Discera Inc., a world leader in CMOS MEMS oscillators, resonators and provider of next-generation timing solutions, announced that Tyco Electronics' M/A-COM, a leading provider of wireless radio frequency (RF), microwave and millimeter-wave components and systems, has qualified Discera's MEMS-based oscillator series, MOS1, for use in its telemetry transmitters. M/A-COM qualified Discera's device after a series of tests as an alternative to quartz crystal in building timing components.
The durability of consumer electronics products is tested daily. Devices such as phones, PDAs and MP3 players are always being dropped, bumped or jostled and are expected to continue working in this rugged environment. When M/A-COM tested the reliability of the new Discera component for electronics devices, they tested it for military grade uses. The testing, designed to prove the reliability and durability of silicon-based resonators for timing devices, included shooting the component out of an air gun. Test results indicated that silicon-based MEMS resonators are ready for deployment in electronics products, including those designed for military use.
The result of years of concentrated research and development, Discera's MOS1 family of oscillators is poised to enable electronics companies to overcome the challenges posed by quartz crystal technology, which is pushing the limits of its scalability, costs and processing technology. The promise of reduced costs and the smaller product footprint offered by MEMS has, until now, been offset by concerns about silicon resonators and reliability. These concerns included frequency stability over temperature cycling, aging, vibration operation and shock resistance. The MOS1 oscillator product family overcomes these concerns.
Discera and M/A-COM conducted the durability tests during the past year. Throughout the testing, Discera's MEMS resonator oscillators performed reliably in all tests, including shock resistance. Shock simulations show Discera's MOS1 product being able to achieve up to 100,000g of shock. Testing shows the resonators survived 14,000g of shock with no degradation in performance and have the ability to be even more robust with industry standard packaging techniques. Discera announced the completion of a $17.5 M Series C round of funding led by Scale Venture Partners in March and will use the funding to support increased production, distribution and marketing.