Dolphin Semiconductor’s clock and timing IP portfolio brings accurate clock, time and calendar functions to always-on (AON) domains. Nano-power operation keeps consumption to a minimum for longer battery life, and a wide range of products across many technology nodes lets designers select the right one for their specific needs.
Radio front-end for the Bluetooth link to the phone and the second earbud.
Boot code and one-time-programmable trimming and configuration data.
High-frequency clock for the radio and CPU. Switched off in sleep, when the 32 kHz oscillator takes over timekeeping.
Microphone capture and audio playback conversion.
Drives the earbud speaker.
Bluetooth modem and link layer. Relies on an accurate sleep clock to keep receive windows short.
Runs the application and the Bluetooth stack.
Digital interfaces to sensors, buttons and the host.
Converts touch and sensor signals.
Nano-power clock that keeps running while the rest of the SoC sleeps. It times BLE sleep intervals, wake-up events and the real-time clock. In TWS earbuds, a low-drift RC removes the crystal while keeping BLE timing accurate.
Program and audio buffer memory.
Noise cancellation, voice enhancement and equalisation.
Charges the earbud battery from the case.
Real-time clock and wake-up logic, clocked by the 32 kHz oscillator.
Power supplies and power-on reset. Keeps the always-on domain powered during sleep.
Hover or select a block to see its role.
Hover or select a block to see its role.
Example of a TWS SoC with an oscillator in the always-on (AON) domain. Illustrative floorplan, not to scale.
Clock and timing IP is a clock-generation circuit designed for the always-on (AON) domain of battery-powered devices, where minimal power consumption is key to the longest battery life. A wide range of implementations lets designers find the best trade-off between accuracy, startup time, power consumption and bill-of-materials (BOM) cost.
Crystal (XTAL) oscillators deliver the accuracy required by the most demanding applications. RC oscillators start up faster while significantly reducing power consumption and BOM cost. Low-drift RC oscillators take the performance to the next level and narrow the accuracy gap with crystals, while keeping the BOM cost and PCB footprint savings of an RC design.
XTAL and low-drift RC
Always-on operation
RC oscillator wake-up
Figures are Dolphin design targets and silicon measurements published in the IP Catalog 2026.
XTAL vs. RC oscillator architecture. Hover a block or pin to see its role.
Select an approach to compare the trade-off.
Crystal (XTAL) oscillators deliver the accuracy required by the most demanding applications.
Smart meters Smartwatches with a time display Medical and industrial data loggers BLE devices with long sleep intervals
Relative comparison between the three approaches.
RC oscillators start up faster while significantly reducing power consumption and BOM cost.
Watchdog and wake-up timers Remote controls and key fobs Low-cost IoT sensor nodes Disposable devices such as patches and smart labels
Relative comparison between the three approaches.
Low-drift RC oscillators narrow the accuracy gap with crystals, while keeping the BOM cost and PCB footprint savings of an RC design.
TWS earbuds Hearing aids Asset trackers and tags Fitness bands
Relative comparison between the three approaches.
Five capabilities that make the clock, time and calendar function reliable across process, voltage and temperature.
XTAL operation, or RC calibrated against an XTAL reference, for tight frequency tolerance.
Target application: Smart meters, smartwatches, data loggers
Nano-power operating point for continuous always-on timekeeping.
Target application: Battery-powered IoT, wearables, hearables
Configurable to a broad range of external crystal specifications.
Target application: Multi-platform SoC reuse
Drives the clock tree directly from an external source for fast production test.
Target application: ATE test time reduction
Tells the rest of the SoC that the oscillator output is stable and safe to use, during startup or after a clock failure.
Target application: Safe power-up sequencing
Each application has different constraints when it comes to accuracy, power consumption or startup time. Those trade-offs can be targeted by selecting the right oscillator IP.
XTAL
The calendar must stay accurate over years of operation without resynchronization.
XTAL
The user sees clock drift directly, so ppm-level accuracy is needed.
XTAL
Timestamps must be precise and traceable.
XTAL
An accurate sleep clock keeps the receive window small, which saves radio power.
RC
Only a periodic tick is needed, so the lowest power and fastest startup matter most.
RC
The device sits idle most of the time, and cost and size dominate over accuracy.
RC
A coarse wake-up schedule is enough, and removing the crystal cuts BOM cost.
RC
The lowest BOM cost and smallest footprint are essential.
Low-drift RC
Space is extremely tight, but the BLE timing still needs good accuracy.
Low-drift RC
The form factor is very small and the battery life must be long, which leaves no room for a crystal.
Low-drift RC
Cost and size are critical while BLE connectivity must stay reliable.
Low-drift RC
Timekeeping is acceptable without a crystal, saving PCB area and cost.
The XTAL oscillator delivers the accuracy the most demanding applications need. The RC oscillator trades some accuracy for much faster startup, lower power consumption and lower bill-of-materials (BOM) cost. Dolphin’s low-drift RC oscillators (RC LD) narrow the accuracy gap with crystal oscillators while keeping the BOM cost and footprint savings of an RC design. The two can also work together: the RC runs continuously and is periodically calibrated against the XTAL, which only needs to be switched on briefly. The result is near-crystal accuracy at a fraction of the average power.
The FOK signal tells the rest of the SoC that the oscillator output is stable and safe to use, preventing downstream logic from running on an unstable clock during startup or after a clock failure.
Dolphin licenses per project, with the option of per-unit royalties depending on the volume. A licence covers the deliverable set needed for integration: views, models, documentation and integration support. Terms are set with the field engineering team during the technical evaluation.
Yes. Dolphin’s Application Lab supports pre-licence technical evaluation, including characterisation data review and integration feasibility on the target node. Requests go through the support channel below.
Yes. Crystal range, bypass mode and calibration strategy are configurable, and Dolphin’s design teams adapt the block to a target node when the off-the-shelf configuration does not fit.
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