February 26, 2007
Discera and Vectron Ship MEMS-based Oscillators to Customers
World's Leading Crystal and MEMS Oscillator Vendors Bring New Era to Timing Market, Meet Customer Demands for Improved Scalability and Reliability and Low Power
SAN JOSE, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — Discera, Inc. and Vectron International, a leader in the design,
manufacture and marketing of Frequency Control, Sensor, and Hybrid Product solutions, today announced the
two companies are sampling MEMS-based oscillators to customers. Vectron is sampling VMC2 (Discera's MOS1)
as a direct replacement for quartz crystal oscillator for high volume timing applications. Since announcing
their collaboration this past November, the two companies have been working together to make these
oscillators available to meet the needs of a market where quartz solutions have been pushed to the limits in
terms of scalability, cost and processing. Separately today, Discera also announced they are sampling their
MOS1 oscillator to customers (See "Discera Ushers in Next Generation Device for $3.5B Timing Market").
"We called upon our experience and track record as an innovator in the frequency control market to find
an answer to our customers' needs for scalability, reliability, programmability and low power," said Ed
Grant, vice president North American products and operations, Vectron. "We are very familiar with the
challenges of delivering a MEMS solution, and we believe that Discera is the answer for this space. These
first products will enable us to expand our market presence in the high volume commercial and consumer
electronics space. We look forward to working with Discera to offer additional products to serve our customers
in the future."
The electronics industry has been waiting for a reliable, scalable, cost-effective alternative to quartz oscillators;
Discera's MOS1 oscillator has successfully been qualified to stringent reliability tests, making it ready for
volume production in 2Q07. The MOS1 oscillator family, announced today by Discera, generates frequencies
between 1 to 125 MHz at 2ppm frequency increments for a high degree of flexibility in meeting customer needs.
The product offers excellent temperature stability and very low power consumption and is packaged in a tiny
industry standard IC package, providing a significant cost advantage over hermetically sealed packages used
by quartz-based oscillators.
The jointly available product consists of a silicon MEMS resonator and an ASIC embedded within a conventional
QFN package or ceramic package. The product is now available in production quantities and has been successfully
tested in 25,000 centrifuge acceleration and 50G vibration operation with no measurable deviation.
"Vectron is a respected brand, known for its high precision and excellent quality in the timing space,"
said Venkat Bahl, Vice President, Discera, Inc. "By offering VMC2 as one of its products, we believe they
have validated CMOS MEMS-based timing and helped open the door to a new era for electronics manufacturing.
We look forward to working with them to accelerate the move from quartz to silicon in our target markets.
The combination of Vectron's technology infrastructure and IP with our MEMS know-how and products will have
a potent impact."
Discera demonstrated its technology as a plug-and-play direct replacement of quartz crystal in a camcorder
device at Vectron's booth at the Electronica show this past November. This was the first MEMS demonstration
in a consumer device. Key target applications for MEMS-based timing devices are DVD players, gaming consoles,
set-top boxes, camcorders, PDAs and cameras. For more information please contact Discera or visit
www.discera.com.
About Discera
Discera is a fabless analog semiconductor company that offers tiny, high performance silicon resonators for
the frequency and timing control markets. These resonators act as the heartbeat or pulse for a variety of
devices from consumer products such as cameras and MP3 players to specialized equipment for the military.
The company's PureSilicon™ resonator technology is a fundamental building block that offers, according
to Semico Research, "a better mousetrap" for creating fully integrated, low cost, small form factor
wireline and wireless products, such as oscillators, filters, and RF components. Unlike crystal based
oscillators, Discera's PureSilicon™ based CMOS oscillators can be integrated into other CMOS based circuits.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in San Jose, California, Discera is a privately held company with
investments from Ardesta, Partech, 3i, and Qualcomm Ventures. More information is available at
www.discera.com.
About Vectron International
Vectron International is a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of frequency control, sensor,
and hybrid product solutions. Vectron solves complex timing, filtering and sensor challenges by delivering
customized solutions that speed time to market and offer low total cost of ownership. Vectron uses the very
latest techniques in both bulk acoustic wave (BAW) and surface acoustic wave (SAW) based designs from DC to
microwave frequencies. Committed to the industry's highest quality service standard and complete satisfaction,
Vectron International leverages its global footprint and 50 years of experience to help customers achieve
competitive differentiation and improve their bottom line. Vectron International is headquartered in Hudson, NH,
and has operating facilities and sales offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
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