Microchip adds 1.2V clock buffers for FinFET SoCs and FPGAs

Microchip Technology has introduced the SY757xx family, a range of 1.2V-output LVCMOS clock buffers aimed at interfacing high-performance FPGAs, SoCs, AI accelerators and CPUs built on advanced FinFET process nodes with higher-voltage board circuitry.

The company says standard 1.2V LVCMOS clock buffers and level-translating buffers have been in limited supply, leaving PCB designers to rely on discrete components and voltage-divider techniques. Microchip states these conventional approaches can compromise signal integrity and clock duty-cycle accuracy while adding board complexity and component count.

According to Microchip, the SY757xx family supports a broad supply-voltage range and covers a 0Hz to 250MHz operating frequency spectrum, with voltage-translation inputs spanning 1.2V to 3.3V. The company cites additive jitter as low as 26 femtoseconds across the family, and includes a single-chip option for interconnecting 3.3V components with FPGAs or SoCs requiring a 1.2V clock signal.

Three devices are in volume production: the SY75707TWL-TR, which provides differential input to two LVCMOS outputs in an 8-pin VDFN package, and the SY75712TWL-TR and SY75714TWL-TR, offering 2 or 4 LVCMOS outputs respectively at a 1.2V to 1.8V rail in 8-pin TDFN packages. Microchip prices these from $0.50 to $0.83 per unit in volumes of 10,000.

A further eight family members are sampling in limited volumes, housed in 8-pin VDFN packages. These bridge single-ended 1.2V to 3.3V or 1.2V to 1.8V LVCMOS inputs, or differential 1.8V to 3.3V inputs, to 1.2V to 1.8V LVCMOS outputs, with some variants including an output-enabled fanout function.

Maamoun Abou Seido, vice president of Microchip's timing and communications business unit, said the SY757xx devices combine ultra-low additive jitter with broad supply-voltage and frequency support in a single chip, which the company states simplifies board design and reduces component count for high-performance computing platforms.