CMOS Digital Time Amplifiers for High Resolution Timing Measurement

In this paper the concept of time amplification in the digital domain is introduced along with a simple CMOS implementation. The time amplifier is presented in the context of a high resolution time-to-digital converter. The issue of limited linearity of the time amplifier is addressed through the utilization of an efficient calibration technique that allows for the correction of such non-ideality. Experimental data validates the design of a resistively loaded time amplifier with a gain of 182 Second/Second. Also, simulations suggest that the time amplifier can be designed for gains up to a few thousands with input dynamic ranges in excess of a few hundred picoseconds. Also, some figures of merit and performance are introduced along with a discussion on some of the trade-offs involved in the design of a time amplifier.Mourad Oulmane received the B.A.Sc. degree from the University of Constantine, Algeria, in 1995, and the M.A.Sc. degree in physics from the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France, in 1997, the M.Eng. Degree from McGill University in 2001 where he is pursuing a PhD Degree. His research interests include analog/mixed-signal/RF IC design as well as interconnect and semiconductor technologies design and modeling.Gordon W. Roberts received the B.A.Sc. degree from the University of Waterloo, Canada, in 1983, and the M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto, Canada, in 1986 and 1989, respectively, all in electrical engineering. He is currently on leave from McGill University as a co-founder of DFT Microsystems, Inc., where he holds the position of Chief Technical Officer. At McGill University he is a full professor where he holds the James McGill Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has published numerous papers in scientific journals and conferences, and he has contributed chapters to various industrially focused textbooks. In addition, he has co-written five textbooks related to analog IC design and mixed-signal test for undergraduate and graduate engineering programs. Dr. Roberts has held many administration roles within conference organizations; most recently he was the 2003 program chair of the IEEE International Test Conference. Dr. Roberts is a Fellow of the IEEE.