A stable 2.5V reference voltage, REF, allows simple
determination of IIN, FADJ , or DADJ with fixed resistors,
and permits adjustable operation when potentiometers
are connected from each of these inputs to REF. FADJ
and/or DADJ can be grounded, producing the nominal
frequency with a 50% duty cycle.
The output frequency is inversely proportional to
capacitor C
F
. C
F
values can be selected to produce
frequencies above 20MHz.
A sine-shaping circuit converts the oscillator triangle
wave into a low-distortion sine wave with constant
amplitude. The triangle, square, and sine waves are
input to a multiplexer. Two address lines, A0 and A1,
control which of the three waveforms is selected. The
output amplifier produces a constant 2V
P-P
amplitude
(±1V), regardless of wave shape or frequency.
The triangle wave is also sent to a comparator that pro-
duces a high-speed square-wave SYNC waveform that
can be used to synchronize other oscillators. The SYNC
circuit has separate power-supply leads and can be
disabled.
Two other phase-quadrature square waves are gener-
ated in the basic oscillator and sent to one side of an
“exclusive-OR” phase detector. The other side of the
phase-detector input (PDI) can be connected to an
external oscillator. The phase-detector output (PDO) is
a current source that can be connected directly to
FADJ to synchronize the MAX038 with the external
oscillator.
Waveform S elec tion
The MAX038 can produce either sine, square, or trian-
gle waveforms. The TTL/CMOS-logic address pins (A0
and A1) set the waveform, as shown below:
X = Don’t care
Waveform switching can be done at any time, without
regard to the phase of the output. Switching occurs
within 0.3μs, but there may be a small transient in the
output waveform that lasts 0.5μs.
Waveform T iming
Output Frequency
The output frequency is determined by the current
injected into the IIN pin, the COSC capacitance (to
ground), and the voltage on the FADJ pin. When
V
FADJ
= 0V, the fundamental output frequency (F
o
) is
given by the formula:
F
o
(MHz) = I
IN
(μA) ÷ C
F
(pF)
The period (t
o
) is:
t
o
(μs) = C
F
(pF) ÷ I
IN
(μA)
where:
I
IN
= current injected into IIN (between 2μA and
750μA)
C
F
= capacitance connected to COSC and GND
(20pF to >100μF).
For example:
0.5MHz = 100μA ÷ 200pF
and
2μs = 200pF ÷ 100μA
Optimum performance is achieved with I
IN
between
10μA and 400μA, although linearity is good with I
IN
between 2μA and 750μA. Current levels outside of this
range are not recommended. For fixed-frequency oper-
ation, set I
IN
to approximately 100μA and select a suit-
able capacitor value. This current produces the lowest
temperature coefficient, and produces the lowest fre-
quency shift when varying the duty cycle.
The capacitance can range from 20pF to more than
100μF, but stray circuit capacitance must be minimized
by using short traces. Surround the COSC pin and the
trace leading to it with a ground plane to minimize cou-
pling of extraneous signals to this node. Oscillation
above 20MHz is possible, but waveform distortion
increases under these conditions. The low frequency
limit is set by the leakage of the COSC capacitor and
by the required accuracy of the output frequency.
Lowest frequency operation with good accuracy is usu-
ally achieved with 10μF or greater non-polarized
capacitors.
An internal closed-loop amplifier forces IIN to virtual
ground, with an input offset voltage less than ±2mV. IIN
may be driven with either a current source (I
IN
), or a
voltage (V
IN
) in series with a resistor (R
IN
). (A resistor
between REF and IIN provides a convenient method of
generating I
IN
: I
IN
= V
REF
/R
IN
.) When using a voltage
in series with a resistor, the formula for the oscillator fre-
quency is:
F
o
(MHz) = V
IN
÷ [R
IN
x C
F
(pF)]
and:
t
o
(μs) = C
F
(pF) x R
IN
÷ V
IN
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
M
High-Frequenc y Waveform Generator
_______________________________________________________________________________________
9
A0
X
0
1
A1
1
0
0
WAVEFORM
Sine wave
Square wave
Triangle wave