ALISO VIEJO, CA -- Microsemi Corporation announces the availability of its enhanced Quantum™ Rubidium Miniature Atomic Clock (MAC) SA.3X family. As one of the industry's smallest, lightest and highest-performing MACs, the enhanced Quantum MAC SA.3X family is based on Microsemi's exclusive coherent population trapping (CPT) technology, leveraging its 40-plus years of timing solution leadership. The MAC SA.3X family meets all traditional, broad market frequency reference application needs.
Featuring excellent mechanical robustness and temperature performance, the Microsemi Quantum Rubidium MAC SA.3X family is only 25 percent of the volume of the nearest competing clock in the same category. This small size, combined with its very low power consumption, makes the SA.3x series ideal for a broad variety of platforms that mount directly on printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA), eliminating the need for a heat sink or fan.
"Microsemi has a history of investing in low power atomic clock technology, which has resulted in innovative timing solutions capable of solving challenging technical issues in such key vertical markets as communications and defense," said Ramki Ramakrishnan, director of product management at Microsemi. "We designed the Quantum MAC SA.3X family specifically to meet essential frequency accuracy and stability requirements in applications that include wireless base stations, wire line network infrastructure, defense systems and test and measurement instruments. These types of systems can benefit from the low-power Quantum MAC SA. 3X that provides the ability to operate across a wide range of temperatures."
The Quantum Rubidium MAC family delivers superior holdover accuracy over extended time periods, exceeding all wireless LTE base station and mission-critical defense infrastructure requirements. The MAC SA.3x will meet the LTE holdover requirements for several days, a significant feature. This innovative capability far exceeds conventional quartz-based oscillators, which only meet holdover requirements for a few hours at most. This critical difference results in an improved mitigation solution during periods of GNSS vulnerabilities caused by jamming and outage.
According to industry market research and internal analysis, the market for high performance oscillators is estimated to be around $470 million in 2015, and quantum rubidium MAC technology helps Microsemi to access this growing market.
Microsemi's Quantum MAC SA.3X Family Features:
• One of the smallest rubidium clocks on the market ◦Compact design 51 x 51 x 18 mm (2.0 x 2.0 x 0.7 in)
• Lower power than traditional rubidium clocks ◦5 watts (W) at 25 degrees C (14 W max during warmup)
• Superior atomic clock performance ◦Monthly aging <1E-10
• 1 Sec ADEV <3E-11
• Rapid operational stability after turn-on
• Exclusive CPT technology does not use a lamp, utilizing a laser that needs hundredths of watts (milliwatts) versus the traditional rubidium lamp, which consumes power in watts. This CPT technology does not require a microwave resonator, also allowing for a smaller size than traditional rubidium which requires a resonant cell.
• The MAC is PC board mountable without the need for a heat sink or fan.
Availability
The enhanced Quantum MAC SA.3X series is available now. For more information, visit http://www.microsemi.com/products/timing-synchronization-systems/embedded-timing-solutions/components/sa-31m-sa-33m-amp-sa-35m