US 12,216,434 B2
Time to digital converter (TDC) circuit with self-adaptive time granularity and related methods
Ping Lu, Cary, NC (US); and Minhan Chen, Cary, NC (US)
Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed by Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC, Redmond, WA (US)
Filed on May 31, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/828,538.
Prior Publication US 2023/0384738 A1, Nov. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. G04F 10/00 (2006.01); H03L 7/10 (2006.01)
CPC G04F 10/005 (2013.01) [H03L 7/103 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An adaptive time-to-digital converter (TDC) circuit, comprising:
a start input;
a stop input;
a first TDC circuit configured to generate a first digital measurement of a first time period from a first voltage transition of a start signal at the start input to a first voltage transition of a stop signal at the stop input;
a second TDC circuit configured to generate a second digital measurement of a second time period, non-overlapping with the first time period, from a second voltage transition of the start signal at the start input to a second voltage transition of the stop signal at the stop input; and
a TDC multiplexer configured to generate a selected value comprising one of the first digital measurement and the second digital measurement,
wherein:
the first digital measurement and the second digital measurement each comprise a same number of bits; and
a first granularity of the first digital measurement is more coarse than a second granularity of the second digital measurement.