A Market Leader in Frequency Control

Measured using our R&S FSPN or Pendulum CNT-91 counter and TimeView software. This is a measure of a frequency stability typically measured over the 1 to 100 second time span. This is important in high speed microwave communication systems (backhaul), affecting the reliability of the link.

This is important in military systems ensuring the reliability of the product.

Crystals are tested using our Saunders & Associates 250B-2 network analysers. Using these alongside our large library of past measurements, we can provide 'Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis' (SPICE) models on request based on this test data. Design verification by simulation prior to prototype manufacture is an integral part of modern fast product development. Having good models for the components is an essential part of that process. SPICE is the dominant component model format.

A basic parameter for any oscillator and an important consideration for battery powered equipment.

Custom versions of most of our standard products are possible, subject to the potential sales volume for any custom part.

DLD is an important tool in assessing the suitability of the ever smaller crystal types for a driven drive level and for diagnosing particular problems like dust particles.

Screening parts for parameters not part of our usual production testing can be useful for particular applications. We have Automated Test Equipment (ATE) for batch testing, including temperature sweeps of oscillators.

An essential part of maintaining consistent high quality is learning the lessons of what went wrong when a part fails.

Our test chambers cover -55°C to 125°C. Apart from testing oscillators using our ATE, the chambers enable us to check the temperature variation of many parameters in combination with our other test equipment. When designing close to the limits of a component parameter that is only specified at room temperature, being able to get that parameter checked over temperature can save many unpleasant surprises later in the development cycle.

Maximum Time Interval Error (MTIE) and Time Deviation (TDEV) are two critical metrics used to evaluate the timing stability and performance of frequency sources—especially in telecommunications, network synchronization, and precision timing systems.

This is a method of testing the oscillation margin of a crystal oscillator. It is most often performed on microcontrollers and transceiver ICs for the ISM bands that use an external crystal. We provide this service both for MHz range crystal oscillator circuits as well as tuning fork crystals being used with the RTC function of a microcontroller chip. This is check that is often overlooked in the design phase, sometimes leading to yield problems when the design goes into production. A free check in the early phases saves a lot of problems later.

Checking out these parameters when circuits don’t perform as expected is vital and performing these measurements accurately requires significant expertise.

These are RF filters parameters that are specific to the passband. Many modern modulation formats are easily degraded by passband ripple and group delay variation. This can easily reduce noise margin losing sensitivity of a receiver. With a high performance 8GHz VNA and a team with decades of RF test experience we have the expertise to support you. Perhaps uniquely in the industry Techpoint Golledge can provide full S-parameters for crystal filters.

Phase noise of the frequency reference affects the performance of receivers and transmitters.  In today’s crowded spectrum it is essential to keep out-of-channel emissions as low as possible, part of this is having a low phase noise reference. ADC and DAC performance are critically dependent on sampling clock jitter. Our Rohde & Schwarz FSPN phase noise analyser can make accurate measurements of phase noise and jitter for even the cleanest of sources.

These are the areas of the filter stopband that have reduced attenuation due to spurious resonances and are measured using a Vector Network Analyser (VNA).

More common in crystals intended for operation at higher overtones, it is important to establish that the motional resistance for any spurious resonance is higher than that of the intended resonance. If this were not the case, the oscillator could run at the wrong frequency. The is measured as standard on one of our Saunders & Associates 250B-2s.

This is the time between the supply voltage being applied and the oscillator output reaching 70% of the final output level which requires use of our fast supply switch for accurate results.

Our ATE can test multiple parts in each sweep as well as performing polynomial curve fits to the temperature data and calculating perturbations for those really demanding applications.

Pulling is a term used for the ability to tune a crystal oscillator about its centre frequency using a control voltage. Using our ATE we can characterise the tuning characteristics including tuning range, slope and linearity over temperature. We can also measure the bandwidth of the tuning response. Our RF systems expertise can help with pulling applications that are hard to get right such as dual point modulation.