Digital timing: sampling frequency, anti-aliasing filter and signal interpolation filter dependence on timing...

Area of Science:

• Digital signal processing
• Medical imaging physics

Background:

• High sampling rates in digital timing methods increase cost and power consumption.
• Aliasing artifacts and timing resolution degradation occur at low sampling rates.
• Anti-aliasing filters and signal interpolation are crucial for accurate timing measurements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of sampling rate, anti-aliasing, and interpolation filters on digital timing performance.
• To determine optimal sampling frequencies and validation methods for digital timing.
• To compare the performance of various digital timing methods.

Main Methods:

• Analysis based on the Nyquist sampling theorem.
• Digital timing study using fast Lutetium Oxyorthosilicate (LSO) scintillation crystals.
• Development and application of a 'sliding test' for validation.

Main Results:

• No significant timing resolution degradation observed down to a 1.3 GHz sampling frequency.
• Signal interpolation computation requirements were found to be reasonably low.
• The sliding test effectively validated constant timing resolution behavior.

Conclusions:

• Optimal digital timing performance can be achieved with careful selection of sampling rate and filters.
• Low sampling rates (down to 1.3 GHz) are feasible without compromising timing resolution.
• The proposed sliding test is a reliable tool for validating digital timing methods.