Block diagram
Principle
The signal may be amplified before being applied to the Schmitt trigger. The Schmitt trigger converts the input signal into a square wave with fast rise and fall times, which is then differentiated and clipped. As a result the output from the Schmitt trigger is a train of pulses, one pulse for each cycle of the signal. The output pulses from the Schmitt trigger are fed to a START / STOP gate. When this gate is enabled, the input pulses pass through this gate and are fed directly to the counter which counts the number of pulses. When gate is disabled the counter stops counting the incoming pulses. The counter displays the number of pulses that have passed through it in the time interval between start and stop. If this interval is known the pulse rate and hence the frequency of the input signal cab be known. If f is the frequency of unknown signal, N is the number of counts displayed by counter and t is the time interval between start and stop gate then, frequency of unknown signalis, f = N / t