SpectraLinear
Design/Tech Support
Timing IC’s combine analog and digital circuits that generate and send very accurate signals or timing pulses that are critical to the operations of an electronic system. SpectraLinear timing circuits offer critical system level event synchronization, control and sequence multiple functions, minimize and control propagation delays and skews, distribute and process high speed signals, and reduce overall system level EMI through embedded and/or stand-alone functions.
SpectraLinear management and design team has been a provider of timing IC’s for more than a decade, with extensive mixed signal design expertise, especially in the area of PLL,
SSCG and input/output circuits with programmability, which are the key elements of clock chip design. The team brings years of industry leading innovation and critical know-how in mixed signal circuit design especially in the area of clocks.
SpectraLinear utilizes true mixed signal design platforms comprised of analog and digital gate array and memory structures. The gate array structure provides full logic customization. All SpectraLinear products utilize 0.18 micron CMOS technology with up to 4 layers of metal.
Timing circuits and clock chips have very unique design and performance challenges and operate in very harsh conditions, but yet with very demanding performance requirements. We have over the years developed very significant expertise relevant to such design techniques. The company has internally developed analog blocks for proprietary low power PLL design, a wide variety of VCO’s and VCXO’s, an extensive library of high performance I/O cells, digital libraries, logic blocks, SSCG techniques, and buffers. The company has also developed an extensive library of multiplexers and programmable elements to achieve a high degree of programmability and flexibility without sacrificing performance.
Last but not least, the company possesses extensive layout and bussing know-how that give our customers the best of class performance. Our rich portfolio of building blocks, exclusive mixed signal library and layout techniques enable us to turn designs quickly and reliably to meet our customers demanding time-to-market requirements. Our unsurpassed programmability feature enables us to provide samples in a matter of days. The company has state of the art CAD/CAE tools to facilitate full circuit simulation, automatic layout, place and route, back annotation of circuit parasitics, and very complex system simulation capabilities.
In summary, proprietary design techniques and state of the art CAD tools from Cadence are utilized throughout the design process to insure accurate prediction of key parameters. Random jitter in the time domain that results from phase noise in the frequency domain is accurately simulated using SpectreFR. Robust performance over the entire range of process, voltage and temperature is insured through simulations that include silicon device parasitics using the Virtuoso and Assura tool suites. In addition, the ability to assemble designs from intellectual property, IP libraries that have proven performance and yield, provides additional insurance that our customers receive the highest quality products.
Furthermore, the company has extensive post design capabilities including component level characterization procedures and equipment plus system level evaluation and characterization, which insure our products meet or exceed the customer requirements with ample system margin, and can be manufactured and delivered reliably.
• Best of Class Performance
SpectraLinear products utilize proprietary (patented) architectures to insure best in class performance and time to market. Extensive electrical programmability that is unmatched by any competing product insures SpectraLinear devices are delivered to our customers with the highest performance in the shortest time possible. Available within hours or days of product definition, each product has over 2,000 control points that allow the performance of our customers’ systems to be optimized for operating speed, spectral phase noise, timing jitter, power, heat, and radiated emissions. This enables our customers to get their leading edge systems to market faster than their competitors at the lowest possible cost.
In addition to extensive functional variations, each product can be programmed for operating voltages ranging from 1.8 volts to 3.3 volts, while supporting a multitude of signaling standards such as TTL, CMOS, HSTL, SSTL, LVPECL, and LVDS at different voltage levels and mixed supplies.
As a result, we are committed to provide products which are the best of class in all critical performance factors. Our design technology is capable of delivering :
• Operating voltage
Lowest operating voltage of 1.8V with 2.5v nominal with 2.5v capability.• Operating current
Lowest current consumption of approximately 1.5mA/PLL which is best in
the industry.• Power
3mW/PLL provides best of class performance that is significantly better
than the competition.• Speed
Operating frequency greater than 1.6GHz.• Frequency resolution
Less than 1ppm frequency resolution due to sigma delta design techniques.• Noise
Low phase noise VCXO in the order of - 140dBC at 1MHZ offset.• Jitter
Typically less than 1ps rms jitter in high end applications and cycle to cycle
jitter of approximately 30ps for most operating conditions• Programmability
- 7 separate drive levels for pull up and pull down for outputs.
- 32 different points of input threshold adjustment.
- Wide variety of EMI spread spectrum adjustments.
- Configurable PLLs.
- All in all, over 2,000 elements of programmability.
• Unsurpassed FTTM
Product delivery capability of one to two days for most customer requirements.
