Chips Keep Watch Over Voice And Data Signal Integrity

Better jitter, skew and speed (frequency) performance metrics, as well as lower cost are all claimed by a new family of clock drivers over competitive chips. Distributing and synchronizing voice and data signals in circuitry found, for example, in communications network equipment, the LCK4972/4973/ 4973V and LCK4310 low-power PLL clock drivers operate at 3.3V and 2.5V, with the first three drivers housed in 52-pin TQFPTs and outputting frequencies of up to 240 MHz while the fourth device comes packaged in 28-pin PLCCs and can output up to 1.25 GHz. Some specific performance claims made for the clock drivers include: cycle-to-cycle jitter of ±100 ps (typ.) for the LCK4972/4973, reportedly 50% better than competitive devices; and output-to-output skew of 40 ps (typ.) for the LCK4310, said to be 70% better than its competitors. Price for the devices range from $3.59 to $4.19 each/1,000. For more details, contact AGERE SYSTEMS, Dept A62, Allentown, PA. (800) 372-2447.