June 4-7, 2013
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Boulder, CO
Overview
The Time and Frequency Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology is offering a course on understanding clocks, oscillators, atomic frequency standards, rf and optical synchronization, optical oscillators, quantum information, optical cooling and heating; making precise frequency, time, phase-noise, and jitter measurements; and establishing measurement accuracy and traceability. This 4-day course is the most comprehensive available.
The 2013 Seminar will include lectures in direct-digital PM noise measurements, how to specify frequency uncertainty, oscillator needs for new radars and surveillance systems, GPS vs. other global navigation satellite systems, photonic (laser-based) oscillators, chip-scale atomic clocks, femtosecond laser dividers, active PM-noise reduction techniques in oscillators, millimeter-wave applications and noise measurements, and ultra-low noise amplifier design techniques.
Seminar Topics
Basic Definitions of Terms
- Frequency, Time, Phase, Accuracy, Stability, Noise, Jitter, Standards, Calibration, Traceability, Certification, Quality Assurance
- Time and Frequency Fundamentals
Measurement Methods and Analysis of Oscillators, Synchronization Systems, and Phase-locked Loops
- Digital Signal Processing Techniques
- Frequency-Domain Performance: PM and AM Noise Measurements of Oscillators and Amplifiers
- Time-Domain Performance: Allan Variances, Total Estimators, and other Time and Frequency Variances
- Characterizing Clock Jitter
How to Collect, Analyze, and Interpret Real Data
- Measurement Techniques and Analysis Examples
What You Need to Know about Oscillators and Frequency Standards
- Vibration, Acceleration, and other Environmental Sensitivities
- Quartz Crystal Resonators and Oscillators
- Atomic Standards: Rubidium and Cesium
- Comparing Laboratory and Commercial Frequency Standards
Testing Oscillators and Frequency Standards
- Measurements and Instrumentation
- Digital and Analog Approaches
- Demonstrations of Lab Measurements
- Time Stability
- Frequency Stability
- Phase Noise and Spectral Purity
- Jitter Analysis
Using the Global Positioning System (GPS) as a Transfer Standard
- GPS Time: What is it, How is it used, What is Typical Accuracy and Precision
- Time and Frequency Transfer Using Common-view GPS for Highest Accuracy
- Carrier-phase Common-view Time Transfer Using GPS for Highest Precision
- Limitations of GPS Synchronization
Special Time and Frequency Applications
- Two-way Satellite Time and Frequency Transfer
- Synchronization in Telecommunications Systems, Internet Time Service, Network Time Protocols
- Emerging Frequency, Time, and Synchronization Techniques on-chip (Chip-Scale) Cesium Standard
- Optical Standards, Laser Cooling, and Optical Frequency Division
- Future Applications and User Requirements
Other topics will include introductory and advanced frequency synthesis techniques, uncertainty analysis, applications in wireless cellular phones and broadband telecommunications, and aspects of legal metrology, traceability, ISO compliance, and laboratory accreditation.
This seminar is a must for planners, managers, scientists, engineers, laboratory technicians, and educators involved in the use of time and frequency systems. It presents techniques related to the analysis and evaluation of oscillators and frequency standards. It is particularly appropriate for those who are or might be responsible for certification of oscillator performance at levels where traceability to national standards is a useful part of this certification.