www.sitime.com CONNECTED ELECTRONICS 19 www.power-mag.com Issue 3 2024 Power Electronics Europe battery life in portable and IoT devices. In our increasingly wireless and mobile world, the low power consumption of MEMS-based timing solutions is a significant advantage. Enhanced frequency control: MEMSbased oscillators offer better control over output frequency, enabling more precise, stable timing. This precision plays a pivotal role in enhancing the overall performance and synchronization of electronic systems. Customization: MEMS technology enables the development of programmable timing solutions to meet specific application requirements. MEMS timing devices can be programmed for 15 different parameters, such as frequency, operating temperature range and supply voltage, while a crystal is manufactured to have a single, fixed frequency. This adaptability enables MEMS-based precision timing to be deployed across a wide array of industries and use cases. Maintaining Time Accuracy with Frequency Stability and Holdover A key metric in precision timing is frequency stability, which directly influences the performance and reliability of electronic systems. Frequency stability is critically important in applications such as GNSS/GPS, radar, aerospace and defense, 5G networks, automotive safety systems, and financial technology (fintech). Realtime networks based on the IEEE 1588 precision time protocol (PTP) also require precision timing devices that excel in frequency stability. Defined by low phase noise and negligible drift over time, frequency stability is crucial for an important timing capability known as holdover. A synchronized network relies on multiple, redundant timing sources to ensure continuous operation. One of these timing sources is an ultra-stable local oscillator, typically an oven-controlled oscillator (OCXO), which will “holdover” the network and ensure continued, seamless network operation when upstream timing sources are disrupted and temporarily unavailable. The length of the holdover period is directly proportional to the stability of the local oscillator., highlighting the importance of using a highly stable precision timing solution. The more stable the oscillator, the longer the holdover period, and the longer the system can operate until the upstream timing reference (such as a GPS signal) is restored. System developers can enhance frequency stability and minimize drift by choosing specialized timing devices, such as OCXOs and temperature-compensated oscillators (TCXOs), which are designed to minimize the negative impact of temperature change on frequency stability. High-precision OCXOs and TXCOs are designed to generate more stable frequencies than conventional oscillators when exposed to rapid temperature changes. New Ultra-Stable Holdover OCXOs Outperform Quartz Recognizing the critical need for greater stability and longer holdover in today’s demanding electronics applications, SiTime reimagined the holdover oscillator by developing the Epoch Platform. The Epoch Platform distinguishes itself by offering twice the holdover period of conventional quartz-based solutions under common environmental stressors, enabling telecom and cloud service providers to ensure service continuity in real-world conditions. In contrast to the Epoch Platform, legacy quartz OCXOs are inherently unreliable and prone to performance degradation in the presence of environmental stressors such as temperature changes and vibration. To date, OCXO vendors have compromised on real-world performance, reliability, size, power, and warm-up time to achieve the one attribute most OCXOs are designed to deliver – a stable clock reference. The Epoch Platform overcomes the limitations of quartz OCXOs by integrating two MEMS resonators through SiTime’s DualMEMS temperature sensing technology, resulting in 100 percent thermal coupling. This ensures 40x faster temperature tracking, a crucial timing attribute, especially under conditions of fluctuating airflow and rapid temperature changes. In addition, SiTime’s TempFlat
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