Abracon Real Time Clocks Keep Time Through Power Outages

News provided by

Abracon Corporation

Oct 29, 2013, 03:00 ET


Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (PRWEB) October 29, 2013 -- A globally preferred, leading supplier of frequency control and magnetic components, Abracon Corporation has expanded its product line with AB08XX and AB18XX real time clocks that can maintain power throughout an outage.

The new Abracon AB08XX and AB18XX ultra-low power real time clock families require so little power to operate that in the event of a power failure, the energy stored in an inexpensive, 100°F ceramic capacitor will keep the complete chip operating for up to two hours. In addition to highly accurate timekeeping, the tiny capacitor fully powers optional on-chip memory, and continues to operate countdown timers, watchdog timers, alarms and all other chip functions.

In many applications, system designers can now replace supercapacitors with inexpensive ceramic capacitors for several hours of time backup. When longer backup times are required, designers can take advantage of much smaller supercapacitors and batteries to reduce system costs. For example, a 90mF supercapacitor will fully power the Abracon RTC for over 90 days.

The low-cost AB08XX and AB18XX with power management families are perfect for product designs where maintaing accurate time is a requirement, even in the event of a short- or long-term power failure. Typical applications include keeping network time in communications devices, allowing time backup in smart meters and sensor networks, and preserving time and critical application data when replacing the battery in consumer medical devices. For highly accurate (2 ppm) time backup at only 55nA of power, these real time clocks can use a high quality crystal, such as the ESR-matched Abracon ABS06-107-32.768KHz crystal, in a small 2.0mmx1.3mmx0.6mm SMT package, as a frequency source. When high accuracy is not essential, designers can take advantage of the RTCs’ internal RC clock that requires only 15nA of current for complete chip operation.

These full-featured real time clocks contain a superset of legacy RTC properties, including a flexible output clock generator, 0.01 second counter and a configurable countdown timer. The AB18XX family also includes a sophisticated system power management capability that can power gate the MCU, radio and other system components for maximum energy savings during sleep mode.

Abracon Product Links:

For technical assistance or sales information on these innovative products, please contact Abracon Corporation at tech-support(at)abracon(dot)com.

Abracon Corporation was established in 1992 with the vision of becoming a top tier global manufacturer of Frequency Control, Signal Conditioning, Clock Distribution and Magnetic Components with local design and technical support. Abracon provides its customers with high quality products, competitive pricing, timely delivery, reliable engineering and technical support, plus production flexibility worldwide.

Christopher Polley, Abracon Corporation, http://www.abracon.com, +1 949-363-7974, [email protected]