Silicon Labs expands its automotive clock portfolio with new SmartClock technology

     Silicon Labs, a leading provider of chips, software and solutions for a smarter, more connected world, introduces new SmartClock technology in its AEC-Q100 compliant Si5332-AM clock generator family. Expanded functionality for the industry's widely used portfolio of silicon-based automotive clock solutions. The new SmartClock technology actively monitors the reference clock to detect potential failures and provides built-in clock redundancy.

     James Wilson, general manager of clock products at Silicon Labs, said: "Automotive electronics design has traditionally relied on quartz crystals and oscillators, which are prone to failure throughout their lifetime. As clock requirements for automotive applications become more complex, the number of precision clocks required is also increasing. "Our new SmartClock technology gives system designers new tools to proactively monitor the health and reliability of their system clocks, improving the resiliency and operability of every design."

     If a failure situation is detected, SmartClock shares the information with an external system microcontroller or system security manager, which in turn instructs the Si5332-AM to switch to a redundant backup source to ensure that the system continues to operate safely. In applications where only a single clock needs to be monitored, the new Si5118-AM SmartClock synthesizer can run between a reference clock source and an endpoint. These innovative features help address the increasingly complex clock challenges in the electronic design of applications such as automotive networking, advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous driving, and in-vehicle infotainment systems (IVI)/digital cockpit.