A FULL-BANDWIDTH DIRECT PULSE-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER

A UNIQUE, DIRECT PULSE-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER WILL BE DESIGNED AND DEMONSTRATED. IN GENERAL, SIGNAL CONDITIONING FOR TURBINE FLOW METERS AND TACHOMETERS COMMONLY EMPLOY SIGNAL CONVERSIONS TO OBTAIN A DATA FORMAT SUITABLE FOR DIGITAL RECORDING. THE PULSE OUTPUT OF THE TRANSDUCER IS FIRST CONVERTED TO AN ANALOG SIGNAL WHICH THEN UNDERGOES AN ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION. THESE CONVERSIONS INTRODUCE ADDITIONAL MEASUREMENT ERRORS WHICH COULD BE ELIMINATED IF A DIRECT, ONE-STEP PULSE-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION WERE USED. IN ADDITION, THE PROPOSED TECHNIQUE MAINTAINS THE FULL BANDWIDTH OF THE TRANSDUCER. A PROOF-OF-CONCEPT BREADBOARD WILL BE BUILT TO DEMONSTRATE THE PERFORMANCE OF A SINGLE CHANNEL OF THE REQUIRED 30-CHANNEL SYSTEM. THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF THE FULL, 30-CHANNEL SYSTEM WILL BE COMPLETED, AND A PLAN WILL BE STRUCTURED TO DEVELOP IT.