Date: 13/04/2011

MEMS based oscillators from SiTime are better than quartz oscillators for tablet PCs

SiTime Corporation has made available a portfolio of MEMS oscillators for Tablet PCs and E-Book Readers based on SiTime's SiT8003 Low Power MEMS Oscillator platform, provide clocking for every major functional block in the Tablet PC and E-Book Reader. SiTime claims SiT8003 is 30% thinner than quartz and offers 10 times better robustness to shock and vibration, improving the aesthetics and lifespan of the Tablet PC and E-book Readers.

"Tablet PCs and E-Book Readers are one of the fastest growing segments in the electronics industry and are expected to ship over 200 Million units by 2014. SiTime's low-power, programmable MEMS oscillators already provide the timing reference for many Tablet PCs and E-Book Readers," said Piyush Sevalia, SiTime's vice president of marketing. "Exciting, high-volume applications such as Tablet PCs have rapidly adopted SiTime's Silicon MEMS timing solutions over legacy quartz products, as our solutions offer the best size and robustness, unprecedented flexibility, industry-leading 3-5 week lead times and the lowest cost of ownership."

SiTime's SiT8003 low-power programmable MEMS oscillator can be configured to drive many different devices within a Tablet PC and E-Book Reader. Some common configurations are highlighted below:
SiT8003AC-12-18S-26.00000 for the Applications Processor and USB2.0 transceiver
SiT8003AC-12-33S-14.31800 for the Platform Controller Hub (PCH) chip
SiT8003AC-12-33S-22.57920 for the HDMI SOC
SiT8003AC-12-33S-24.57600 for the audio CODECs
SiT8003AC-12-33S-27.00000 for the camera module

The SiT8003 device consumes 3.5mA in active mode and less than 5µA in standby mode, offers ±25PPM frequency stability over -20ºC to 70ºC operating temperature and is available in a tiny, 2.5x2.0mm package.

SiTime's SiT8003 offers configurable rise and fall times at no additional cost. By controlling the rise and fall times of the various clocks within the system, the designer reduces system EMI and can meet environmental compliance more easily, cost-effectively and without any design changes.

Additional features and benefits of the SiT8003 include:
Any frequency between 1 and 110 MHz with 5 decimal places of accuracy. A customized clock frequency can be used for increased performance (over-clocking) or cheaper testability
Configurable operating voltage, 1.8, 2.5, 2.8 or 3.3V.
Industrial (-40 to +85 °C) and extended commercial (-20 to +70 °C) temperature range
4 industry-standard packages, enabling replacement of quartz oscillators with no design changes.
With a lead times for sample shipments of within 24-48 hours and production lead times of 3-5 weeks these devices are available in production now.

For details visit www.sitime.com