the second phase adjustment unit is When each of the two phase adjustment units performs a phase adjustment once, the relative position change between the two corresponding edges is: ,when and If they are close to each other, then the change in their relative positions is less than [a certain value]. and This results in a finer, more effective time step;
[0041] The edge synthesis module selects one edge from the first timing signal and the second timing signal, respectively, as the start and end boundaries of the time interval; for example, the rising edge of the second timing signal can be selected as the start boundary, and the rising edge of the first timing signal can be selected as the end boundary, to obtain the target time interval. , The time reference period is used; by changing the number of paired phase adjustments, the termination edge moves step by step relative to the starting edge according to the effective differential time step, thereby generating different target time intervals.
[0042] In another embodiment, the first phase adjustment unit performs [operation] within one differential control cycle. One phase adjustment unit, the second phase adjustment unit performs... One unit phase adjustment, at which point the resulting effective differential time step is By selecting Different combinations of phase adjustment range and differential time step can be formed.
[0043] When the target time interval is greater than a time reference period, the coarse time control module can generate an integer period component, and the dual-phase adjustment unit can generate the remaining differential fine time component. The edge synthesis module generates the final output based on the two edges corresponding to the coarse and fine time components.
[0044] like Figure 3 As shown, based on the above-mentioned time interval generation device, this embodiment also provides a time interval generation method based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit, including the following steps:
[0045] First, the target time parameters are input, and two phase adjustment units are driven using a reference signal with a defined time relationship.
[0046] Then, the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are configured to have different unit phase time steps; the target time interval is decomposed into coarse time components and differential fine time components; the number of pairwise phase adjustments is calculated and a cooperative phase control sequence is generated.
[0047] Finally, the target edges of the two output timing signals are selected, and the target time interval is output by the edge synthesis module.
[0048] It should be noted that the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit can be of the same type of phase-adjustable unit, or they can be of different types. The phase adjustment unit can be a hybrid-mode clock management unit, a phase-locked loop, a delay-locked loop, a direct digital frequency synthesis unit, a phase interpolation unit, or other timing generation units capable of generating discrete phase shifts. The target time interval generated by this invention can be expressed as pulse width, delay between two output edges, phase offset between two periodic signals, time interval between two events, or relative time relationship between multiple timing signals.
[0049] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention. Any feature disclosed in this specification may be replaced by other equivalent or similar features unless otherwise specified. All disclosed features, or steps in all methods or processes, may be combined in any way except for mutually exclusive features and / or steps.
Claims
1. A time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit, characterized in that, The device includes: a common reference signal source, a first phase adjustment unit, a second phase adjustment unit, a cooperative phase control module, and an edge synthesis module; The common reference signal source is used to provide a reference signal to the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit; the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are respectively used to output a first timing signal and a second timing signal, and have different unit phase time steps; the cooperative phase control module is used to perform paired phase adjustment on the two phase adjustment units according to a predetermined control relationship, so that the selected edges of the first timing signal and the second timing signal generate relative displacement, and the unit change of the relative displacement is determined by the difference between the two unit phase time steps; the edge synthesis module is used to generate a target time interval by using the selected edges of the first timing signal and the second timing signal as the two boundaries of the target time interval.
2. The time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are driven by the same reference signal and output timing signals with the same nominal frequency or with a periodically determined edge correspondence.
3. The time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The difference in unit phase time step between the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit is formed by at least one difference among the internal oscillation frequency, the number of phase subdivisions, the frequency division parameter, the frequency multiplication parameter, the phase interpolation parameter, or the phase control step size.
4. The time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, ... The unit phase time steps of the first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are respectively and The effective differential time step formed by a pairwise phase adjustment satisfy: .
5. The time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit according to claim 4, characterized in that, The target time interval is expressed as: ,in, For the target time interval, As the time base period, This is a coarse time count value. This represents the number of paired phase adjustments.
6. The time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit according to claim 5, characterized in that, The device further includes a coarse time control module, which is used to generate an integer periodic component of the target time interval according to the time reference period, and the cooperative phase control module is used to generate a differential fine time component that is smaller than the time reference period.
7. The time interval generation device based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are respectively a hybrid mode clock management unit, a phase-locked loop, a delay-locked loop, a direct digital frequency synthesis unit, a phase interpolation unit, or a timing generation unit with discrete phase adjustment capability.
8. A time interval generation method based on differential enhancement using a dual-phase adjustment unit, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Configure a first phase adjustment unit and a second phase adjustment unit so that they have different unit phase time steps; The first phase adjustment unit and the second phase adjustment unit are driven by a reference signal. Paired phase adjustment is performed on the two phase adjustment units according to a predetermined control relationship to obtain an effective differential time step determined by the difference between the two unit phase time steps. The relationship between the number of paired phase adjustments and the edge selection of the two output timing signals is determined based on the target time interval. The target time interval is synthesized and output using selected edges of two output timing signals.
9. The time interval generation method based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit according to claim 8, characterized in that, The target time interval is decomposed into an integer period coarse time component and a differential phase fine time component, and the number of pairwise phase adjustments is determined based on the differential phase fine time component and the effective differential time step.
10. The time interval generation method based on differential enhancement of a dual-phase adjustment unit according to claim 8, characterized in that, The generated target time interval is used to represent the relative time relationship between pulse width, edge delay, phase offset, event interval, or multiple timing signals.