Inventors:
Jeffrey V. Peck - Knoxville TN
Dale A. Gedcke - Oak Ridge TN
Russell D. Bingham - Knoxville TN
Assignee:
Advanced Measurement Technology, Inc. - Oak Ridge TN
International Classification:
G04F 1000
US Classification:
368113, 368118, 368120, 370518
Abstract:
A method and apparatus for precision time interval measurement in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS). The method and apparatus produces an instrument capable of measuring bursts of data occurring at rates much higher than the average data rate. An asynchronous serial stream of data, consisting of a start pulse followed by an arbitrary number of stop pulses, repeated an arbitrary number of times, is converted into a digital stream of data synchronized to a precision master clock. Conversion of the asynchronous, analog data to synchronous digital data simplifies the measurement task by allowing the use of powerful, low-cost digital logic in the measurement.