DIGITAL FREQUENCY AND TIME

MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
BY
D R . K . V. P R AV E E N K U M A R
A S S I S TA N T P R O F E S S O R , E E D , S V N I T
Introduction to Frequency Counter
In digital electronics, counters are used to count the number of pulses or events that have
occurred.
Counters store the data and made up of a group of flip-flops with an applied clock signal.
Counters are capable of measuring frequency and time along with the counting process.
These can increment memory addresses according to the application.
Counters are divided into two types they are synchronous counters and asynchronous
counters.
The ‘mod’ of the counter indicates the number of states should be applied before counting
the pulses.
These are used in various digital applications such as analog to digital converters, digital
clocks, frequency dividers, timer circuits, and many more.
Definition of Frequency Counter
Frequency counters are test instruments used to provide very accurate measurements of the
frequency of a signal.
These are capable of measuring the frequency and time of repeated digital signals
accurately.
These are also known as frequency meters, used to measure the frequency and time of
square wave and input pulses.
These are used various applications with RF range. These counters use pre-scaler to reduce
the frequency and operates the digital circuit.
The frequency of the digital or analog signals is displayed on its display in Hz.
When the number of pulses or events occurred in a specific period of time, the counter
counts the pulses and transfer frequency to display the frequency range of pulses and
counter is set to zero.
These are available at affordable rates with more accuracy.
Block Diagram

It contains input signal, input

conditioning, and threshold,
AND gate, counter or latch,
accurate time-base or clock,
decade dividers, flip-flop, and
display.
 INPUT
When the input signal with high input impedance and low output
impedance is applied to this counter.

I/P will be fed to the amplifier to convert the signal into a square
wave or rectangular wave for processing within the digital circuit.

The input signal is buffered and amplified by using the input

conditions and thresholds.

In this stage, Schmitt trigger is used to control the counting

additional pulses occurred due to noise at the edges.

To reduce the counting additional pulses, the trigger level and

sensitivity of the counter can be controlled.
 Clock (Accurate Time-base)
Clock or accurate time-base is necessary to produce various
timing signals at precise time intervals.
It uses a crystal oscillator with high quality for controlled and
accurate timing signals. (A crystal oscillator is an
electronic oscillator circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of
a vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical
signal with a precise frequency.)
The clock is applied to decade dividers.
 Decade Dividers and Flip-Flops
Pulses generated from the incoming signal and clock signal are
fed to the decade dividers to divide the clock signal and the output
is given to the flip-flop to produce enabling pulse for the main AND
gate.
 Gate
The accurate enabling pulse from the flip-flop and the train
of pulses from the input signal is applied to the gate (AND
gate) to produce a series of pulses at a precise time
interval.

If the input signal/incoming signal is at 1 MHZ and for the 1-

second gate should be opened, then 1 million pulses are
produced as a resultant output signal.
 Counter or Latch
The output of the gate is fed to the counter to count the
number of pulses that occurred from the input signal.

The latch is used to hold the output signal while displaying

the figures, meanwhile, the counter counts the pulses.

It will have 10 stages to count and hold the pulses.

 Display
The output of the counter and the latch are given to the
display to provide the output in a readable format.

The frequency of the output signal is displayed.

The most commonly used displays are LCD or LED.

Since there will be one digit for each decade counter and
the related information is displayed on the display.
Frequency Counter Circuit Diagram
The circuit diagram of this can be obtained by using two timers,
counters, 8051 microcontrollers, potential resistors, square wave
generator, and LCD display. The frequency counter uses IC 555
timer to provide clock signals at a precise time interval of one
second.
An IC 555 timer and square wave generator can be configured
as an astable multivibrator. The 16×2 LCD display is used to
display the frequency of the output signal in Hertz.
The circuit of this can be done by using IC 555 timer and
timer/counter of 8051 microcontrollers.

To generate the oscillating signals with a duty cycle (99%) with

the highest time period of the output signal, the IC 555 timer is
used.
The threshold and discharge resistors can be adjusted to get a desired value of the duty cycle.
The timer/counter of 8051 microcontrollers is used to generate the frequency of the pulse in Hertz.
Since 8051 has two timers acts as timer 0 and timer 1 and operated in mode 0 and mode 1.

Timer 0 is used to produce a time delay. The pulses out from the square wave generator are
counted by using timer 1.

Principle: The pulses generated from the square wave generator are fed to the counter/timer of
8051. It is operated in two modes to generate time delay and count the pulses.
The counter/timer of 8051 counts the number of pulses from the input signal at a time interval.
The output from the counter is given to the 16×2 LCD display to display the frequency of the signal
(number of cycles/second) in Hz at a particular time interval. This is the operating principle of the
frequency counter.
Frequency Counter Working
The pulse generated from the square wave generator is given to the pin 3.5 (port 3) of 8051
microcontrollers.
Pin 3.5 of 8051 acts as timer 1 and configured as a counter. TCON TR1 bit can be set to HIGH and
LOW to count the pulses.
The final count is stored in TH1 and TL1 registers (timer 1). The frequency of the pulse can be
calculated by using, F = ( TH1 X 256 ) + TL1
To convert the values of the pulse in hertz, the resultant value is multiplied by 10 i.e., frequency in
cycles per second.
After some calculations inside the frequency counter, the frequency of the pulse is displayed on
16×2 LCD.
 Types of Frequency Counters
Direct Counting Frequency Counter
This is one of the simplest methods of measuring the frequency of an input pulse. After counting the
number of cycles of the input pulse per second, the frequency can be calculated by using a simple
counter circuit. This conventional method is limited to measure low-frequency resolution. To get the
highest resolution, the gate time can be expanded. For example, to measure resolution at 1MHZ,
then 1000 seconds time period is needed to measure at one time.

Reciprocal Frequency Counter

This method is used to overcome the disadvantages of the direct counting method. It measures the
time period of input pulse instead of calculating number of cycles per second. The frequency of the
pulse can be calculated by using F = 1/T. The final frequency resolution depends on temporal
resolution and independent of the input frequency. It can measure the low frequency at the highest
resolution very quickly and reduces the noise by adjusting the trigger level. It measures the time
period of input pulse (contains several cycles) and maintains sufficient time resolution. This can be
carried out at a low cost.
Advantages
The advantages of frequency counter are
 It measures the frequency of the pulse generated from the square wave generator at a precise
time interval.
 These are widely used to measure frequency within the RF range
 These counters provide accurate frequency values very quickly and easily.
 It is cost-effective depending on the application.
 Ensures that all the frequencies are transmitted within the specified bands.
Applications
The applications of frequency counter are
 Used to determine the frequency of the pulse obtained from the square wave generator.
 Used to measure the frequency of the pulse very accurately
 Measures the frequency of the incoming signal at the transmitter and receiver on a line
 Used in data transmissions because of the clock pulse.
 Frequency of an oscillator can be measured
 Used in RF Range
 Detects the frequency of a high power data transmissions
Frequency Meters
Mechanical Resonance Type
Electrical Resonance Type
Electrodynamometer Type
Weston Type
Ratiometer Type
Saturable Core Type
 Ratiometer Type Frequency Meter
A ratiometer type frequency meter consists
of a ratiometer which gives a linear
relationship between the current ratio and
the deflection.
The two coils of this ratiometer are fed with
rectified output currents of two separate
bridge rectifiers.
The input sides of the two bridge rectifiers
are connected to alternating current supply
whose frequency is to be measured.
Input side of one bridge rectifier bas a
series capacitance C and the other has
series resistance R.
 Measurement of ratio of two frequencies
A simple scheme for measuring the ratio of two frequencies f 1 and f2 for (f1>f2) shown.
A convenient pulse width T=10 n/f2 is derived from the signal of frequency f 2 during this time the number of cycles
of the signal of frequency f1 are counted. Thus the counter reading would be N=f 1T.
N=10n(f1/f2).
Note: if f2 is constant (derived from clock oscillator), the reading would be proportional to f 1.
If f1 is fixed, the reading would be inversely proportional to f 2 or directly proportional to the period T=1/ f 2.
Period Measurement
The user of a frequency counter can calculate period of
waveform based on its frequency (f=1/T), but often period
measurement is built into a frequency counter.
In frequency counter for period measurement the input and time-
base connections are interchanged.
In this mode, the input opens the main gate for one of its cycles.
During this cycle, the number of time-base clocks are counted.
Suppose the time base period was 1 msec, then the resulting
display would be the number of 1 msec cycles that occurred
during one cycle of the input waveform.
In other words, this represents the period of the input waveform
in msec.
By using selectable frequency dividers, other timebase
frequencies can be generated, resulting in other ranges of
period measurement.
Measurement of time interval between two events
To measure time interval between A and B events occurring at tA and tB.
If we consider event A occur before B, i.e tA<tB.
The time to pulse width converter for this case could be SR flipflop as shown in figure.
The event occurring at time tA sets the fliflop and that occurring at time tB resets it.
The output pulse available at Q, thus has a pulse width tx.
Error in time interval measurement
The above method is sufficiently accurate if tx is very large compared to clock time period.
If tx comparable to Tc, the above method introduces considerable error.
Let tx=aTc+b, where a is an integer and b/T c is a proper fraction. Figure below shows the number of
clock pulses counted for b<Tc/2. It is assumed that clock pulses have 50% duty.
From figure below, (a+1) clock pulses will be counted when the first event occurs at t A anywhere in
interval AB and a pulses when it occurs anywhere in interval BC. Thus the measured value is error is
given by:
Numerical: Determine the maximum percentage error in measuring a
time interval of 2.2 micro sec with clock frequency of 1MHz. What would
be the error if the leading edge of the clock pulse is synchronized with the
initiating event?

Error = (Tc-b)
%Error= (1-0.2)/2.2
 Block diagram of Frequency Meter
The unknown frequency signal is fed to a Schmitt trigger. The signal may be amplified before being applied to Schmitt trigger.
In a Schmitt trigger, the signal is converted into a square wave with very fast rise and fall times, then differentiated and clipped.
As a result, the output from a Schmitt trigger is a train of pulses, one pulse, for each cycle of the signal.
The output pulses from the Schmitt trigger are fed to start stop gate. When this gate opens (start) the input pulses pass through
this gate and are fed to an electronic counter which starts registering the input pulses. When the gate is dosed (stop), the input of
pulses to counter ceases and it stops counting.
The counter displays the number of pulses that have passed through it in the time interval between start and stop. If this interval
is known the pulse rate and hence the frequency of input signal can be known.
Suppose f is the frequency of unknown signal, N the number of counts displayed by counter and t is the time interval between
start arid stop of gate. :. Frequency of unknown signal f= N/t.
High frequency measurements
The direct count range of digital frequency meter extends from d.c. to a few hundred MHz.
The limitation is on account of the counters used in conjunction with the digital frequency
meters.
The counters can work upto a limited rate of counting and not beyond it and high frequency
measurements demand a very high rate of counting.
So techniques other than direct counting are used to extend the range of digital frequency meters
to above 40 GHz. The frequency of the input signal is reduced before it is applied to a digital
counter. This is done by special techniques. Some of the techniques in use are listed below.
Pre-scaling: The high frequency signal is divided by some numbers – 2, 4, 6, 8 etc. by using high speed
divider circuits to get it within the frequency range of the digital frequency meter.

Heterodyne Converter: The high frequency signal is reduced in frequency to a range within that the meter
by using heterodyne techniques. A heterodyne is a signal frequency that is created by combining or
mixing two other frequencies using a signal processing technique called heterodyning

Automatic Divider: The high frequency signal is reduced by some factor such as 10 : l or 1000 : 1 using
automatically tuned circuits which generate an output frequency equal to l/100 or 1 /1000 of the input
frequency to get it within the range of the digital frequency meter.
Errors
Gross Errors
The errors, which occur due to the lack of experience of the observer while taking the
measurement values are known as gross errors.
The values of gross errors will vary from observer to observer. Sometimes, the gross errors may
also occur due to improper selection of the instrument. We can minimize the gross errors by
following these two steps.
•Choose the best suitable instrument, based on the range of values to be measured.
•Note down the readings carefully
Systematic Errors
If the instrument produces an error, which is of a constant uniform deviation during its operation
is known as systematic error. The systematic errors occur due to the characteristics of the
materials used in the instrument.
Types of Systematic Errors
The systematic errors can be classified into the following three types.
•Instrumental Errors − This type of errors occur due to shortcomings of instruments and loading
effects.
•Environmental Errors − This type of errors occur due to the changes in environment such as
change in temperature, pressure & etc.
•observational Errors − This type of errors occur due to observer while taking the meter
readings. Parallax errors belong to this type of errors.
Random Errors
The errors, which occur due to unknown sources during measurement time are known
as random errors.
Hence, it is not possible to eliminate or minimize these errors.
Errors in Digital Instruments
Resolution Error
The change in the value to be measured by a Digital Meter due to which the meter reading is
changed by one digit is called resolution error.
For example a digital meter reads 199.99 V instead of 200.00 V. In this case the minimum
resolution is 0.01 V.
Quantization Error:

It is represented by the smallest unit of the count. Sometimes due to small change in analog
values to be measured causes a change of Bit in digital Output.
In this way in every reading a change of +/- 1 digit occurs. This error is called quantization error.
Example: A meter reads 1 or 3 instead of 2. This error can not be eliminated completely.
Gate Time Error
In some digital instruments different pulses pass during the opening and closing interval of the
gate.
This is possible due to the change in opening and closing time to the change in opening and
closing time of the gate is called gate time error.
This error is very common in digital frequency meters, because these measures frequency by
counting pulses passing during gate time.
Total Error
Due to long usage of the errors are produced times drift and temperature errors are produced.
The instruments are effected due to change in temperature.
Under these conditions the calibration is affected and thus some of drift error, temperature error
also produced.
Therefore, the error is called total error.
These errors are can be judged by comparing the total error and rated errors, as described by the
manufacturer.
Sample Error
For rapidly changing values i.e or measurements of high frequency value, the conversion time for
Analog to Digital converter is very low, but this time is not provided at high frequencies which
causes sample error. This error can be controlled by sampling method.