A fully integrated pulsed-LASER time-of-flight measurement system with 12ps single-shot precision

A monolithic pulsed time-of-flight measurement system is presented in this paper. The circuit consists of an optical receiver front-end and time-to-digital converter. Received pulse amplitude detectors are also included to correct measurement for walk error. The IC is fabricated in a 0.18-mum BiCMOS process. The receiver front-end achieves a 2.3 GHz bandwidth and NF lower than 5 dB. The system shows a single-shot precision of 12 ps and a measurement range of 188 mus. The measurement rate can be as high as 700 kHz. The power consumption is 148 mA from a 3.5 V supply for analog and E 2 CL circuitry, and a 1.8 V supply for CMOS circuitry.