Inside Frequency Control

The development of crystal oscillators has literally changed the world. Technically that can (and is) said about many things. But think about it! Without crystal oscillators, we may have never seen precision timing in clocks, wide and clear radio broadcasts, or important communication methods within military and space programs.

Imagine how different our world might be without these now commonplace technologies. 

Bliley Technologies is proud to be partnered with PARC, the Palo Alto Research Center, a leading hub of innovation in a wide range of cutting-edge 21st-century technologies. PARC has deep expertise in the high-tech fields of big data, optoelectronics, semiconductors, large area electronics, model-based reasoning for AI, and is a pioneer in the field of ubiquitous and context-aware computing.

RF engineers would love to get their hands on an ideal crystal oscillator, one which transmits at the designated frequency for the life of the device without any deviation under all conditions. Unfortunately, that ideal circuit world is a mathematical fantasy. There are many factors that contribute to oscillator stability and frequency drift issues. To prevent these problems as much as possible, having a firm understanding of frequency stability will help give you the tools to keep your applications performing optimally. But there's another problem...

Unmanned vehicles have changed our world over the past 15 years, and continue to do so one battlefield, one site inspection, and one independent film at a time. Science fiction writers, engineers and military thinkers alike had envisioned robotic and autonomous warfighting machines for years, and in the early 21^st century, they became a viable and widely used option in warfare. But as they continue to advance and become less expensive, what does future hold for unmanned vehicles?

One of the most important decisions an RF engineer will make when designing a new system is choosing the right type of oscillator, and determining what signal output will be the best fit for the application. Each come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. In this article, wer're talking about temperature controlled crystal oscillatos (TCXO) and the clipped sinewaves they produce. We'll cover the pros and cons of the TCXO and its signal type, as well as some common applications that these oscillators are used with.

CMOS Clocks are a key technology that enables everything from laptops and smartphones to satellites and spacecraft to function. But what exactly do these devices do, and how are they beneficial in extreme environments and demanding applications? In this article, we will give a quick overview of the benefits of CMOS clocks, and how RF engineers put them to work in some of the most challenging applications.

One of the core challenges any RF engineer faces is maintaining frequency stability in crystal oscillators. In an ideal world, an oscillator would transmit at the desired frequency indefinitely and without deviation…but of course, we don’t live in an ideal world, and frequency drift is a real problem in many applications. There are a number of factors which can cause an oscillator to deviate from the correct frequency, but it is not an insurmountable issue, and there are various approaches engineers can take to improve stability. In this article, we will discuss approaches to maintaining a high degree of stability in crystal oscillators.