Tutorial Session 1B - Introduction to Quartz Frequency Standards

Abstract

This tutorial reviews the subject of digital measurements of clocks and oscillators. It focuses primarily on the precision measurement of phase and the use of these measurements in estimating phase and frequency and common statistics such as the Allan deviation and the spectral density of phase. The subject matter includes direct counting, interpolating counters, dividers, heterodyne conversion, and dual-mixer systems. Biases in the measurements caused by aliasing and measurement quantization are evaluated. Analog techniques, which are used primarily to evaluate phase noise, are covered in a related tutorial.