What is the difference between an active crystal oscillator and a passive crystal oscillator

Active crystal oscillator and passive crystal oscillator are two common oscillators in electronic products. They have some differences in the oscillation method, working principle and application scope.

Principle of operation

An Active Crystal Oscillator (ACO) is a circuit that enhances the amplitude of a crystal signal by means of a built-in ISL1208IB8Z-TK amplifier, thus allowing the crystal signal to directly drive other circuits. An active crystal oscillator usually consists of a crystal oscillator and an amplifier.

Passive Crystal Oscillator (PCO), on the other hand, consists of a crystal oscillator without a built-in amplifier. It requires an external circuit to amplify the crystal signal in order to drive other circuits.

Oscillation Methods

Active crystal oscillator can use a variety of oscillation methods, such as crystal resonance, RC resonance, LC resonance and so on. It can oscillate independently within a certain frequency range, and output a stronger oscillation signal through the built-in amplifier.

Passive crystal usually adopts the crystal resonance method to realize oscillation through the characteristics of crystal oscillator. Its output signal is weak and needs to be amplified by external circuitry.

Power Consumption

Because the active crystal oscillator has a built-in amplifier, its power consumption is generally higher, especially when it needs to output a larger amplitude.

Passive crystal oscillator because there is no built-in amplifier, so the power consumption is lower.

Stability

Active crystal oscillator due to the presence of a built-in amplifier, you can adjust the amplifier gain and feedback to achieve precise control of the oscillation frequency, so it has a high frequency stability.

Passive crystal oscillator stability is relatively poor, by the external environment temperature, voltage and other factors have a greater impact.

Scope of application

Active crystal oscillator is suitable for application scenarios that require high signal quality, such as high-precision clocks, communication equipment, precision instruments and so on.

Passive crystal is suitable for some of the frequency stability requirements of the scene is not high, such as ordinary electronic products, consumer electronics and so on.

In conclusion, there are some differences between active and passive crystal oscillators in terms of working principle, oscillation method, power consumption, stability and application scope. The choice of which type of crystal oscillator should be based on the needs of specific applications.

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