Epoch Platform OCXO

The Epoch Platform MEMS OCXO (oven controlled oscillator) family is designed to solve the long-standing problems of quartz OCXOs which are inherently unreliable and prone to performance degradation in the presence of environmental stressors. Epoch Platform OCXOs are resilient to thermal shock, airflow, and vibration. Plus, these ultra-stable oscillators simplify design with best-in-class size, lower power, and resilience that eliminates the need for a protective cover used with many quartz OCXOs.
 

* All devices offer: (1) digital frequency pulling (DCOCXO) via I2C/SPI with up to ±400 ppm pull range and resolution down to 0.05 ppt; (2) supply voltage options of 2.5V, 2.8V, and 3.3V; and (3) regulated LVCMOS or clipped sinewave output.  * For aerospace and defense applications, please contact SiTime.
 

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2X Better Service Continuity

A synchronized network relies on multiple, redundant timing sources to ensure continuous operation. One of these sources is an ultra-stable local oscillator, typically an OCXO, that will provide holdover timing if the external time reference is lost. This holdover oscillator must be reliable and resilient to ensure continuous network operation. With the proliferation of 5G and edge computing, equipment is increasingly being placed in less controlled environments and in locations that are subject to rapid temperature changes, unpredictable and fluctuating airflow, or vibration.

While OCXOs are designed for better stability over temperature, thermal disruptions can still wreak havoc on traditional quartz OCXOs – causing them to underperform according to their datasheet specifications. In contrast, the Epoch holdover oscillator is built for resiliency and reliable performance under rapid temperature changes, airflow, and vibration. With frequency over temperature slope (dF/dT) as good as ±10 ppt/°C, three times lower Hadamard deviation (HDEV) under airflow, and low aging of just ±0.1 ppb/day, Epoch OCXOs offer unrivaled holdover in real-world conditions.

Improved service continuity brings great benefits to service providers and their customers with lower operating expenses due to fewer truck rolls and better user experience leading to higher subscriber retention.

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Holdover test of ±1-ppb Epoch Platform MEMS OCXOs and comparable ±1-ppb quartz OCXOs from one of the largest quartz vendors. Tested during an 8°C temperature cycle and breezy airflow up to 1 meter per second, to induce rapid temperature change. The Epoch Platform MEMS OCXO delivers 2x less time error after 8 hours.

25X Less Volume

Traditional quartz OCXOs are often one of the largest components on the board. Not the case with the Epoch Platform MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system) OCXOs. With a formfactor of just 9.0 x 7.0 x 3.6 mm, the footprint of Epoch OCXOs is 9x smaller and its volume is 25x less than comparable ±1 ppb quartz OCXOs. Plus, because Epoch ultra-stable oscillators are so resilient, protective covers and shielding are unnecessary, further reducing space requirements.

This enables smaller systems such as 1U rack servers and half-height network cards, where vertical space is at a premium and use of a standard quartz OCXO with a protective cover is difficult to fit. The small size and resiliency of the Epoch Platform affords great design flexibility, allowing it to be placed anywhere on the board. Epoch OCXOs not only enable more compact design, they reduce design iterations due to poor spacing practices.

3X Lower Power

Traditional OCXOs are known to be power-hungry devices. To achieve OCXO-level stability, these ovenized oscillators constantly run at an elevated temperature through use of a heating element within the package, which draws excessive current. The MEMS technology behind the Epoch Platform changes the game by reducing the volume of area that needs to be heated by 100 times or more. With 420 mW power consumption in steady state, Epoch OCXOs consume three times less power than comparable quartz OCXOs, which typically run at 1.5 W.

This simplifies thermal design, reduces design time and costs, as well as reduces end equipment installation time and costs. Epoch Platform low power opens the door to new applications and use of standards such as Power over Ethernet, or PoE, and it enables better performance in power sensitive systems such as integrated small cells.

Beyond power consumption, the startup time for Epoch devices is just 8 ms. Additionally, Epoch OCXOs are available in a range of supply voltage options down to 2.5 V, providing flexibility in the choice of power supplies and potentially lowering the BOM cost.