Ratiometric cancellation of RC timing gain errors ($t(GH,G\theta )=t(H,\theta )$)

Ratiometric cancellation of RC timing gain errors follows when the same positive gain multiplies every voltage level relevant to a threshold ratio. With zero initial baseline, fixed time constant $\tau$, high level $H>0$ and threshold $0<\theta <H$,Replacing $H,\theta$ by $GH,G\theta$ with $G>0$ leaves $a$ and the time unchanged. This is an exact invariance, not merely the first-order cancellation of two uncertainty terms. It is a ratiometric measurement property of the specified model.

For an original example, choose $H=2\mathrm{V}$, $\theta =0.6\mathrm{V}$ and $\tau =0.8\mu \mathrm{s}$. The crossing is approximately $0.285340\mu \mathrm{s}$. Gains $G=0.8$ and $G=1.2$ both give the same result when they scale high level and threshold together. A shared readout gain can cancel from the calculated time in the same way; whether a reference also changes the physical circuit must be stated separately.

The mismatch remaining after common RC gain cancellation depends on the relative gains, not their common magnitude. Let the high level use gain $G_H$ and the threshold gain $G_{\theta }$, with $G_{\theta }/G_H=1+ϵ$. Provided $0<a(1+ϵ)<1$,In the example, a one-percent relative mismatch delays the crossing by about $3.436\mathrm{ns}$, compared with $3.429\mathrm{ns}$ from the first-order expression. Thresholds nearer the high level amplify the residual.

A nonzero initial baseline must share the gain too: $t=\tau \log [(H-V_b)/(H-\theta )]$ is unchanged by multiplying all three levels by $G$. Scaling only the high level and threshold against a fixed nonzero baseline is another experiment. Likewise, additive errors follow the conditions in common offset in RC timing, not the two-level scaling rule.

Uncertainty in the time constant, independent threshold error, baseline memory, and failure to reach the threshold remain even when one common gain cancels. Their covariance structure must follow the complete measurement model, as in correlated threshold and amplitude errors in RC timing and NIST's propagation law.^[ref]

The mismatch remaining after common RC gain cancellation is the timing error caused by unequal gains in the amplitude and threshold paths after their common multiplicative part has canceled. It depends on their ratio, so improving a shared gain alone does not remove it.

For the zero-baseline RC threshold-crossing time, let $a=\theta /H$ with $0<a<1$. If the amplitude is multiplied by $G_H>0$ and the threshold by $G_{\theta }>0$, define the residual relative error by $G_{\theta }/G_H=1+ϵ$. The exact result from ratiometric cancellation of RC timing gain errors isHere $\tau$ is the time constant. As $a(1+ϵ)$ approaches one, the crossing is arbitrarily late; at or above one there is no finite rising crossing. An error budget must check this existence condition as well as a small timing residual.

For a new example, set $H=1\mathrm{V}$, $\theta =0.8\mathrm{V}$ and $\tau =1\mu \mathrm{s}$. A one-percent positive mismatch gives $\Delta t=-\log (0.96)\mu \mathrm{s}\approx 40.822\mathrm{ns}$; a one-percent negative mismatch gives $-\log (1.04)\mu \mathrm{s}\approx -39.221\mathrm{ns}$. The first-order estimate is $\Delta t\simeq \tau aϵ/(1-a)$, or $\pm 40\mathrm{ns}$ here. The unequal exact magnitudes are a consequence of the logarithm, not an asymmetric tolerance specification.

If $|ϵ|\le e<(1-a)/a$, monotonicity gives the exact worst absolute errorThus a $10\mathrm{ns}$ bound in this example requires $e\le (1-a)(1-e^{-0.01})/a\approx 0.00248754$, about $0.249\%$. This is a bound on the gain ratio, not on either gain separately.

For small fractional path errors ${\eta }_H,{\eta }_{\theta }$, $ϵ\simeq {\eta }_{\theta }-{\eta }_H$ andA perfectly shared component has zero contribution to that difference. This is the law of propagation of uncertainty applied to the two gains; it does not cancel a change in $\tau$, an additive threshold error or a nonzero unscaled baseline.^[ref]

A proposed check varies the common gain while holding its ratio fixed, then varies only one path. Recording the two electric potential differences and the crossing on an oscilloscope distinguishes the exact common-gain invariance from the surviving mismatch.