Column: Design with frequency components


Selecting the right frequency control component


In this series of tutorials, we will focus on the diff erent component types for timing, synchronization and frequency control, their basic parameters and how to best use them in various applications


By Daphne Popescu, Product and Sales Management, and Wendy Stewart, Sales and UK Offi ce Manager, GEYER Electronic


D


esigning with frequency components is not difficult but it is often underestimated. Both, quartz crystals and oscillators, are used


to generate clock signals in electronic circuits, but they serve slightly different roles: a quartz crystal is a piezoelectric resonator that vibrates at a certain frequency when excited electrically. It requires external circuitry to act as an oscillator. Whereas an oscillator is a self-contained module that includes the crystal and the circuitry, producing a ready-to use clock signal. Here are some basic engineering rules


to follow during circuit design. As a rule of thumb, use a crystal if


you need a cost-effective design, if your frequency is moderate (kHz to tens of MHz) and where power consumption is critical. Use an oscillator module if you need higher frequencies, better stability and when board simplicity matters; i.e., no loading capacitors and no drive level issues – just simple plug and play. Another criterion for choosing the


right component is the circuit requiring the clock from the crystal. If your board contains MCUs or SoCs, then the crystal design is all about reliability of start- up, tolerance and low-power modes. If you work with FPGAs or SerDes, then


Table 1: Some of the key parameters to consider during circuit design


14 October 2025 www.electronicsworld.co.uk


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