Abstract

This paper introduces a new hybrid method implementable on low cost microcontrollers for increasing the precision of time intervals measurement. The hybrid method combines the time-to-voltage conversion method (TVC) with the direct counting method in a way that eliminates the disadvantages of both methods when implemented on microcontrollers. The results show that using only one external resistor and the on-chip modules of a common and cheap microcontroller, high precision for time interval measurement is achieved on a wide range of time intervals spanning from 200 ns to 1.66 seconds. The article presents some promising patents on system for time intervals measurement.

Keywords: Direct counting, hybrid method, time measuring, time-to-voltage conversion