Tiniest clock generator IC offer lowest power

Tiniest clock generator IC offer lowest power

Available in a tiny 1.7-mm-squared package, the Si512xx clock generator family is claimed to offer up to 60% lower power than competing solutions and is ideal for space-limited, cost-sensitive embedded and consumer electronics. The clocks typically use up to 80% less board space than competing clock generator ICs and provide cost-saving replacements for sub-200 MHz LVCMOS oscillators.

These customizable parts support up to three LVCMOS clock outputs from 3 to 200 MHz in a single device. Each output has four levels of output strength setting, which can be configured individually to match the load and the trace length condition of the board. According to the company, this is more than twice the configurability of the closest competing product.

The clocks also provide output enable functionality to achieve even lower power modes in standby or sleep states. In addition, they provide customizable spread spectrum clocking technology to minimize EMI. They are available in 1.4 x 1.2-mm, 6-pin TDFN, 1.4 x 1.6-mm 8-pin TDFN, and 8-pin TSSOP packages. (ea/50,000;from $0.32 for two-output clock generators; Si51210-EVB evaluation board for 6-pin TDFN clocks, the Si51211-EVB for 8-pin TDFN clocks, and the Si51219-EVB 8-pin TSSOP clocks, each $50 — available now.)

By Christina Nickolas

Silicon Laboratories , Austin , TX
Information 512-416-8500
www.silabs.com