  Since the 1990s, there has been a dramatic interest in quantum communication.
Free-space quantum communication is being developed to ultra-long distance
quantum experiment, which requires higher electronics performance, such as time
measurement precision, data-transfer rate, and system integration density. As
part of the ground station of quantum experiment satellite that will be
launched in 2016, we specifically designed a compact PCI-based multi-channel
electronics system with high time-resolution, high data-transfer-rate. The
electronics performance of this system was tested. The time bin size is 23.9ps
and the time precision root-mean-square (RMS) is less than 24ps for 16
channels. The dead time is 30ns. The data transfer rate to local computer is up
to 35 MBps, and the count rate is up to 30M/s. The system has been proven to
perform well and operate stably through a test of free space quantum key
distribution (QKD) experiment.
