SiTime Revolutionizes Data Center Clocking with High-Performance MEMS-Based Chorus Family

BonChip Electronics, a trusted distributor of SiTime products, is excited to announce the availability of the groundbreaking Chorus family of data center clock generators from SiTime. These innovative MEMS-based devices represent a significant leap forward in data center clocking technology, offering exceptional performance, reliability, and ease of integration for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

Surpassing Quartz Crystal Limitations in Demanding AI Data Centers

Traditional data centers, particularly those supporting large language models (LLMs) and generative AI workloads, often push the boundaries of quartz crystal-based clocking solutions. SiTime's Chorus family addresses these limitations by introducing a superior alternative:

• MEMS Resonator Technology: At the heart of Chorus lies a silicon MEMS resonator, replacing the less optimal quartz crystal. MEMS technology offers superior performance and resilience in the hot and electrically noisy environments of modern data centers.

Unmatched Integration and Efficiency

The Chorus family boasts a highly integrated design:

• Clock System-on-Chip (ClkSoC): Chorus integrates the MEMS resonator, oscillator circuitry, and a clock IC into a single chip. This eliminates the need for external crystals, significantly simplifying clock architecture and reducing design time, component count, and PCB space requirements. The result is a more manufacturable, reliable, and higher-performing system.

Key Features of Chorus Clock Generators

• Compact Footprint: The Chorus family comes in a space-saving 4 mm x 4 mm, 24-pin QFN package with wettable flanks, offering greater PCB layout flexibility.
• Enhanced Performance: Compared to quartz crystal-based devices, Chorus offers 10x better resilience during operation, exceptionally low jitter (SiT91211: 150 fs; SiT91213: 70 fs), programmable frequency outputs, and strong frequency stability (±20 ppm and ±50 ppm from -40°C to 105°C).
• Versatile Output Options: A single Chorus chip can replace multiple discrete oscillators. Each device features an adjustable frequency range from 1 MHz to 700 MHz, a configurable clock domain, and the ability to drive four differential or eight single-ended loads with LVDS, HCSL, LVPECL, or LVCMOS outputs.

Optimizing Clocking for High-Speed Data Center Operations

Data centers pose unique challenges for clocking solutions. High-speed data movement across numerous clock and physical domains necessitates exceptional jitter, slew, and drift performance. Chorus is specifically designed to address these critical requirements:

• Superior Jitter and Stability: The Chorus family delivers exceptionally low jitter and strong frequency stability, ensuring precise timing for data synchronization across high-speed interconnects and busses within the data center.

Revolutionizing Clocking Technology

SiTime has a long history of innovation in precision timing devices, consistently pushing the boundaries of traditional technology:

• MEMS-Based Design: Chorus eliminates the limitations of quartz crystals by utilizing a high-performance, silicon MEMS frequency source that seamlessly integrates with other crucial SoC components. This integrated approach combines the MEMS resonator with the oscillator circuit, PLL, clock distribution, driver circuitry, GPIO, and I2C/SPI for communication and control.

Benefits of Chorus Integration

The advanced integration of Chorus offers significant advantages:

• Reduced PCB Footprint: By replacing four separate oscillator circuits with a single chip, Chorus can achieve a 50% reduction in PCB footprint, leading to more compact and efficient data center designs.

Development Tools and Availability

SiTime provides the SiT6520EB Evaluation Board to facilitate system design and learning. Chorus chips are currently shipping to strategic customers (as of April 2024) and are expected to be generally available in the second half of 2024. Contact BonChip Electronics today to learn more about how Chorus can elevate the performance and efficiency of your next-generation AI data center.