Research on an Active Hydrogen Maser Digital Circuit Control System Based on FPGA
A hydrogen maser is a high-precision time measurement instrument with high frequency stability and low frequency drift, which is widely used in satellite navigation, ground time keeping, frequency measurement, and other fields. An active hydrogen maser (AHM) is better than the current space passive...
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/22/9202 |
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| author | Wangwang Hu Tao Shuai Yonghui Xie Pengfei Chen Yuxian Pei Yang Zhao Rui Wang |
| author_facet | Wangwang Hu Tao Shuai Yonghui Xie Pengfei Chen Yuxian Pei Yang Zhao Rui Wang |
| author_sort | Wangwang Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A hydrogen maser is a high-precision time measurement instrument with high frequency stability and low frequency drift, which is widely used in satellite navigation, ground time keeping, frequency measurement, and other fields. An active hydrogen maser (AHM) is better than the current space passive hydrogen maser (PHM) in orbit in terms of its frequency stability and drift rate, but it has the disadvantages of large volume and weight. To further reduce the volume and weight of the circuit, this paper demonstrates a digital circuit control system based on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). It uses digital temperature control, digital detectors, digital down-conversion, digital phase-locked loops, and other digital methods for temperature control, cavity auto-tuning, and crystal phase locking, which improve the integration and flexibility of the circuit system. Meanwhile, a tuning method based on hydrogen flow is proposed, which effectively solves the problem of fluctuations in hydrogen maser resonance frequency with changes in the external environment. Our experimental results show that the designed digital circuit control system meets the requirements of an oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) loop and a cavity loop. Its frequency stability can reach <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>2.6</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mrow><mn>10</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>13</mn></mrow></msup><mo>/</mo><mn>1</mn><mo> </mo><mi mathvariant="normal">s</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>1.4</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mrow><mn>10</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>15</mn></mrow></msup><mo>/</mo><mn>10,000</mn><mo> </mo><mi mathvariant="normal">s</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, which is close to the stability index of ground active hydrogen maser. This scheme has certain practical engineering value, and can be used in the design of hydrogen masers for next-generation space navigation satellites, deep space exploration, and space stations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:27:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-27ddfe49d66d40638420babc3839df60 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:27:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-27ddfe49d66d40638420babc3839df602023-11-24T15:05:43ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202023-11-012322920210.3390/s23229202Research on an Active Hydrogen Maser Digital Circuit Control System Based on FPGAWangwang Hu0Tao Shuai1Yonghui Xie2Pengfei Chen3Yuxian Pei4Yang Zhao5Rui Wang6School of Communication and Information Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, ChinaShanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, ChinaSchool of Communication and Information Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, ChinaA hydrogen maser is a high-precision time measurement instrument with high frequency stability and low frequency drift, which is widely used in satellite navigation, ground time keeping, frequency measurement, and other fields. An active hydrogen maser (AHM) is better than the current space passive hydrogen maser (PHM) in orbit in terms of its frequency stability and drift rate, but it has the disadvantages of large volume and weight. To further reduce the volume and weight of the circuit, this paper demonstrates a digital circuit control system based on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). It uses digital temperature control, digital detectors, digital down-conversion, digital phase-locked loops, and other digital methods for temperature control, cavity auto-tuning, and crystal phase locking, which improve the integration and flexibility of the circuit system. Meanwhile, a tuning method based on hydrogen flow is proposed, which effectively solves the problem of fluctuations in hydrogen maser resonance frequency with changes in the external environment. Our experimental results show that the designed digital circuit control system meets the requirements of an oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO) loop and a cavity loop. Its frequency stability can reach <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>2.6</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mrow><mn>10</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>13</mn></mrow></msup><mo>/</mo><mn>1</mn><mo> </mo><mi mathvariant="normal">s</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>1.4</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mrow><mn>10</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>15</mn></mrow></msup><mo>/</mo><mn>10,000</mn><mo> </mo><mi mathvariant="normal">s</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, which is close to the stability index of ground active hydrogen maser. This scheme has certain practical engineering value, and can be used in the design of hydrogen masers for next-generation space navigation satellites, deep space exploration, and space stations.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/22/9202active hydrogen maserfrequency stabilityFPGAdigital circuittemperature control |
| spellingShingle | Wangwang Hu Tao Shuai Yonghui Xie Pengfei Chen Yuxian Pei Yang Zhao Rui Wang Research on an Active Hydrogen Maser Digital Circuit Control System Based on FPGA Sensors active hydrogen maser frequency stability FPGA digital circuit temperature control |
| title | Research on an Active Hydrogen Maser Digital Circuit Control System Based on FPGA |
| title_full | Research on an Active Hydrogen Maser Digital Circuit Control System Based on FPGA |
| title_fullStr | Research on an Active Hydrogen Maser Digital Circuit Control System Based on FPGA |
| title_full_unstemmed | Research on an Active Hydrogen Maser Digital Circuit Control System Based on FPGA |
| title_short | Research on an Active Hydrogen Maser Digital Circuit Control System Based on FPGA |
| title_sort | research on an active hydrogen maser digital circuit control system based on fpga |
| topic | active hydrogen maser frequency stability FPGA digital circuit temperature control |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/22/9202 |
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