A clock oscillator and a method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

Provided are a clock oscillator, a preparation method and use method thereof, and a chip comprising the clock oscillator. The clock oscillator comprises a first resonator, a second resonator and a frequency synthesizing module, wherein the output frequency of the first resonator is higher than that of the second resonator; the frequency synthesizing module is used to generate a synthesized frequency according to the output frequencies of the first resonator and the second resonator, and the synthesized frequency is used as a clock frequency output by the clock oscillator. The clock oscillator simultaneously uses two resonators with different output frequencies as clock signal sources, and generates a synthesized clock signal through the frequency synthesizing module, thereby meeting the requirements of various ICT clock application scenarios with one clock oscillator, and reducing the complexity of the device and the production cost.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application with the application number 202011386723.1, the title of "A device for generating high-performance multi-frequency clock signal", which was filed on November 30, 2020, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of computers, and in particular to a clock oscillator capable of generating multiple output frequencies, a preparation method, a use method of the clock oscillator, and a chip and an electronic device comprising the clock oscillator. BACKGROUND

[0003] A clock oscillator is an important device in an electronic system, which provides the necessary clock frequency for the electronic system, so that the electronic system can perform various operations at the clock frequency and work normally. A clock oscillator is usually composed of modules such as an electrical / mechanical resonator, a feedback network, an amplification network, and an output network, and uses the resonance characteristics of the circuit / mechanical resonator to realize frequency selection and generate a periodic oscillation frequency signal, i.e., a clock signal.

[0004] Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can involve different clock application scenarios, and different application scenarios have different requirements for clock signals. Existing clock oscillators cannot simultaneously meet different requirements, resulting in the need to equip multiple different clock oscillators to meet the above two requirements, increasing device complexity and cost. SUMMARY

[0005] A clock oscillator is provided, which can meet the requirements of different clock application scenarios.

[0006] In a first aspect, a clock oscillator is provided, which comprises a first resonator, a second resonator, and a frequency synthesis module, the output frequency of the first resonator being higher than that of the second resonator; the frequency synthesis module is used to generate a synthesized frequency according to the output frequency of the first resonator and the output frequency of the second resonator, and the synthesized frequency is used as the clock frequency output by the clock oscillator.

[0007] The clock oscillator simultaneously uses two resonators with different output frequencies as clock signal sources, and generates a synthesized clock signal through a frequency synthesis module, so that one clock oscillator can meet the requirements of multiple ICT clock application scenarios, reducing device complexity and production cost.

[0008] In a possible implementation, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range is higher than a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to the first frequency value; or, the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than the first frequency value; wherein the first frequency value is greater than or equal to 10 7 Hz and less than or equal to 10 8 Hz. That is, the first frequency range and the second frequency range are divided by the first frequency value, and the first frequency range is higher than the second frequency range.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to the second frequency value, and the first frequency value is higher than the second frequency value. That is, there is a frequency segment between the first frequency range and the second frequency range.

[0010] That is, the output frequency of the first resonator can belong to a high frequency range and has a low jitter characteristic, and the output frequency of the second resonator can belong to a low frequency range and has a high stability characteristic, so that the generated synthesized frequency has both low jitter characteristic and high stability characteristic.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the frequency synthesizing module includes a phase discriminator, a loop filter, and a tuning circuit; wherein the phase discriminator generates a control signal through the loop filter to adjust the tuning circuit.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the frequency synthesizing module further includes a frequency divider connected with the tuning circuit, for realizing multi-frequency output. Thus, the clock signal passing through the frequency divider can be further applied to a clock application scenario requiring multiple frequencies.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the first resonator and the second resonator are crystal resonators, or the first resonator and the second resonator are semiconductor resonators.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the first resonator is an AT-cut crystal resonator, and the second resonator is a stress-compensated SC-cut crystal resonator; or, the first resonator is a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator, and the second resonator is a silicon micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) resonator.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the first resonator and the second resonator are vacuum-encapsulated resonators. The vacuum encapsulation can effectively improve the reliability and anti-vibration capability of the resonators.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the clock oscillator further includes a heating unit and a temperature sensor. Thus, the output frequency of the low-frequency high-stability resonator can have good temperature stability.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the heating unit is integrated inside the second resonator, and the temperature sensor is integrated inside the second resonator or an integrated circuit (IC). When the temperature sensor and the heating unit are integrated inside the low-frequency high-stability resonator, the temperature measurement performance and the temperature control performance are better, and various overall packaging modes such as vacuum encapsulation and plastic encapsulation can be flexibly supported.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the clock oscillator further includes a temperature control circuit configured to generate a control signal according to a measurement result of the temperature sensor, where the control signal is used to control the heating unit to generate heat, so as to adjust the temperature inside the clock oscillator.

[0019] In a second aspect, a method for manufacturing a clock oscillator is provided. The method includes: obtaining a first resonator and a second resonator, where an output frequency of the first resonator is higher than an output frequency of the second resonator; and overall packaging the first resonator, the second resonator, and a frequency synthesizing module to obtain the clock oscillator, where the frequency synthesizing module is configured to generate a synthesized frequency according to the output frequency of the first resonator and the output frequency of the second resonator, and the synthesized frequency is used as an output clock signal of the clock oscillator.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range. The first frequency range is higher than a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to the first frequency value. Alternatively, the first frequency range is higher than or equal to the first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than the first frequency value. The first frequency value is greater than or equal to 10 7 Hz and less than or equal to 10 8 Hz.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, the second frequency range is lower than or equal to a second frequency value, and the first frequency value is higher than the second frequency value. That is, there is a frequency segment between the first frequency range and the second frequency range.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the frequency synthesizing module includes a phase detector, a loop filter, and a tuning circuit; the phase detector generates a control signal through the loop filter to adjust the tuning circuit.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the frequency synthesizing module further includes a frequency divider connected to the tuning circuit, for realizing multi-frequency output.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the first resonator and the second resonator are crystal resonators, or the first resonator and the second resonator are semiconductor resonators.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the first resonator is an AT-cut crystal resonator, and the second resonator is a stress-compensated SC-cut crystal resonator; or the first resonator is a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator, and the second resonator is a silicon micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) resonator.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the obtaining of the first resonator and the second resonator includes vacuum packaging the first resonator and the second resonator respectively.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the obtaining of the first resonator and the second resonator includes integrating a heating unit and a temperature sensor inside the second resonator.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the obtaining of the first resonator and the second resonator includes integrating a heating unit inside the second resonator; the method further includes integrating a temperature sensor inside an integrated circuit (IC); and the overall packaging of the first resonator and the second resonator to obtain the clock oscillator includes overall packaging of the first resonator, the second resonator, and the IC.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the clock oscillator further includes a temperature control circuit configured to generate a control signal according to a measurement result of the temperature sensor, and the control signal is used to control the heating unit to generate heat, so as to adjust the temperature inside the clock oscillator.

[0030] In a third aspect, a method for obtaining a clock frequency is provided, the method is applied to a clock oscillator, the clock oscillator comprises a first resonator and a second resonator, and the method comprises: obtaining an output frequency of the first resonator and an output frequency of the second resonator, the output frequency of the first resonator is higher than the output frequency of the second resonator; generating a synthetic frequency according to the output frequency of the first resonator and the output frequency of the second resonator, the synthetic frequency is taken as a clock frequency output by the clock oscillator.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range is higher than a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to the first frequency value; or, the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than the first frequency value; wherein the first frequency value is greater than or equal to 10 7 Hz and less than or equal to 10 8 Hz.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to a second frequency value, and the first frequency value is higher than the second frequency value. That is, there is a frequency segment between the first frequency range and the second frequency range.

[0033] In a fourth aspect, a chip is provided, and the chip comprises the clock oscillator in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0034] In a fifth aspect, an electronic device is provided, and the electronic device comprises the clock oscillator in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the electronic device is a communication device or a network device.

[0036] In a sixth aspect, a clock signal is provided, and the clock signal is generated by the clock oscillator in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0037] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings below are only some of the drawings of the present application, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other technical solutions and drawings that can achieve the present application without creative labor on the basis of these drawings.

[0038] Figure 1 A basic principle schematic diagram of a clock oscillator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0039] Figure 2 A structure schematic diagram of a crystal oscillator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0040] Figure 3a A structure schematic diagram of a semiconductor resonator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0041] Figure 3b A structure schematic diagram of a semiconductor oscillator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0042] Figure 4 A working principle schematic diagram of a frequency synthesizer is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0043] Figure 5 A structure schematic diagram of a frequency synthesizer is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0044] Figure 6 A structure schematic diagram of a clock oscillator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0045] Figure 7a A schematic diagram of a cut crystal is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0046] Figure 7b A structure schematic diagram of a SMD ceramic packaged crystal resonator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0047] Figure 8a A structure schematic diagram of a crystal oscillator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0048] Figure 8b A structure schematic diagram of a crystal oscillator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0049] Figure 9a A structure schematic diagram of a semiconductor oscillator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0050] Figure 9b A structure schematic diagram of a semiconductor oscillator is provided for the embodiments of the present application.

[0051] Figure 10aA structure schematic diagram of a semiconductor oscillator is provided for an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] Figure 10b A structure schematic diagram of a semiconductor oscillator is provided for an embodiment of the present application.

[0053] Figure 10c A structure schematic diagram of a semiconductor oscillator is provided for an embodiment of the present application.

[0054] Figure 11 A method flow chart for preparing a clock oscillator is provided for an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] Embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0056] Figure 1 A basic principle schematic diagram of a clock oscillator is shown. As shown in the left side of the figure, Figure 1 As shown in the left side of the figure, the clock oscillator includes a resonator, a feedback network, a frequency selection network, an amplification network and an output network. In combination with the right side of the figure, Figure 1 As shown in the left side of the figure, the clock oscillator includes a resonator, a feedback network, a frequency selection network, an amplification network and an output network. In combination with the right side of the figure,

[0057] According to the difference of resonator types, the clock oscillator can be divided into different types, among which, the crystal oscillator and the semiconductor oscillator are two typical mechanical oscillators.

[0058] Figure 2 A structure schematic diagram of a crystal oscillator is shown. As shown in the left side of the figure, Figure 2As shown, a crystal oscillator includes a crystal resonator, an integrated circuit (IC), conductive silver paste, a base, and a cover plate. The crystal resonator is typically a thin slice cut from a quartz crystal at a specific azimuth angle; it is also called a wafer or crystal oscillator. The wafer has a semi-suspended structure within the crystal oscillator. The crystal oscillator utilizes the resonant characteristics of the wafer to achieve frequency selection and output a specific frequency signal. This output frequency is also called the wafer's fundamental frequency, or simply the base frequency. Generally, the wafer's base frequency is related to the wafer thickness and the wafer manufacturing process. Each crystal oscillator has a fixed, single output frequency value. Based on the output frequency, crystal oscillators can be divided into high-fundamental-frequency crystal oscillators and low-fundamental-frequency crystal oscillators. Furthermore, crystal oscillators with different base frequencies have different characteristics and are suitable for different application scenarios. For example, high-frequency oscillators have a higher output frequency, making them suitable for applications requiring low jitter. However, high-frequency oscillators have poor output frequency stability and are not ideal in terms of shock resistance and failure rate, making them unsuitable for applications requiring high stability. On the other hand, low-frequency oscillators have good output frequency stability, making them suitable for applications requiring high stability. However, low-frequency oscillators have poor jitter performance, making them unsuitable for applications requiring low jitter.

[0059] Semiconductor oscillators are another important type of clock oscillator. Compared to crystal oscillators, the resonators in semiconductor oscillators are micro- and nano-structures fabricated using semiconductor processes, hence the name semiconductor resonators. Semiconductor processes offer advantages such as high precision, high automation, and high yield. Semiconductor resonators in the micrometer range are typically classified as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) resonators. Figure 3a A schematic diagram of the structure of a semiconductor resonator is shown. Figure 3b A semiconductor oscillator including this semiconductor resonator is shown. For example... Figure 3a As shown, this semiconductor resonator is a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator, consisting of an upper electrode, a lower electrode, a piezoelectric material layer, and a substrate. The piezoelectric material layer is sandwiched between the upper and lower electrodes, and the entire assembly is placed on the substrate. Optionally, an acoustic wave reflector can be placed between the lower electrode and the substrate. Figure 3b As shown, the BAW resonator is connected to the IC circuit and the substrate to form a BAW oscillator. A BAW oscillator is a type of semiconductor oscillator; its basic principle is based on the use of an electroacoustic transducer (…). Figure 3b (Not shown in the image) The electrical signal is converted into a sound wave and transmitted in the piezoelectric material layer. The sound wave is reflected and resonated in the piezoelectric material, and finally converted into a higher frequency electrical signal to form an oscillation signal.

[0060] It should be noted that the semiconductor oscillator involved in the embodiments of the present application can be various types of semiconductor oscillators, including but not limited to Figure 3b The BAW oscillator shown. Other types of semiconductor oscillators, such as silicon MEMS oscillators, are also applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0061] Similar to crystal oscillators, the output frequency of each semiconductor oscillator is also a fixed single frequency value, and each semiconductor oscillator is also applicable to a specific application scenario.

[0062] As can be seen, there is currently no oscillator that can meet the needs of multiple application scenarios. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of different scenarios, different clock oscillators need to be used, which requires multiple clock oscillators to be equipped in the same electronic device, increasing the complexity of the device and the production cost.

[0063] The embodiments of the present application provide a clock oscillator, which includes a first resonator, a second resonator, and a frequency synthesis module, the output frequency of the first resonator is higher than the output frequency of the second resonator, the frequency synthesis module is used to generate a synthesized frequency according to the output frequency of the first resonator and the output frequency of the second resonator, and the synthesized frequency is used as the clock frequency output by the clock oscillator. For example, the first resonator can be a high-base-frequency resonator, and the second resonator can be a low-base-frequency resonator. In the embodiments of the present application, the output frequency range of the low-base-frequency resonator can be 0.1 MHz to several tens of MHz, and the output frequency range of the high-base-frequency resonator can be several tens of MHz to several GHz.

[0064] The clock oscillator simultaneously uses a high-base-frequency resonator and a low-base-frequency resonator as a clock signal source, generates a clock signal with low jitter characteristics and high stability characteristics through a frequency synthesis module, thereby meeting the needs of multiple ICT clock application scenarios with one clock oscillator, reducing device complexity and production cost.

[0065] Optionally, the first resonator is a resonator with high stability characteristics, and the second resonator is a resonator with low jitter characteristics. For example, Figure 4As shown, both the high-stability resonator and the low-jitter resonator output signals to the frequency synthesis module, which generates a synthesized frequency. This synthesized frequency is an output signal that combines high stability and low jitter characteristics, meeting the needs of various clock applications. For example, the high-stability resonator is the low-fundamental-frequency resonator, also known as a low-frequency high-stability resonator, and the low-jitter resonator is the high-fundamental-frequency resonator, also known as a high-frequency low-jitter resonator. Alternatively, the high-stability resonator can also be other resonators with high stability characteristics, with a stability of less than one part per million (ppm); the low-jitter resonator can also be other resonators with low jitter characteristics, with a jitter of less than 100 femtoseconds (fs).

[0066] Figure 5 An exemplary implementation of the frequency synthesis module is shown. For example... Figure 5 As shown, the output signals of the high-stability resonator and the low-jitter resonator are respectively output to the frequency synthesis module after passing through the oscillation circuit. The frequency synthesis module may include a phase detector, a loop filter, and a tuning circuit. Specifically, the low-jitter resonator outputs a low-jitter clock signal through the oscillation circuit, while the high-stability resonator outputs a low-frequency, high-stability clock signal through the oscillation circuit. The low-jitter clock signal uses the high-stability resonator clock signal as a reference, and its frequency error is identified by the phase detector. Then, a control signal is generated by the loop filter to adjust the tuning circuit, so that the clock signal output by the tuning circuit simultaneously possesses both low-jitter and high-stability characteristics.

[0067] Optionally, the frequency synthesis module also includes a frequency divider connected to the tuning circuit. For example, the frequency divider could be a fractional divider. The clock signal output from the tuning circuit is then used to achieve multi-frequency output through subsequent cascaded fractional dividers. Thus, the clock signal after the frequency divider can be further adapted to clock applications requiring multiple frequencies.

[0068] Optionally, the clock oscillator further includes a heating unit, a temperature sensor, and a temperature control circuit. The temperature control circuit generates a control signal based on the measurement result of the temperature sensor. This control signal controls the heating unit to generate heat, thereby regulating the internal temperature of the clock oscillator. For example, the temperature sensor can be a thermistor or a resonator. Alternatively, the temperature control circuit can convert the temperature sensor output signal into a digital signal using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to control the heating unit. Another example is a MEMS Joule heater.

[0069] Optionally, the highly stable resonator can be an oven-controlled resonator. For example, in... Figure 6A possible implementation of the clock oscillator in the embodiments of the present application is shown in the following. The clock oscillator comprises a high-stability resonator and a low-jitter resonator, and further comprises a heating unit, a temperature sensor and a temperature control circuit. The temperature sensor and the heating unit can be integrated inside the high-stability resonator, the temperature sensor measures the temperature inside the high-stability resonator, and the temperature control circuit generates a control signal according to the measurement result of the temperature sensor, the control signal is used to control the heating unit to generate heat, so as to adjust the temperature inside the high-stability resonator, thereby ensuring that the output frequency of the high-stability resonator has good temperature stability. When the temperature sensor and the heating unit are integrated inside the high-stability resonator, better temperature measurement performance and temperature control performance are achieved, and various overall packaging modes such as vacuum packaging and plastic packaging can be flexibly supported.

[0070] Optionally, the temperature sensor can also be integrated inside the integrated circuit IC of the clock oscillator, and the temperature inside the entire clock oscillator is measured.

[0071] Optionally, the high-stability resonator and the low-jitter resonator are respectively vacuum packaged, which can effectively improve the reliability and anti-vibration capability of the resonator. Then, the high-stability resonator and the low-jitter resonator respectively vacuum packaged are collectively packaged to obtain the clock oscillator.

[0072] Optionally, the clock oscillator after overall packaging can comprise a substrate and a cover plate. Optionally, the resonator and the base can realize electrical connection or signal intercommunication. Optionally, the oscillator after overall packaging can further comprise a pad for realizing electrical connection or signal intercommunication with external devices. The number of the pads is not limited.

[0073] Optionally, the clock oscillator provided in the embodiments of the present application further comprises an integrated circuit IC. The IC can comprise a frequency synthesis module and a temperature control circuit. Optionally, the IC can further comprise a temperature sensor. Optionally, the IC can further comprise an oscillation circuit. The oscillation circuit is used to excite the resonator to generate a periodic signal, and perform frequency selection, amplification and shaping to output. Optionally, the IC can further comprise a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be a readable and writable clock memory, which can save the data at the last time point after system restart or shutdown. The IC and the base can realize electrical connection or signal intercommunication.

[0074] The clock oscillator provided in the embodiments of the present application can be a crystal oscillator or a semiconductor oscillator.

[0075] When the clock oscillator is a crystal oscillator, the crystal oscillator comprises a crystal resonator. The low-frequency high-stability resonator can be an SC-cut crystal resonator, and the high-frequency low-jitter resonator can be an AT-cut crystal resonator.

[0076] The AT-cut crystal resonator and the SC-cut crystal resonator are different types of crystal resonators distinguished according to different angles of cutting the crystal, Figure 7a Different angles of cutting the crystal are shown. As mentioned above, the crystal resonator is usually a thin slice cut from a piece of quartz crystal at a certain azimuth angle. The quartz crystal is a high-purity anisotropic crystal. According to different cutting angles, the crystal resonator obtained by cutting can be divided into different cutting types. The AT-cut, BT-cut and SC-cut are three common cutting types. The cutting angles of the three cutting types are shown in Figure 7a .

[0077] When the high-stability resonator and the low-jitter resonator are crystal resonators, the vacuum packaging mode of the resonator can be a surface mounted device (SMD) ceramic packaging. Figure 7b A structural schematic diagram of the SMD ceramic packaged crystal resonator is shown. The crystal resonator is in a semi-suspended structure and is adhered to the SMD ceramic packaging shell by conductive silver adhesive. Optionally, the SMD ceramic vacuum packaged crystal resonator can meet the existing general size specifications of various crystal resonators. For example, the packaging size of the SMD ceramic vacuum packaged crystal resonator can be differential SMD 3225 or single-ended SMD 2520.

[0078] Figure 8a A clock oscillator provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown. The clock oscillator is a crystal oscillator comprising a high-stability crystal resonator and a low-jitter crystal resonator. Both crystal resonators are SMD ceramic packaged. The two crystal resonators are placed in parallel on a first surface of a base. A heating unit is also placed on the first surface of the base. An IC is placed on a second surface of the base. The first surface of the base is opposite to the second surface of the base. The IC comprises a temperature sensor, a temperature control circuit and a frequency synthesizer. Optionally, the IC further comprises an oscillation circuit and a non-volatile memory. The above components are integrally packaged by a cover plate and a substrate to form the clock oscillator. Optionally, the substrate is further provided with a solder pad, which is not shown in the figure.

[0079] Figure 8bA clock oscillator is shown. The clock oscillator is a crystal oscillator, which includes a high-stability crystal resonator and a low-jitter crystal resonator. Both of the crystal resonators are in SMD ceramic package. The two crystal resonators are placed on a first surface of a base. A heating unit is also placed on the first surface of the base. An IC is placed on a second surface of the base. The first surface of the base is opposite to the second surface of the base. The IC includes a temperature sensor, a temperature control circuit and a frequency synthesizer. Optionally, the IC further includes an oscillation circuit and a non-volatile memory. The components are integrally packaged by a cover plate and a substrate to form the clock oscillator. Optionally, a solder pad is provided on the substrate, which is not shown in the figure.

[0080] When the clock oscillator is a semiconductor oscillator, the semiconductor oscillator includes semiconductor resonators. The high-stability resonator can be a silicon MEMS resonator, and the low-jitter resonator can be a BAW resonator. The silicon MEMS resonator has a very small size, generally a few hundred microns or less.

[0081] When the high-stability resonator and the low-jitter resonator are semiconductor resonators, the vacuum packaging of the resonators can be wafer packaging.

[0082] Figure 9a A clock oscillator is shown. The clock oscillator is a semiconductor oscillator, which includes a high-stability silicon MEMS resonator and a low-jitter BAW resonator. Both of the semiconductor resonators are in wafer packaging. The two semiconductor resonators are placed on a first surface of a base. A heating unit is also placed on the first surface of the base. An IC is placed on a second surface of the base. The first surface of the base is opposite to the second surface of the base. The IC includes a temperature sensor, a temperature control circuit and a frequency synthesizer. Optionally, the IC further includes an oscillation circuit and a non-volatile memory. The components are integrally packaged by a cover plate and a substrate to form the clock oscillator. Optionally, a solder pad is provided on the substrate, which is not shown in the figure.

[0083] Figure 9bA clock oscillator is shown. The clock oscillator is a semiconductor oscillator, including a high-stability silicon MEMS resonator and a low-jitter BAW resonator. Both semiconductor resonators are in wafer-level packaging. The two semiconductor resonators are placed on a first surface of a base in an overlapping manner. A heating unit is also placed on the first surface of the base. An IC is placed on a second surface of the base. The first surface of the base is opposite to the second surface of the base. The IC includes a temperature sensor, a temperature control circuit, and a frequency synthesizer. Optionally, the IC further includes an oscillation circuit and a non-volatile memory. The components are integrally packaged by a cover plate and the base to form the clock oscillator. Optionally, the base is further provided with a solder pad, which is not shown in the figure.

[0084] Figure 10a A clock oscillator is shown. The clock oscillator is a semiconductor oscillator, including a high-stability silicon MEMS resonator and a low-jitter BAW resonator. Both semiconductor resonators are in wafer-level packaging. The two semiconductor resonators are placed on a first surface of a base in an overlapping manner. A heating unit is also placed on the first surface of the base. An IC is placed on a second surface of the base. The first surface of the base is opposite to the second surface of the base. The IC includes a temperature sensor, a temperature control circuit, and a frequency synthesizer. Optionally, the IC further includes an oscillation circuit and a non-volatile memory. The components are integrally packaged by a cover plate and the base to form the clock oscillator. Optionally, the base is further provided with a solder pad, which is not shown in the figure.

[0085] Figure 10b A clock oscillator is shown. The clock oscillator is a semiconductor oscillator, including a high-stability silicon MEMS resonator and a low-jitter BAW resonator. Both semiconductor resonators are in wafer-level packaging. The two semiconductor resonators are placed on a first surface of a base in an overlapping manner. A heating unit is also placed on the first surface of the base. An IC is placed on a second surface of the base. The first surface of the base is opposite to the second surface of the base. The IC includes a temperature sensor, a temperature control circuit, and a frequency synthesizer. Optionally, the IC further includes an oscillation circuit and a non-volatile memory. The components are integrally packaged by a cover plate and the base to form the clock oscillator. Optionally, the base is further provided with a solder pad, which is not shown in the figure.

[0086] Figure 10cA clock oscillator is shown. The clock oscillator is a semiconductor oscillator, including a high-stability silicon MEMS resonator and a low-jitter BAW resonator. Both semiconductor resonators are wafer packaged. The two semiconductor resonators are placed on a first surface of a substrate. The silicon MEMS resonator further integrates a temperature sensor and a heating unit inside. An IC is placed on a second surface of the base. The first surface of the base is opposite to the second surface of the base. The IC includes a temperature control circuit and a frequency synthesizer. Optionally, the IC further includes an oscillation circuit and a non-volatile memory. The above components are integrally packaged by a plastic packaging material and the substrate to form the clock oscillator. Optionally, the substrate is further provided with a solder pad, which is not shown in the figure.

[0087] Optionally, in the above crystal oscillator and semiconductor oscillator, the electrodes in the vacuum-packaged crystal resonator can be led out by wire bonding, or the electrodes in the wafer-packaged semiconductor resonator can be led out by wire bonding.

[0088] A method for manufacturing a clock oscillator is provided. The method uses a high-base-frequency resonator and a low-base-frequency resonator as a clock signal source at the same time, generates a clock signal with low-jitter characteristics and high-stability characteristics through a frequency synthesizing module, so as to meet the needs of various ICT clock application scenarios with one clock oscillator, and reduce the complexity of the device and the production cost. As shown in the figure, the method includes steps S110 and S120. Figure 11

[0089] S110, obtaining a first resonator and a second resonator, the output frequency of the first resonator being higher than the output frequency of the second resonator;

[0090] S120, integrally packaging the first resonator, the second resonator, and a frequency synthesizing module to obtain the clock oscillator; wherein the frequency synthesizing module is used to generate a synthesized frequency according to the output frequency of the first resonator and the output frequency of the second resonator, and the synthesized frequency is used as an output clock signal of the clock oscillator.

[0091] In a possible implementation, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range is higher than a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to the first frequency value; or, the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than the first frequency value; wherein the first frequency value is greater than or equal to 10 7 Hz and less than or equal to 10 8 ​Hz. That is, the first frequency range and the second frequency range are separated by the first frequency value, and the first frequency range is higher than the second frequency range.

[0092] In a possible implementation, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, the second frequency range is lower than or equal to a second frequency value, and the first frequency value is higher than the second frequency value. That is, the first frequency range and the second frequency range are separated by a frequency segment.

[0093] Optionally, the frequency synthesizing module comprises a phase detector, a loop filter, and a tuning circuit; wherein the phase detector generates a control signal through the loop filter to adjust the tuning circuit.

[0094] Optionally, the frequency synthesizing module further comprises a frequency divider connected with the tuning circuit, for realizing multi-frequency output.

[0095] Optionally, the first resonator and the second resonator are crystal resonators, or the first resonator and the second resonator are semiconductor resonators.

[0096] Optionally, the first resonator is an AT-cut crystal resonator, and the second resonator is a stress-compensated SC-cut crystal resonator; or the first resonator is a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator, and the second resonator is a silicon micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) resonator.

[0097] Optionally, the obtaining of the first resonator and the second resonator comprises: vacuum packaging the first resonator and the second resonator respectively.

[0098] Optionally, the obtaining of the first resonator and the second resonator comprises: integrating a heating unit and a temperature sensor inside the second resonator.

[0099] Optionally, the obtaining of the first resonator and the second resonator comprises: integrating a heating unit inside the second resonator; and the method further comprises: integrating a temperature sensor inside an integrated circuit (IC); and the overall packaging of the first resonator and the second resonator to obtain the clock oscillator comprises: overall packaging of the first resonator, the second resonator, and the IC.

[0100] Optionally, the clock oscillator further comprises a temperature control circuit configured to generate a control signal according to a measurement result of the temperature sensor, the control signal being used to control the heating unit to generate heat, so as to adjust the temperature inside the clock oscillator.

[0101] The embodiment of the present application provides a method for obtaining a clock frequency. The method obtains a clock signal with low jitter characteristics and high stability characteristics through the clock oscillator in the above embodiment, so that one clock oscillator meets the requirements of various ICT clock application scenarios, and the device complexity and production cost are reduced.

[0102] The embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which comprises the clock oscillator in the above embodiment.

[0103] The embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, which comprises the clock oscillator in the above embodiment. Specifically, the electronic device can be a communication device or a network device, for example, a router, a switch or other forwarding device, or the electronic device can also be a computer device, for example, a personal computer or a server, or the electronic device can also be a communication terminal device, for example, a mobile phone or a wearable smart device.

[0104] The embodiment of the present application provides a chip, which comprises the clock oscillator in the above embodiment.

[0105] The embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, which comprises the clock oscillator in the above embodiment. Specifically, the electronic device can be a communication device or a network device, for example, a router, a switch or other forwarding device, or the electronic device can also be a computer device, for example, a personal computer or a server, or the electronic device can also be a communication terminal device, for example, a mobile phone or a wearable smart device.

[0106] In the present application, the terms "first", "second", and the like are used to distinguish between the same or similar items with substantially the same function and purpose, and it should be understood that there is no logical or time sequence relationship between "first", "second", and "n", and the number and execution order are not limited. It should also be understood that although the following description uses the terms first, second, and the like to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by the terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of various described examples, a first image can be referred to as a second image, and similarly, a second image can be referred to as a first image. The first image and the second image can both be images, and in some cases, can be separate and different images.

[0107] It should also be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial number of various processes does not mean the execution order, and the execution order of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0108] It should be understood that the words “example” and / or “exemplary” are used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or feature described herein as an “example” and / or “exemplary” is intended to be an example and not necessarily the only, commonplace, or preferred implementation. In other instances, “example,” “exemplary,” and / or “exemplary” can indicate that a particular aspect or feature is included in at least one implementation of one or more aspects. Thus, the inclusion of the term “example” and / or “exemplary” in certain aspects should not be regarded as limiting.

[0109] It should also be understood that, in the specification, relative terms are used to generally relate the various described examples to each other. For example, the terms “first”, “second”, and / or the like can be used herein to modify various elements in the various described examples. These various elements can not necessarily appear twice in a context. For example, where a context includes a “first” element and a “second” element, the elements can not necessarily appear twice in that context. The terms “first”, “second”, and / or the like are therefore used to differentiate between two or more elements or instances rather than to designate a particular order of such elements. The terms “first”, “second”, and / or the like are used herein, for purposes of the description and claims, to actively refer to the elements in the description and claims. It will be appreciated that the terms “first”, “second”, and / or the like are used herein as labels to refer to various elements in the various described examples in order to avoid confusion due to the use of similar terminology in the various described examples. Usage of these terms “first”, “second”, and / or the like is intended to be non-limiting and does not imply a particular order or chronology.

[0110] It should also be understood that the term “and / or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term “and / or” is a descriptive term of association relating to associated objects. It indicates that there can be three possible relationships: for example, A and / or B can mean: A alone, A and B together, or B alone. In addition, the character “ / ” in this application generally indicates that the front and rear associated objects are a “or” relationship.

[0111] It should also be understood that the terms “if’ and “when” can be interpreted to mean “upon” or “in response to a determination” or “in response to a detection.” Similarly, the phrase “if determined” or “if detected” can be interpreted to mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting” or “in response to detecting” depending on the context.

[0112] It should also be appreciated that references herein throughout the specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, “one possible implementation” mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment or implementation is included in at least one implementation of the application. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment”, “one possible implementation” throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the various features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more implementations.

[0113] The above merely provides the optional embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any modification or replacement within the technical range disclosed by the present application can be easily thought by those skilled in the art, and these modifications or replacements should be covered in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A clock oscillator characterized by, The clock oscillator comprises a first resonator, a second resonator and a frequency synthesizing module, wherein, The output frequency of the first resonator is higher than the output frequency of the second resonator; The frequency synthesizing module is configured to generate a synthesized frequency according to the output frequency of the first resonator and the output frequency of the second resonator, and the synthesized frequency is used as a clock frequency output by the clock oscillator. The frequency synthesizing module comprises a phase discriminator, a loop filter and a tuning circuit; the first resonator is a low-jitter resonator, and the second resonator is a high-stability resonator; the low-jitter resonator outputs a low-jitter clock signal, and the high-stability resonator outputs a low-frequency high-stability clock signal; the low-jitter clock signal is referenced to the high-stability resonator clock signal, the phase discriminator identifies a frequency error, and the phase discriminator is further configured to generate a control signal through the loop filter to adjust the tuning circuit, and a clock signal output by the tuning circuit is used as a clock frequency output by the clock oscillator.

2. The clock oscillator of claim 1, wherein, The output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, The first frequency range is higher than a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to the first frequency value; or The first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than the first frequency value. The first frequency value is greater than or equal to 10 7 Hz and less than or equal to 10 8 Hz.

3. The clock oscillator of claim 1, wherein, The output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, The first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to a second frequency value, and the first frequency value is higher than the second frequency value.

4. The clock oscillator of claim 1, wherein, The frequency synthesizing module further comprises a frequency divider connected to the tuning circuit, and the frequency divider is configured to realize multi-frequency output.

5. The clock oscillator of any of claims 1-4, wherein, The first resonator and the second resonator are crystal resonators, or the first resonator and the second resonator are semiconductor resonators.

6. The clock oscillator of claim 5, wherein, The first resonator is an AT-cut crystal resonator, and the second resonator is a stress-compensated SC-cut crystal resonator; or The first resonator is a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator, and the second resonator is a silicon micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) resonator.

7. The clock oscillator of any of claims 1-6, wherein, The first resonator and the second resonator are vacuum-sealed resonators.

8. The clock oscillator of any of claims 1-7, wherein, The clock oscillator further comprises a heating unit and a temperature sensor.

9. The clock oscillator of claim 8, wherein, The heating unit is integrated in the second resonator, and the temperature sensor is integrated in the second resonator or an integrated circuit (IC).

10. The clock oscillator of claim 8 or 9, wherein, The clock oscillator further comprises a temperature control circuit configured to generate a control signal according to a measurement result of the temperature sensor, and the control signal is used to control the heating unit to generate heat so as to adjust the temperature inside the clock oscillator.

11. A method of producing a clock oscillator, characterized by, The method comprises: obtaining a first resonator and a second resonator, wherein the output frequency of the first resonator is higher than the output frequency of the second resonator; The first resonator, the second resonator and a frequency synthesizing module are integrally packaged to obtain the clock oscillator; wherein the frequency synthesizing module is configured to generate a synthesized frequency according to an output frequency of the first resonator and an output frequency of the second resonator, and the synthesized frequency is used as an output clock signal of the clock oscillator. The frequency synthesizing module comprises a phase discriminator, a loop filter and a tuning circuit; the first resonator is a low-jitter resonator, and the second resonator is a high-stability resonator; the low-jitter resonator outputs a low-jitter clock signal, and the high-stability resonator outputs a low-frequency high-stability clock signal; the low-jitter clock signal is referenced to the high-stability resonator clock signal, the phase discriminator identifies a frequency error, and the phase discriminator is further configured to generate a control signal through the loop filter to adjust the tuning circuit, and a clock signal output by the tuning circuit is used as a clock frequency output by the clock oscillator.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, The first frequency range is higher than a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to the first frequency value; or The first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than the first frequency value. The first frequency value is greater than or equal to 10 7 Hz and less than or equal to 10 8 Hz.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein, The output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, The first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to a second frequency value, and the first frequency value is higher than the second frequency value.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein, The frequency synthesizing module further comprises a frequency divider connected with the tuning circuit, and configured to realize multi-frequency output.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11-14, characterized in that, The first resonator and the second resonator are crystal resonators, or the first resonator and the second resonator are semiconductor resonators.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The first resonator is an AT-cut crystal resonator, and the second resonator is a stress-compensated SC-cut crystal resonator; or the first resonator is a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator, and the second resonator is a silicon micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) resonator.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11-16, characterized in that, The first resonator and the second resonator are obtained by: The first resonator and the second resonator are respectively vacuum packaged.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11-17, characterized in that, The first resonator and the second resonator are obtained by: A heating unit and a temperature sensor are integrated inside the second resonator.

19. The method according to any one of claims 11-18, characterized in that, The first resonator and the second resonator are obtained by: A heating unit is integrated inside the second resonator. The method further comprises: A temperature sensor is integrated in an integrated circuit (IC); The first resonator, the second resonator and the IC are integrally packaged. ​ 20. The method of claim 18 or 19, wherein, The clock oscillator further comprises a temperature control circuit configured to generate a control signal according to the measurement result of the temperature sensor, the control signal being used to control the heating unit to generate heat so as to adjust the temperature inside the clock oscillator. 21.A method for obtaining a clock frequency, the method being applied to a clock oscillator, the clock oscillator comprising a first resonator, a second resonator and a frequency synthesizing module, and the method comprising: obtaining an output frequency of the first resonator and an output frequency of the second resonator, the output frequency of the first resonator being higher than the output frequency of the second resonator; generating a synthesized frequency according to the output frequency of the first resonator and the output frequency of the second resonator, the synthesized frequency being used as a clock frequency output by the clock oscillator; wherein the frequency synthesizing module comprises a phase discriminator, a loop filter and a tuning circuit, the first resonator is a low-jitter resonator, and the second resonator is a high-stability resonator, the low-jitter resonator outputs a low-jitter clock signal, and the high-stability resonator outputs a low-frequency high-stability clock signal, the low-jitter clock signal is referenced to the high-stability resonator clock signal, the phase discriminator identifies a frequency error, and the phase discriminator is further configured to generate a control signal through the loop filter to adjust the tuning circuit, and a clock signal output by the tuning circuit is used as the clock frequency output by the clock oscillator.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, wherein the first frequency range is higher than a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to the first frequency value; or the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than the first frequency value; The first frequency value is greater than or equal to 10 7 Hz and less than or equal to 10 8 Hz.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein, the output frequency of the first resonator belongs to a first frequency range, and the output frequency of the second resonator belongs to a second frequency range, wherein the first frequency range is higher than or equal to a first frequency value, and the second frequency range is lower than or equal to a second frequency value, the first frequency value being higher than the second frequency value.

24. A chip, characterized by The chip comprises the clock oscillator according to any one of claims 1-10.

25. An electronic device, comprising: The electronic device comprises the clock oscillator according to any one of claims 1-10.

26. The electronic device of claim 25, wherein, The electronic device is a communication device or a network device.

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