Advancing time interval measurement techniques with FPGA-based instrumentation

Overview

The ability to precisely measure the period of time between events is critical in a number of applications, ranging from oscillator characterization and pulse analysis to more specialized applications such as free-space optical communications, phase noise analysis, and photon counting in quantum optics experiments.

During this presentation, we dive deeper into techniques such as event counting, frequency characterization, and pulse width modulation, and explain their significance in physics and engineering applications. You’ll learn how to implement these critical tests with reconfigurable, FPGA-based instrumentation to maximize efficiency and speed. We’ll introduce an advanced time & frequency analyzer (TFA), a versatile instrument capable of performing a wide array of these essential measurements with real-time analysis capabilities.

You’ll see how to precisely measure time intervals, implement timestamping, and adjust trigger events to fit the needs of your experiments. You will learn how advanced interpolation techniques combined with low-noise, high-bit-depth analog-to-digital conversion can deliver timestamp accuracies well below the sample rate and bandwidth limits of conventional systems. We will also show how flexible, software-defined instruments can help you reduce costs and experimental complexity. Watch the webinar to learn:

• Applications for time interval analysis and event counting
• How a single FPGA-based system can optimize phase noise analysis and photon counting

The webinar includes a presentation, demonstration, and live Q&A session. Check out the answers to all the live audience questions here.

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Webinar details

• Title: Advancing time interval measurement techniques with FPGA-based instrumentation
  
• Date recorded: May 22, 2024
• Speaker: Jason Ball