[time-nuts] Frequency counter questions
Bob kb8tq
kb8tq at n1k.org
Mon Apr 24 13:13:16 EDT 2017
Hi
Some of the process below is “not trivial”. One example:
You have a “gate” from the GPSDO and a “signal” from somewhere else. If you
want the STM to do the whole thing, the “gate” pin needs to get the job done in
X +/- 1 cycles of the “signal” pin. Delay X (if it’s consistent) isn’t a problem. Having a
> +/- 1 cycle delay *is* a problem. The interrupt servicing structure in the MCU
may or may not be able to hit things +/- 10 ns or even +/- 100 ns. Sometimes a
“lower power” MCU with simple code is better at this than a multi core gizmo running
a high level operating system.
Lots of things to dig into.
Bob
> On Apr 24, 2017, at 12:45 PM, Chris Albertson <albertson.chris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Sun, Apr 23, 2017 at 6:25 PM, Jerry Hancock <jerry at hanler.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> So to summarize, if I limit my high resolution to 99,999,999.999hz and use
>> a gate of 1000 seconds, would that get me to .01hz? If not, then what
>> would the possible resolution be?
>>
>
> It is best to keep this kind of discussion on the list. That way if some
> one like me sys something dumb, it will get noticed and called out.
>
> OK, so it seems you
>
> (1) are interested in measuring frequency up to 100 MHz but no higher.
> (2) want to use an STM32 ARM uP to
> (3) Are using the older (and simpler) design that simply counts cycles and
> divides by the gate time to measure frequency
>
> If the above assumptions are wrong. STOP reading now and post corrections
> or additions
>
> OK so we are good to go....
>
> I assume you know about and intend to use the built in counter/timmer on
> the STM32. You first step is to find out the maximum pule rate you can
> place on that pin. Lets guess it is 48 MHz. But you are a conservative
> engineer an want to de-rate it to 24 MHz.
>
> This means to measure up to 100 MHz you will need a prescaler that can
> divide by 4. This will transform you maximum 100 MHz to a maximum of 25
> MHz. It will force you into using 4X longer gate time. This is the only
> reason to pre-scale, because you can't otherwise process the signal.
>
> Now it is very simple. You write software that starts the counters on the
> desired pin and then your GPS sends a signal every one second (You do NOT
> need to divide down the 10MHZ from a GPSDO because the GPS already has a
> one pulse per second output that feeds the DO.) SO every one second you
> read the number of counts and keep doing this for as many seconds as you
> need After the gate time which might be one second or 4,000 seconds you
> add up all the one second readings and compute the answer.
>
> Actually you can do better given the excess computer power you have: You
> can output a frequency estimate after the first send and then each second
> you can output a more accurate value until finally after 4,000 seconds out
> have 0.001 Hz. So in the first second you put up a display that is good
> for +/- 4 hZ and then four seconds later you can be a 1.0 Hz and after an
> hour 0.001 Hz
>
> As I wrote before. I use the "trigger" output of my old Tektronix scope
> as input to my counter because the scopes trigger is MUCH better. If you
> own a 'scope this will save you a LOT of work as all you would need to
> build is a voltage converter to take the trigger output to 3v3 volts for
> the STM32. The STM already can do rescaling and counting. Connect an
> I2C display and you are done with the hardware. For a better and cheaper
> display, the STM32 can serve a web page and then you see the frequency on
> your phone.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Chris Albertson
> Redondo Beach, California
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