Silicon Labs Expands Automotive Timing Portfolio with New SmartClock Technology

New SmartClockTM features address growing need for clock monitoring and fault detection

AUSTIN, Texas – January 28, 2021 – Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leading provider of silicon, software and solutions for a smarter, more connected world, today introduced new SmartClockTM features to its family of AEC-Q100 qualified Si5332-AM clock generators, expanding the capabilities of the industry’s broadest portfolio of silicon-based automotive timing solutions. The new SmartClockTM technology actively monitors reference clocks to detect potential faults and provides built-in clock redundancy.

“Automotive electronics designs have traditionally relied on quartz crystals and oscillators, which are susceptible to failure over their operating lifetime. As timing requirements become more complex within automotive applications, the number of precision clocks needed also continues to increase,” said James Wilson, General Manager of timing products at Silicon Labs. “Our SmartClockTM technology provides system designers new tools to actively monitor the health and reliability of their system clocks, improving the resiliency and operation of each design.”

If a fault condition is detected, SmartClockTM shares this information with an external system microcontroller or system safety manager, which can in turn instruct the Si5332-AM to switch to a redundant backup source, ensuring the system continues to operate safely. In applications where health monitoring of only a single frequency is needed, the new Si5118-AM SmartClockTM synthesizer can be implemented between the reference clock source and endpoint. These innovative new features help to address the increasingly complex timing challenges being faced in automotive networking, advanced driver assistance systems, automated driving, and IVI/digital cockpit electronic designs.

The following new products and features are now available:

• SmartClockTM health monitoring, fault detection, and local backup reference are new, customizable features in the Si5332-AM clock generator family. These features can be enabled using Silicon Labs ClockBuilder Pro configuration software.
• New standalone Si5118-AM SmartClockTM Synthesizer
• New 12-output version of the Si5332-AM clock generator
• New 10-output version of the Si53350-AM buffer

For more information about SmartClockTM visit silabs.com/timing/automotive-timing-solutions.