Multi-Channel Monitoring System with Nanosecond Resolution for Intermittent Faults in Electrical Connectors

Intermittent faults in electrical connectors refer to cases in which contact resistance exceeds a specified threshold for microseconds or less, causing transient power or signal interruptions. Accurate detection and quantitative recording of these events are important for connector reliability evaluation. In this work, an eight-channel monitoring system with nanosecond resolution for intermittent faults in electrical connectors is developed, enabling quantitative recording of intermittent events together with dynamic contact resistance (DCR) waveform acquisition. Two-stage programmable amplification is used for DCR measurement, while threshold comparison and FPGA-abased quadrature multiphase oversampling are combined to capture intermittent events. The system supports DCR measurement over 1 mΩ–10,000 mΩ with a maximum relative error of 0.41%, and provides 1.25 ns equivalent time resolution for intermittent event monitoring, with an expanded uncertainty of 0.28 ns–0.54 ns over 20 ns–10 μs. Vibration tests on high-speed connectors further demonstrate that the system captures real intermittent events under mechanical excitation and measures their durations with a maximum relative error of 0.66% relative to oscilloscope results.