{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:03:43Z","timestamp":1760234623959,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,8]],"date-time":"2021-06-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1623110400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The usage of single-photon avalanche diode arrays is becoming increasingly common in various domains such as medical imaging, automotive vision systems, and optical communications. Nowadays, thanks to the development of microelectronics technologies, the SPAD arrays designed for these applications has been drastically well-facilitated, allowing for the manufacturing of large matrices. However, there are growing challenges for the design of readout circuits with the needs of reducing their energy consumption (linked to the usage cost) and data rate. Indeed, the design of the readout circuit for the SPAD array is generally based on synchronous logic; the latter requires synchronization that may increase the dead time of the SPADs and clock trees management that are known to increase power consumption. With these limitations, the long-neglected asynchronous (clockless) logic proved to be a better alternative because of its ability to operate without a clock. In this paper, we presented the design of a 16-to-1 fixed-priority tree arbiter readout circuit for a SPAD array based on asynchronous logic principles. The design of this circuit was explained in detail and supported by simulation results. The manufactured chip was tested, and the experimental results showed that it is possible to record up to 333 million events per second; no reading errors were detected during the data extraction test.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21123949","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,8]],"date-time":"2021-06-08T21:16:58Z","timestamp":1623187018000},"page":"3949","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Design and Characterization of an Asynchronous Fixed Priority Tree Arbiter for SPAD Array Readout"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5709-6539","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Enagnon","family":"Agu\u00e9nounon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"ICube Research Institute, University of Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, CEDEX, 67037 Strasbourg, France"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0699-6780","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Safa","family":"Razavinejad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Electronics Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Guilan, Khalij Fars Highway, Rasht 4199613776, Iran"}]},{"given":"Jean-Baptiste","family":"Schell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICube Research Institute, University of Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, CEDEX, 67037 Strasbourg, France"}]},{"given":"Mohammadreza","family":"Dolatpoor Lakeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICube Research Institute, University of Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, CEDEX, 67037 Strasbourg, France"}]},{"given":"Wassim","family":"Khaddour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICube Research Institute, University of Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, CEDEX, 67037 Strasbourg, France"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6781-7547","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Foudil","family":"Dadouche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICube Research Institute, University of Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, CEDEX, 67037 Strasbourg, France"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4430-5212","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean-Baptiste","family":"Kammerer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICube Research Institute, University of Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, CEDEX, 67037 Strasbourg, France"}]},{"given":"Laurent","family":"Fesquet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"TIMA, Grenoble INP, CNRS, University of Grenoble Alpes, 46 Avenue F\u00e9lix Viallet, 38000 Grenoble, France"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6318-4500","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wilfried","family":"Uhring","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICube Research Institute, University of Strasbourg, 23 Rue du Loess, CEDEX, 67037 Strasbourg, France"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1109\/JSEN.2015.2483565","article-title":"SPAD Figures of Merit for Photon-Counting, Photon-Timing, and Imaging Applications: A Review","volume":"16","author":"Bronzi","year":"2016","journal-title":"IEEE Sens. J."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20130100","DOI":"10.1098\/rsta.2013.0100","article-title":"Single-photon imaging in complementary metal oxide semiconductor processes","volume":"372","author":"Charbon","year":"2014","journal-title":"Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1038\/s41377-019-0191-5","article-title":"Single-photon avalanche diode imagers in biophotonics: Review and outlook","volume":"8","author":"Bruschini","year":"2019","journal-title":"Light Sci. Appl."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1109\/JSTQE.2014.2344034","article-title":"CMOS SPADs: Design Issues and Research Challenges for Detectors, Circuits, and Arrays","volume":"20","author":"Palubiak","year":"2014","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sna.2007.06.021","article-title":"Principles and features of single-photon avalanche diode arrays","volume":"140","author":"Zappa","year":"2007","journal-title":"Sens. Actuators A Phys."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Takai, I., Matsubara, H., Soga, M., Ohta, M., Ogawa, M., and Yamashita, T. (2016). Single-Photon Avalanche Diode with Enhanced NIR-Sensitivity for Automotive LIDAR Systems. Sensors, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/s16040459"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5656","DOI":"10.1109\/JSEN.2020.3038487","article-title":"Data Processing Approaches on SPAD-Based d-TOF LiDAR Systems: A Review","volume":"21","author":"Chen","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Sens. J."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nima.2018.10.204","article-title":"Silicon Photomultipliers and SPAD imagers in biophotonics: Advances and perspectives","volume":"926","author":"Caccia","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrometers Detect. Assoc. Equip."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"1957","article-title":"Eighty kilometre transmission experiment using an InGaAs\/InP SPAD-based quantum cryptography receiver operating at 1.55 \u03bcm","volume":"48","author":"Hiskett","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Mod. Opt."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, Y., Safari, M., Henderson, R., and Haas, H. (2015, January 6\u201310). Nonlinear Distortion in SPAD-Based Optical OFDM Systems. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps), San Diego, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/GLOCOMW.2015.7414148"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Malass, I., Uhring, W., Le Normand, J.-P., Dumas, N., and Dadouche, F. (2014, January 22\u201325). 10-ps Resolution hybrid time to digital converter in a 0.18 \u03bcm CMOS technology. Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE 12th International New Circuits and Systems Conference (NEWCAS), Trois-Rivieres, QC, Canada.","DOI":"10.1109\/NEWCAS.2014.6933995"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Malass, I., Uhring, W., Le Normand, J.-P., Dumas, N., and Dadouche, F. (2018). Parallelized Integrated Time-Correlated Photon Counting System for High Photon Counting Rate Applications. Photon Count. Fundam. Appl.","DOI":"10.5772\/intechopen.72273"},{"key":"ref_13","first-page":"1","article-title":"A 128 \u00d7 128 SPAD Motion-Triggered Time-of- Flight Image Sensor with In-Pixel Histogram and Column-Parallel Vision Processor","volume":"55","author":"Mai","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4818","DOI":"10.1109\/TCSI.2020.2997358","article-title":"A Digital CMOS Silicon Photomultiplier Using Perimeter Gated Single Photon Avalanche Diodes with Asynchronous AER Readout","volume":"67","author":"Shawkat","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. I Regul. Pap."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lin, J., and Andreou, A.G. (2011). A 32 \u00d7 32 single photon avalanche diode imager with delay-insensitive address-event readout. 2011 IEEE Int. Symp. Circuits Syst., 1824\u20131827.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISCAS.2011.5937940"},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Linn, A.M.T., Tuan, D.A., Shoushun, C., and Seng, Y.K. (2011, January 3\u20135). Adaptive priority toggle asynchronous tree arbiter for AER-based image sensor. Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE\/IFIP 19th International Conference on VLSI and System-on-Chip, Hong Kong, China."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shoushun, C., Bermak, A., and Martinez, D. (2005, January 1\u20133). A CMOS vision sensor with on-the-fly histogram equalization using TFS encoding and AER read-out. Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE Asian Solid-State Circuits Conference, Hsinchu, Taiwan.","DOI":"10.1109\/ASSCC.2005.251758"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ghiribaldi, A., Bertozzi, D., Nowick, S.M., and Alberto, G. (2013). A Transition-Signaling Bundled Data NoC Switch Architecture for Cost-effective GALS Multicore Systems. Des. Autom. Test Eur. Conf. Exhib., 332\u2013337.","DOI":"10.7873\/DATE.2013.079"},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"Rigaud, J.-B., Quartana, J., Fesquet, L., and Renaudin, M. (2001, January 3\u20135). Modeling and Design of Asynchronous Priority Arbiters for On-Chip Com-munication Systems. Proceedings of the IFIP TC10\/WG10.5 Eleventh International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration of Systems-on\/Chip: SOC Design Methodologies, Montpellier, France."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Bystrov, A., Kinniment, D., and Yakovlev, A. (2000, January 2\u20136). Priority arbiters. Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Advanced Research in Asynchronous Circuits and Systems (ASYNC 2000), Eilat, Israel."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1166\/jolpe.2007.138","article-title":"Low Power and Energy Efficient Asynchronous Design","volume":"3","author":"Beerel","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Low Power Electron."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Turko, T., Uhring, W., Dadouche, F., and Fesquet, L. (2018, January 9\u201312). An Asynchronous Fixed Priority Arbiter for High througput Time Correlated Single Photon Counting Systems. Proceedings of the 2018 25th IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems (ICECS), Bordeaux, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICECS.2018.8618023"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"566","DOI":"10.1109\/JSSC.2007.914337","article-title":"A 128 128 120 dB 15 \u00b5s Latency Asynchronous Temporal Contrast Vision Sensor","volume":"43","author":"Lichtsteiner","year":"2008","journal-title":"IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2977","DOI":"10.1109\/JSSC.2008.2006445","article-title":"A 128 \u00d7 128 Single-Photon Image Sensor With Column-Level 10-Bit Time-to-Digital Converter Array","volume":"43","author":"Niclass","year":"2008","journal-title":"IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"720","DOI":"10.1145\/63526.63532","article-title":"Micropipelines","volume":"32","author":"Sutherland","year":"1989","journal-title":"Commun. ACM"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.1109\/MDT.2011.71","article-title":"High-Performance Asynchronous Pipelines: An Overview","volume":"28","author":"Nowick","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Des. Test Comput."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"McGee, P.B., Agyekum, M.Y., Mohamed, M.A., and Nowick, S.M. (2008, January 7\u201310). A Level-Encoded Transition Signaling Protocol for High-Throughput Asynchronous Global Communication. Proceedings of the 2008 14th IEEE International Symposium on Asynchronous Circuits and Systems, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.","DOI":"10.1109\/ASYNC.2008.24"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Naqvi, S.R., and Steininger, A. (2014, January 24). A Tree Arbiter Cell for High Speed Resource Sharing in Asynchronous Environments. Proceedings of the Conference on Design, Automation & Test in Europe; European Design and Automation Association, Leuven, Belgium.","DOI":"10.7873\/DATE2014.308"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Miorandi, G., Bertozzi, D., and Nowick, S.M. (2015, January 4\u20136). Increasing Impartiality and Robustness in High-Performance N-Way Asynchronous Arbiters. Proceedings of the 2015 21st IEEE International Symposium on Asynchronous Circuits and Systems, Mountain View, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ASYNC.2015.24"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Malass, I., Uhring, W., Le Normand, J.-P., Dumas, N., and Dadouche, F. (2015, January 7\u201310). Efficiency improvement of high rate integrated time correlated single photon counting systems by incorporating an embedded FIFO. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE 13th International New Circuits and Systems Conference (NEWCAS), Grenoble, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/NEWCAS.2015.7182073"}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/21\/12\/3949\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T06:12:00Z","timestamp":1760163120000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/21\/12\/3949"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,8]]},"references-count":30,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6]]}},"alternative-id":["s21123949"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s21123949","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1424-8220"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,8]]}}}