Tiny technology, global impact: Breakthrough TI BAW resonator technology creates a new electronic heartbeat

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Tiny technology, global impact: Breakthrough TI BAW resonator technology creates a new electronic heartbeat [Copy link]

 

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Every electronic system must have a heartbeat - a clock signal, which can help each component run perfectly synchronized.

For decades, designers have used quartz crystals to generate this electronic heartbeat. The crystals oscillate to achieve a precise rhythm. But when these expensive crystals wear out, they can jitter or jump, affecting the accuracy of timing.

Recently, Texas Instruments (TI) has released two new core products based on bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator technology. These tiny timers are only 100 microns in size, smaller than the diameter of a hair, but they run at frequencies far higher than quartz crystals, enabling superior system performance.

With the advent of 5G communications and the era of big data, data transmission speeds between global systems are increasing, and high-precision clocks are becoming increasingly important.

From building automation to virtual health applications, new products based on TI's BAW technology can fundamentally improve the performance of internal clocks and the speed of application operation.

Traditionally, BAW resonator technology has been used to filter signals in communications technologies such as smartphones. TI is the first in the industry to use this technology to integrate clocking functions.

No Quartz Required: Industry's First Crystal-Free Wireless MCU

TI's new product announcements include the industry's first crystal-free wireless microprocessor (MCU) that integrates a TI BAW resonator in the package. Design engineers can use this MCU to achieve simpler and smaller designs while also improving performance and reducing costs. Because designers do not need to screen, calibrate and assemble external quartz crystals, time to market is accelerated.

"The ability to use and analyze large amounts of data to make accurate, intelligent decisions is an important innovation capability," said Ray Upton, vice president of TI's Connected Microcontrollers business.

Wireless networks are at the heart of this data migration, and the ability to connect the last mile through connected devices is a critical part of the data cycle." By 2022, spending on IoT applications is expected to increase from about $151 billion in 2018 to $1.2 trillion. This substantial growth shows that IoT applications are penetrating deeply into various fields. 90% of executives at technology, media and telecommunications companies say the IoT is core to their business strategy. [ii]

“One of the main bottlenecks in the adoption of IoT is the lack of integration, and crystal-free wireless technology can bring huge advantages to IoT applications,” said Ray Upton.

TI’s newest SimpleLink multi-standard MCUs with BAW technology can be integrated into low-power wireless RF devices, such as low-power crystal-free Bluetooth and Zigbee technologies, thereby reducing wireless RF glitches caused by external crystals.

Eliminating clock noise: Network synchronizers based on TI’s BAW technology reduce digital noise

Another product released by TI is a network synchronizer based on BAW technology that is used with quartz crystals to reduce digital noise or jitter. These noise and jitters typically come from the input signals of the communication subsystems of the wired or wireless hardware infrastructure in the core network of the data center. Eliminating the noise will bring many advantages to telecommunication systems such as 5G networks.

"The clock requirements of future communication infrastructure will far exceed the performance of current quartz crystal resonator devices," said Kim Wong, vice president and general manager of TI's high-speed data and clock business unit. "By integrating TI BAW resonators directly into clock devices, we can achieve ultra-low jitter performance and resilience to meet the increasingly stringent requirements for data pipelines in terms of vibration and shock resistance during the communication transformation process."

How the micro timer works

The TI BAW oscillator is an electronic oscillator circuit that uses the piezoelectric effect to generate a stable electronic signal through the mechanical resonance of a vibrating micro acoustic wave resonator (BAW). This precise high-frequency signal can provide clock and timing reference for electronic systems.

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Products based on TI BAW technology offer design engineers a variety of advantages:

• Smaller size. Integrated into the chip package, circuit designers do not need to install a separate clock device on the circuit board.

• Lower power consumption in most cases. Many IoT applications require fast clock system startup. Oscillators based on TI BAW technology wake up 100 times faster than quartz crystals.

• Lower digital noise. TI network synchronizer chips provide jitter performance that is better than the best-performing devices on the market today.

• Clean clock. TI BAW resonators provide ultra-clean timing references, which are important for high-speed data transmission of hundreds of Gb per second. It can also be integrated into wireless radio frequency (RF) chips as a single-chip wireless solution.

Key Impacts

With the advent of 5G networks and next-generation communications, a wide range of sectors will be impacted, from business to healthcare, agriculture and education.

Once the communications infrastructure is in place to support the transmission of large amounts of data, businesses and governments will want to provide wireless coverage for the last mile of point-to-point connectivity, from objects communicating with each other in a warehouse to communicating smartphones, thermostats, heart rate monitors and many other devices.

"By changing the way systems are designed, our TI BAW resonator technology will pave the way for the next generation of industrial and communications applications," said Ray Upton.

qwqwqw2088

The wake-up speed of the BAW technology oscillator is 100 times faster than that of a quartz crystal. I don't know what new material is used.

零三苏九岳志

Thanks for sharing!

alan000345

qwqwqw2088 Published on 2019-4-2 11:50 The wake-up speed of the oscillator with BAW technology is 100 times faster than that of quartz crystal. I don’t know what new material is used

Yes, TI’s new products are indeed a bit strange. I don’t know what materials are used and how to achieve this.