Toshiba Corporation said it has developed a prototype reference clock oscillator fabricated with standard CMOS technology that achieves the world’s highest class accuracy.

Used to replace a conventional crystal oscillator, the new device will support the miniaturization of electronic devices, said the company in its statement.

Toshiba showcased the oscillator technology at the 2014 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits in Honolulu, Hawaii held recently.

Of late, the demand for the miniaturization of electronic components, the source of complex functionality in electronic products, has extended to oscillators, stimulating interest in ultra-small oscillators, the statement added.

Although conventional crystal oscillators offer excellent accuracy of oscillation frequency, they require a relatively large package due to the size of the crystal. Smaller CMOS oscillators have been designed, but with a much lower oscillation frequency, due to large temperature dependence.

Toshiba has developed a technology for precise calibration of the temperature dependence of oscillation frequencies in CMOS oscillators.

Its application has secured a high precision CMOS oscillator with accuracy of less than +/-100ppm (0.01%), comparable to crystal oscillators. In addition, by taking advantage of the digital computing capability of CMOS, Toshiba has also achieved a wide range of frequency outputs (2-40MHz) in 40Hz steps.

During the initial test, the oscillation frequencies of the CMOS oscillator are measured and calibrated at multiple temperatures, in order to realize high accuracy. The junction temperature can be quickly changed by an on-chip heater, realizing low-cost testing and high-accuracy calibration.

As a result, Toshiba has developed a high-accuracy oscillator with thermal design using on-chip heater and stabilizing temperature near the oscillator for the calibration. The digital calibration data, which is calculated and stored during the test, is automatically applied in actual operation.

Toshiba said it plans to commercialize the new CMOS oscillator within the next two to three years, and aims to reduce its volume to one third that of a conventional crystal oscillator. Toshiba will also integrate the oscillator into system LSI, such as MCU and ASIC.-TradeArabia News Service