Photon pulse random generator based on FPGA

• A method for generating lidar signals at the single-photon level has been proposed. • Achieved real-time output of 30Mcps photon pulses up to 1 kHz repetition rate. • Both photon counting and analog data acquisition boards could be calibrated and tested. The generation of continuous lidar signals for calibrating analog data acquisition boards is a relatively mature technology. However, when the intensity of the lidar signal reaches the level of single-photon detection, there is few effective solutions for generating discrete photon pulse signals with random amplitudes and arrival time. It is difficult to test and calibrate photon counting data acquisition boards. This paper introduces a method for generating discrete photon pulse signals. For the specific implementation, the Xilinx 7000 series Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is used as the development platform. And the Monte Carlo algorithm is employed to calculate the amplitude and temporal position of each photon pulse. This enables the real-time generation of each photon’s signal, which is then output through a 14-bit Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) module. The technology described in this paper could be applied for performance testing and calibration of both the photon counting and the analog data acquisition boards by providing controlled electrical signals.