Written by David Meaney, Vice President of Global Technical Sales and Marketing at ECS Inc. International
The ECS Inc. International MultiVolt™ quartz-based oscillators utilize a cutting-edge small form factor high-performance ASIC. The oscillator circuit stage uses a low-current linear voltage regulator. This significantly reduces current consumption compared to traditional oscillator designs. This regulation allows MultiVolt™ oscillators to operate over a wide deteriorating battery supply or a traditional fixed supply which all but eliminated the traditional characteristic of oscillator supply voltage dependency.
MultiVolt™ oscillators offer better jitter and phase noise performance compared to SAW or MEMS-based oscillators, and traditionally they do this at a lower cost point. These MultiVolt™ oscillators can serve multiple platforms to aid your design efforts. Most MultiVolt™ oscillator lines will operate across supply voltages of 1.6V ~ 3.6V and on a static supply compatible with 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.0V, and 3.3V. They come in industry standard packages and footprints from 1.6 x 1.2 mm up to 7.0 x 5.0 mm.
ECS Inc. International offers a wide variety of MultiVolt™ oscillator classifications:
- MV
- SMV
- LMV
- MVLC
- MVQ
- TXO-MV / TXO-CSMV
Standard MultiVolt™ — MV
The ECS Inc. standard MultiVolt™ HCMOS oscillators are the most flexible oscillator parts available on the market today with frequency range options from 32.738 kHz ~ 160 MHz. MultiVolt™ oscillators can operate across supply voltages of 1.6V ~ 3.6V and on a static supply compatible with 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.0V, and 3.3V. These quartz-based oscillators offer better jitter and better performance than MEMS oscillators at a lower cost. They are available in a wide range of industry standard packages with stabilities of ±20ppm, ±25ppm, ±50ppm, or ±100ppm and temperature ranges of -10ºC ~ +105ºC or -40ºC ~ +85ºC.
Learn more about ECS Inc. International’s library of MV oscillators here.
High Performance MultiVolts™ — SMV, LMV, and MVLC
The ECS Inc. International high performance MultiVolt™ oscillators are designed and manufactured to have specific superior characteristics compared to the standard MV. The SMV and MVLC oscillators can operate across the supply voltage of 1.6V ~ 3.6V and on a static supply compatible with 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.0V, and 3.3V. The SMV line offers an industry leading tight stability down to ±5ppm and a frequency range of 8~ 60 MHz. The MVLC line offers an incomparable current draw of 1.5mA and frequency range of 1~75 MHz. The LMV oscillators can operate on a supply of 2.375V ~ 3.6V and on a static supply compatible with 2.5V, 3.0V, and 3.3V. The LMV oscillator offers industry leading jitter of <50pS with an LVDS output. These quartz-based oscillators are ideal for networking and communications, data storage, and battery powered operations.
Learn more about ECS Inc. International’s library of SMV oscillators here.
Learn more about the ECS Inc. International’s library of LMV and MVLC oscillators here.
AEC-Q200 MultiVolt™ Oscillator — MVQ
The MVQ MultiVolt™ oscillators are designed and manufactured for the automotive industry in our IATF 16949 certified factories to AEC-Q200 qualifications. For more on understanding these quality management systems, click here. They are the most flexible automotive grade oscillator available on the market today. These MultiVolt™ oscillators can operate across a 1.7V ~ 3.6V supply voltage and on a static supply compatible with 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.0V, and 3.3V. They are available in industry standard packages with stabilities of ±25ppm, temperature ranges of -40 ~ 125C and frequencies of 32.768 kHz and 0.72 ~ 160 MHz. These quartz-based automotive grade oscillators offer better jitter and overall better performance than MEMS oscillators at a lower cost.
Learn more about the ECS Inc. International’s library of AEC-Q200 MulitVolt™ oscillators here.
MultiVolt™ TCXO’s — TXO-MV, TXO-CSMV
MultiVolt™ temperature compensated crystal oscillators are available with stabilities of ±2.5ppm for the HCMOS TXO-MV and ±0.5ppm for the clipped sine wave TXO-CSMV. These oscillators can operate across a supply voltage of 1.7V ~ 3.6V and on a static supply compatible with 1.8V, 2.5V, 3.0V, and 3.3V. The HCMOS TXO-MV offers a ±2ppm stability with a frequency range of 10 ~ 60MHz. The clipped sine wave TXO-CSMV offers a ±0.5ppm stability with a frequency range of 10 ~ 52 MHz. These quartz-based oscillators offer low-jitter and low phase noise. MutliVolt™ TCXOs are ideal for GPS, wireless, satellite, IoT, and RF communication applications.
Learn more about ECS Inc. International’s library of MulitVolt™ TCXO oscillators here.
Choosing a MultiVolt™ Oscillator vs. MEMs Oscillator
When designing in any oscillator, it is important to keep in mind a variety of performance characteristics such as jitter, phase noise, stability, and power consumption. Based on these specific characteristics, quartz-based oscillators will have the advantage over MEMS based oscillators. Traditionally, crystal oscillators have a much lower power consumption, consistently better jitter, lower phase noise, and a much more stable frequency over time.
See below for two case studies from 2020 on MEMS vs. crystal MultiVolt™ oscillators comparing cost and performance advantages.
For more general information on Quartz Crystal and MEMS Oscillators Performance Based On Real Applications, click here.
For ECS Inc.’s full MultiVolt Oscillator catalog, click here.
For ECS Inc.’s full product catalog, click here.
For additional video resources, click here.
