UEET101 Part I SPRING 2009

Electronic Clocks
 Contents

 Introduction
 Mechanical clocks
 Electronic clocks
o Analog clocks
o Digital clocks
 Digital clock with crystal oscillators
 Clock display
 Cost and cost effective designs
 Conclusion
 Introduction
• The clock is one of the most important discoveries in the history of
man and civilization.

• The division of time into slots with different sizes and units is
fundamental to the operation of society as well as individual.

• Hesiod, writing in the 8th century BC., used celestial bodies to

indicate agricultural cycles. Later Greek scientists, such as
Archimedes, developed complicated models of the heavens--celestial
spheres--that illustrated the "wandering" of the sun, the moon, and the
planets against the fixed position of the stars.

• The process of measuring time has progressively become more

accurate, and the devices more localized ever since.

• In our time, the dates and time are predominately measured by

mechanical, and now mostly by electric and electronic clocks.
 Mechanical clocks
Let us start with a primitive time measuring system that some of us are
familiar with: A wind-up alarm clock,
as shown in Fig. 1.

As we expect a clocks must have

the following fundamental properties:

1. Be practical and for a need (purpose)

2. Comfortable to use

3. Cost effective

4. Manufacturable

Fig. 1 – A wind-up alarm clock

Figure 2 shows how a wind-up alarm clock looks from inside.

Main components of the clock:

1. Display system with clock

handles (not shown)

2. Wind-up springs (two)

3. Gear system to reduce

the speed (notice two color
gears)

4. Fly-wheel oscillator and

speed controller

Fig. 2 - A wind-up alarm clock. A look from inside and back

 Mechanical clocks with pendulum.

Pendulum clocks have been used to keep time since 1656, and they have
not changed dramatically since then.

Pendulum clocks were the first clocks made to be accurate.

When you look at a pendulum clock from the outside, you notice several
different parts that are important to the mechanism of all pendulum clocks:

• There is the face of the clock, with its hour and minute hands .

• There are one or more chained weights to power the clock; or a

keyhole in modern clocks that are used to wind a spring inside.

• And, of course, there is the pendulum itself.

In most wall clocks that use a pendulum, the pendulum swings once per
second. In small cuckoo clocks the pendulum might swing twice a second.
In large grandfather clocks, the pendulum swings once every two seconds.
 How the pendulum swings

(a) (b)

• Figures (a) and (b) show how a pendulum controls the

circular motion in a clock; and how the power is transferred
to the pendulum to keep it moving.
• http://www.howstuffworks.com/digital-clock.htm
• Pendulum Formula

• w0 = (g/l)1/2

• Where w0 is the circular

frequency of the pendulum,
g is the gravity of the earth
and l is the effective length of the pendulum.
 Questions:

1. How a wind-up alarm clock works?

2. How a wind-up alarm clock gets power?

3. Why there are two wind-up springs used in the clock?

4. Explain how the motion of a pendulum is powered?

5. Explain how a pendulum controls the circular motion in a
clock?

6. What makes it possible to have different circular motion

speeds for different handles in a clock (Hours, Minutes, and
Seconds)?

7. How can we tune-up a pendulum to show the right time?

 Electronic Clocks
Our main objective in this presentation is to study
electronic clocks.

 Electronic clocks have predominantly

replaced the mechanical clocks.
 They are much more reliable, accurate,
maintenance free and they are portable.
 Hand watches can work for years with a tiny
battery.
 Due to unique application, the electronic
clocks (and watches) are the number one
volume produced in electronic industry.

In general, there are two kinds of electronic

clocks:

analog clocks and digital clocks.

 Analog Clocks
Analog clocks are continuously motor driven and are
synchronized with a 60 Hz (60 cycle of oscillation per second)
signal generator, such as a normal domestic power line.

Fig. 3 – Analog clocks with second handles and without.

 Digital Clocks

Digital clocks are more common than any other kind.

Here we still need to generate an accurate 60-Hz

signal. There are two ways to generate this signal:

Externally, and Internally

One external source of signal generation uses the

power line oscillation just like an analog clock. Another
external clock signals come through the satellites, but
only for synchronization.

More common digital clocks are those independent

from external sources of oscillation. In our presentation
we mainly concentrate on this kind of digital clocks.

At the heart of a digital clock is a piece of hardware

that beats like a heart. This piece can generate an
accurate 60-Hz signal.
 Kinds of Digital Clocks
 The clock signal can be extracted from the 60-
Hz oscillations in a normal power line. Many
clocks that get their power from a wall socket
use this technique because it is cheap and
easy. The 60-Hz signal on the power line is
reasonably accurate for this purpose.
 The signal can be generated using a crystal
oscillator. Evidently any battery-operated
clock or wristwatch will use this technique
instead. It takes more parts, but it is generally
much more accurate.
 The clock signal or the synchronization signal
can be transmitted through one or more
satellites.
Digital clocks are normally digitally
displayed.

Fig. 4 – Digital clock with date, and with

AM and PM indicator.
 Questions:
1. How a domestic power line is characterized? Give at least two
main characteristics.

2. Why 60-Hz power signal is essential in some electronic clocks?

3. What synchronization means?

4. What a crystal oscillator is made of?

6. What is a piezoelectric material?

7. How does a crystal oscillator works?

 Digital clock with crystal oscillators
As the name suggests digital clocks with crystal oscillators
are build by using

1) crystal oscillators,

2) digital elements (also known as logic gates),

3) display units, and

4) power supplies.

Power supplies are devises that get the AC power from the
line and turn it to DC power, exactly like power we get from
a battery. In our presentation we only use the battery types.
 Digital clock with crystal oscillators

There are variety of methods that one can design and

construct a digital clock.
• One method is to use discrete components, known as
standard cells or shelf devices.
• A second method is to use integrated circuits, known as
chips.
• A third method is to use programmable devices such as
FPGAs.

Integrated circuits are much more efficient and commercially

available. You can simply buy a clock chip and build the
entire clock by adding other components such as display
and power supply to it.
 A digital clock built by using IC chips
There are number of Integrated Circuit
(IC) manufacturing companies that are
making chips for digital clocks. To build a
digital clock by using these chips all we
need to do is to provide three more parts
and electronically connect then to the
chip, and put all on a printed circuit board
and package it the way it looks on our
desk.

These three components are: crystal

oscillator, power battery, and display.
FPGA Development Boards
FPGA Development Boards
 Digital clock IC chip
Figure 5 shows one Digital Clock IC that is running four displays (seven
segments), two to indicate hours and two for minutes. This particular chip
operates with 32768 Hz crystal oscillator.

Fig. 5 – A Digital Clock IC Chip

 IC chips
Dual in line
 Questions:

1. What is DC power, and how is it different from the power line

(called AC)?

2. What is an Integrated circuit (IC) chip?

3. What is a seven segment display?

4. How do we build a digital clock from a digital clock IC?

 Cost and cost effective designs

The last part in this study is to find out the cost of a digital clock, and
compare it to a one in the market.

1. Evidently, building one digital clock in the laboratory turns out to be

much more expensive than buying it made, from the market.

Why?

2. Suppose the unit price of all five types of components of a digital

clock are given, as listed in Table 1. Add 20% cost for other
unspecified parts, and 50% of the total cost for labor and other
handling charges.
 Table 1

Items Qt. Unit Price in $ Total price

• Digital clock chip and socket 1 6.50 6.50
• Crystal oscillator and the circuit 1 2.80 2.80
• Seven segment displays (4) 1 9.60 9.60
• Battery and battery holder 1 3.30 3.30
• PC board and casing 1 6.70 6.70

Calculate the price for a digital clock you build, and compare it to your choice
of a desk clock bought from a department store.

How much difference do you see, and why?

 Conclusion

We have studied as to how the clock as a time

measuring devise is developed through the history of
human civilization. More accurate time keeping devices
are shown to be mechanical and electronic clocks.
However, up to date most developed clocks are
electronic digital clocks. We learned that we can make
our own digital clock in several ways, and one that is
more economical and simpler is by starting from clock
ICs. We can add crystal oscillator, display units, and
batteries to the IC chip and make it a full fledge clock.

The detailed solution for constructing a digital clock is

the subject of our next session.