Epson Toyocom Corporation (Epson Toyocom), a Japan-based provider of crystal devices, has developed new small 32.768-kHz crystal oscillator, SG-3050BC. The maximum dimensions of the new SG-3050BC are just 2.2 mm x 1.4 mm x 1.0t mm. The new crystal oscillator’s footprint and cubic volume are 70% and 75% smaller, respectively, than its predecessor. The SG-3050BC oscillator will help electronic equipment manufacturers further downsize their products while increasing performance.
Samples of the SG-3050BC will be available from March 2009.
Currently 32.768-kHz crystal devices are indispensable as clocks, microcontroller subclocks and timer functions in a variety of applications, including compact portable consumer products such as cell phones and digital still cameras. They are also essential for industrial measuring instruments and machine tools and for in-vehicle systems such as navigation systems, GPS modules, and engine control units.
Moreover, 32.768-kHz reference clocks are also combined with 32.768-kHz tuning-fork crystal units and oscillation circuits for use in a single package.
In recent years heightened awareness of the need to reduce environmental impacts has been driving demand for ever more compact electronic devices that maintain greater functionality while consuming fewer raw materials and less power. As tuning-fork crystal units and oscillation circuits become smaller it is becoming increasingly difficult to design combinations with equal or superior stability and power consumption compared to their predecessors. There is demand for smaller oscillators that satisfy such performance requirements.
Epson Toyocom has responded by developing the ultra-compact 32.768-kHz SG-3050BC crystal oscillator. Epson Toyocom has already previously released industry-leading, ultra-compact 32.768-kHz tuning-fork crystal units, like the FC-12M, with maximum dimensions of 2.0 mm x 1.2 mm x 0.6t mm, and established services to support oscillation circuit design, such as The Latest in Low-Frequency Oscillation Circuits. With the addition of the SG-3050BC to the lineup, Epson Toyocom now offers comprehensive solutions for both ultra-compact crystal units and oscillators.
The SG-3050BC, equipped with an ultra-compact QMEMS crystal chip, is the small 32.768-kHz crystal oscillator with built-in crystal unit. Epson Toyocom was able to shrink the size of this oscillator by using a new structure. The new structure applies Epson Toyocom’s original NPO (New Platform Oscillator) structure, wherein a crystal unit in a ceramic package is sealed together with an oscillation circuit in a molded plastic housing. Combining a compact crystal unit with an oscillation circuit rather than providing them separately significantly shrinks the space required. The crystal oscillators will also pay dividends in the form of greater system reliability and quality, since the crystal unit’s characteristics will be assured prior to shipment, alleviating the need for customers to design oscillation circuits or adjust output frequencies.
The SG-3050BC also outperforms the previous SG-3030 series, boasting an operating voltage range of 1.2 to 5.5 V and initial frequency tolerance of 5.0 ± 5.0 × 10-6.
Epson Toyocom’s SG-3050BC is a total solution that will help customers add value to their systems by allowing them to use space more efficiently in feature-rich electronic equipment.