To meet the demand for much higher frequencies and improved phase noise/jitter Q-Tech has developed a new family of Temperature Compensated SAW Oscillators (TCSO) which can generate a low phase noise/low jitter signal output at frequencies between 300 MHz and 2.5 Ghz. Q-Tech has overcome the poor temperature stability exhibited by SAW oscillators by adding temperature compensation to the oscillator’s design. The Q-Tech TCSO’s signal output can hold a stability of +/-50PPM over a temperature range of -40 to +85 Degrees Centigrade with a phase noise floor as low as -180dbc/Hz and -130dbc/Hz at 1KHz off-set from the output frequency.
For software defined radio systems and other applications using high frequency ADCs the Q-Tech TCSO’s low phase noise/low jitter signal can deliver an improved system signal to noise ratio.
An additional feature of the TCSO is that the output frequency can be pulled +/- 100PPM by an external control voltage making it suitable for use in a PLL to generate a low phase noise signal for radio transmission.
For the most demanding environments and specifications Q-Tech can supply one of their own high reliability TCXO or OCXO reference oscillators to phase lock the low phase noise TCSO in a single package. A typical PLL assembly could integrate a 2Ghz TCXO locked to a 5Mhz OCXO with a 6 times low noise frequency multiplier to generate a 12Ghz low phase noise output signal. For less demanding environments Q-Tech has a non-hermetic 9mm x 14mm surface mount package which can be integrated into a cost effective system design.
Evaluation units at 1GHz can be obtained from Q-Tech’s UK representative Wavelength Electronics Ltd.