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Chapter 6 Counters
Again, the measurement time for the one counter measurement is lowest but the accuracy is
lower. Note that the accuracy and measurement time of the sample clocked and two counter large
range are almost the same. The advantage of the sample clocked method is that even when the
frequency to measure changes, the measurement time does not and error percentage varies little.
For example, if you configured a large range two-counter measurement to use a divide down of
50 for a 50 k signal, then you would get the accuracy measurement time and accuracy listed in
Table 6-3. But if your signal ramped up to 5 M, then with a divide down of 50, your measurement
time is 0.01 ms, but your error is now 0.125%. The error with a sample clocked frequency
measurement is not as dependent on the measured frequency so at 50 k and 5 M with a
measurement time of 1 ms the error percentage is still close to 0.00125%. One of the
disadvantages of a sample clocked frequency measurement is that the frequency to be measured
must be at least twice the sample clock rate to ensure that a full period of the frequency to be
measured occurs between sample clocks.
• Low frequency measurements with one counter is a good method for many applications.
However, the accuracy of the measurement decreases as the frequency increases.
• High frequency measurements with two counters is accurate for high frequency signals.
However, the accuracy decreases as the frequency of the signal to measure decreases. At
very low frequencies, this method may be too inaccurate for your application. Another
disadvantage of this method is that it requires two counters (if you cannot provide an
external signal of known width). An advantage of high frequency measurements with
two counters is that the measurement completes in a known amount of time.
• Measuring a large range of frequencies with two counters measures high and low frequency
signals accurately. However, it requires two counters, and it has a variable sample time and
variable error % dependent on the input signal.
Table 6-5 summarizes some of the differences in methods of measuring frequency.
Table 6-5. 5 MHz Frequency Measurement Methods
Method
Comparison
Sample
Clocked
(Averaged)
One Counter
Two Counters
High
Frequency
Large Range
Number of
counters used
1 1 1 or 2 2
Number of
measurements
returned
1 1 1 1
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