Friday, June 30, 2017

Silicon Labs launches XOs for 100/400G line cards

Silicon Labs, a supplier of silicon, software and solutions for networking applications, has introduced a new family of crystal oscillators (XOs), the Si54x Ultra Series, that is claimed to offer the lowest jitter frequency-flexible solution on the market.

The new Si54x Ultra Series XOs deliver jitter performance down to 80 femtoseconds (fs) for both integer and fractional frequencies across the entire operating range. The devices provide leading frequency flexibility and jitter margin performance and target demanding applications including 100/200/400 Gbit/s line cards and optical modules, hyperscale data centres, broadband, wireless infrastructure, broadcast video, industrial and test and measurement systems.

Silicon Labs' Si54x Ultra Series XOs are available with single, dual and quad frequency options and offered in an industry-standard 3.2 x 5 mm package, providing drop-in compatibility with traditional XO devices, as well as fast lead times and high reliability.

Silicon Labs noted that its PLL-based approach to oscillators is designed to enable efficient manufacturing and simplified factory programming to reduce lead times compared with custom oscillator products. Silicon Labs claims that this approach allows it to ship samples of any frequency XO within 1 to 2 weeks, and to deliver production quantities wthin four weeks.

The company's new Si54x oscillators employ Silicon Labs' advanced fourth-generation DSPLL technology to provide an ultra-low-jitter clock source at any output frequency. The device can be factory-programmed to any frequency from 200 kHz up to 1.5 GHz with <1 ppb resolution. In addition, on-chip power supply regulation allows noise rejection and enables consistent, reliable low-jitter operation in noisy scenarios such as high-speed networking and data centres.

The Si54x XOs also offer a drop-in replacements for low-jitter surface acoustic wave (SAW)-based oscillators while delivering superior frequency tolerance and temperature stability. The devices provide support for common output formats including LVDS, LVPECL, HCSL, CML, CMOS and Dual CMOS. Samples and production quantities of the Si54x Ultra Series oscillators are available immediately, and Silicon Labs offers a range of free web-based tools to support design and customisation.