ICs, essential for electrification of automobiles, need a timing device as a clock source for their operations. In order for an automotive ECU to communicate with in-vehicle LAN such as CAN and FlexRay and process large amounts of data instantaneously, a high-precision and high-quality clock source is needed. Murata's new product, HCR for automobiles, meets this requirement.
Murata released CSTCC series, Chip CERALOCK® for automobiles in 1995, and released CSTCR and CSTCE series realizing narrow tolerance and small size required by CAN communication in 2000. These devices are now introduced in automotive electronic equipment all over the world. Ceramic resonators are characterized by their ease of use and economy. CERALOCK® commands over a 95% share in the automotive ceramic resonator market. HCR, a new product taking after the basic package structure of CERALOCK® while incorporating crystal unit internally, satisfies high frequency precision requirement beyond CERALOCK®.
HCR already has been in use for consumer and communication applications such as HDD, USB and NFC for more than three years. In order to deploy HCR in the automobile market, we have commercialized a small size device at 2.5 x 2.0mm, covering a frequency range of 12MHz to 24MHz, required for main clock sources of power train systems.
High temperature operation, durability and high quality (zero defect) are requirements for ECUs controlling power train systems. While existing crystal resonators are made with a hermetic package construction such as glass-sealing and welding, HCR takes after the unique non-hermetic "Cap Chip" construction of CERALOCK®. This is a simple construction where a metal cap is glued with a ceramic plate with resin, allowing for mounting a larger crystal unit compared with other packaging methods. This construction makes low ESR as well as economical and high quality crystal resonators possible by aggregating product technology and quality control practices used for CERALOCK®. This HCR for automobiles is a new step for Murata in the direction of becoming a Timing Device House ("House" indicates business domain but in a broader term than our current definition.) . We will continue to develop new products responding to clock source needs in various situations.
Crystal Resonator for Automobiles "HCR"
at 2.5 x 2.0mm in Size
Cap Chip Construction
