Microsemi unveils high-performance clock management semiconductor timing solutions

USA: Microsemi Corp. has unveiled  the dual-channel ZL30240 and single-channel ZL30241 clock generators for multiple applications including communications equipment, enterprise routers and switches, storage area network equipment, and servers.

"With our new clock generators, designers no longer need to rely on expensive oscillators to get high speed output clocks with outstanding jitter performance, flexibility and dependable performance," said Maamoun Seido, VP and business unit manager of Microsemi's timing products.

"The addition of these new generators, coupled with the launch of our first clock buffer family last year, further solidifies our leadership position in timing and synchronization semiconductor solutions. This market segment remains a key area of focus and investment for Microsemi."

Market research firm Databeans estimates the clock generation integrated circuit market to be over $700 million in 2012.

Traditionally, fundamental speed oscillators have a limitation in the range of 50 megahertz (MHz) and third overtone options have a limitation  in the range of 150 MHz. Designers depend on analog phase locked loops (APLLs) to multiply low frequency signals and generate the desired high frequencies. The quality of the output signal depends on the performance of the APLL. To achieve high performance, designers are forced to use high cost APLLs, as high performance drives a higher APLL cost.

Microsemi's new, small footprint, high-performance clock generators can generate high frequency output clocks with very low jitter, low power consumption. The dual-channel or single-channel variants feature numerically controlled oscillators (NCO) that can generate any frequency with fine tunability of 0.1ppb (parts per billion).

The new clock generators improve reliability, simplify product development efforts, lower bill-of-material costs and are well-suited for cost-sensitive applications with high performance requirements.