Ruggedized MEMS timing targets aerospace and defense

By Nitin Dahad, contributing writer

SiTime Corp. has launched its Endura family of MEMS timing solutions for aerospace and defense applications such as field and satellite communications, precision GNSS, avionics, and space. The oscillators deliver four parts per trillion per g (ppt/g) of acceleration sensitivity, which the company claims is 50× better than legacy quartz-based solutions. Their timing specifications conform to MIL-PRF-55310.

Piyush Sevalia, executive vice president of marketing for SiTime, told EE Times, “The idea is to be able to take electronics into open environments rather than just controlled conditions. Aerospace and defense applications involve products being out in the open and subject to all kinds of environmental conditions.” He said that when legacy timing components are exposed to high levels of shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures, they have been prone to failure, degrading system performance and reliability. “To solve these problems, SiTime created an oscillator system of silicon MEMS, analog circuits, compensation algorithms and advanced packaging, which is designed to outperform any other available timing solution in harsh environments.”

SiTime’s portfolio of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Endura products spans six oscillator types and 17 programmable products, offering up to 5 million possible part number permutations. All devices offer programmable options such as frequency, operating voltage, and stability. In addition, some devices offer specialized programmable features such as spread spectrum, pull range, and differential output type. Endura products are available with up to two grades of acceleration sensitivity, as low as 4 ppt/g (typical). This breadth of products provides customers with a large selection and the ability to configure each device for their application requirements.

SiTime’s Endura MEMS timing solutions programmability options. (Image: SiTime)

The Endura products are based on the technology used in the Emerald programmable MEMS timing solution introduced last year — in terms of the MEMS resonator, the die, and the algorithms — and are tested, characterized, and qualified to military specifications. SiTime said that Endura supports all processors at any frequency accurate to up to six decimal places and enables long battery life by using its Nanodrive output swing for lower power; also, because of its I² C digital control, there is no analog noise.

Samples of Endura products are available now. Production quantities will be available in Q4 2019. In addition to COTS products, value-added services are also available, including 100% burn-in at high temperature, 100% electrical test at temperature extremes, and QCI sample testing for high reliability and customer-generated drawings.

Additional up-screening flows for Levels S and B in MIL-PRF-55310E Table III are available from SiTime partners such as ES Components and others on the Qualified Suppliers List of Distributors (QSLD) of the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). These ITAR-registered suppliers can 100% up-screen SiTime Endura devices or sample-test them in accordance with MIL-PRF-55310 requirements and MIL-STD-883 methods.

This article originally appeared on EE Times.