M/A-COM Qualifies Discera Oscillators For Use In Its Telemetry Transmitters

San Jose, CA -- Discera, Inc. announced that Tyco Electronics' M/A-COM has qualified Discera's MEMS-based oscillator series, MOS1, for use in their telemetry transmitters. M/A-COM qualified Discera's device after a series of tests as an alternative to quartz crystal in building timing components.

When M/A-COM tested the reliability of the new Discera component for electronics devices, they tested it for military grade uses. The testing, designed to prove the reliability and durability of silicon-based resonators for timing devices, included shooting the component out of an air gun. Test results indicated that silicon-based MEMS resonators are ready for deployment in electronics products, including those designed for military use.

Discera and M/A-COM conducted the durability tests during the past year. Throughout the testing, Discera's MEMS resonator oscillators performed reliably in all tests, including shock resistance. Shock simulations show Discera's MOS1 product being able to achieve up to 100,000g of shock. Testing shows the resonators survived 14,000g of shock with no degradation in performance and have the ability to be even more robust with industry standard packaging techniques.

Discera's technology consists of a silicon MEMS resonator and an ASIC embedded within a conventional QFN package or ceramic package. The MOS1 oscillator family generates frequencies between 1 and 125 MHz with excellent stability over temperature and is enclosed in a tiny industry standard IC package providing a significant cost advantage. The MOS1 family of oscillators has passed industry standard qualification tests, as well as extreme reliability tests mentioned above,. The MOS1 family is ready to begin shipping its first products for direct replacement of quartz crystal oscillators for timing components in electronics devices.

SOURCE: Cobham Sensor Systems