Oscillators and Timers - juxtapix/IMA_E4I GitHub Wiki
Oscillators and timers are crucial building blocks of many electronics circuits by providing the set rhythms and cycles that are used by other components.
Oscillators
Oscillators are electronic circuits that produce a periodic, oscillating output signal. They are engineered to generate very specific and repetitive waveforms (think sine, square, sawtooth, triangular waves, etc.) at set frequencies and amplitudes that are referenced for the operation of the circuit.
At the simplest level, oscillators can be used as a source of regular pulses, like a clock. Because they are designed to be very stable, adjustable and are capable of producing very accurate waveforms, they can be used as the time base for a frequency counter or as the local oscillator in a transmitter or receiver.
Timers
A timer circuit is used to deliver a delayed pulse charge at set timed intervals, or a pulsed of a given width (length of time). This delayed pulsed charge is used to switch on a load in the circuit in a timed cycle.
Because the timer circuit includes a RC component (resistor-capacitor), the time delay and pulse width can easily be adjusted by swapping out different RC values. Timer circuits are extremely reliable and stable, making it a widely used tool in long term applications.
Analog Circuits
Oscillators are crucial components in radio circuits. Their task is to generate the high-frequency sinusoidal carrier waves that can transmit the information that is encoded by modulation. The modulation process is also facilitated by an oscillator.
Digital Circuits
Oscillators inside digital circuits behave like a clock for the system. They generate uniform square waves that are used to drive all the logic gates and flip-flops at the set frequency.
Some Types of Oscillators:
- Crystal oscillator
- RC oscillator
- LC oscillator
- VCO oscillator
Types of Waveforms:
- sine
- square
- triangle
- sawtooth
References: