MEMS Resonators: SiTime Titan Q&A on Timing Innovation

For decades, quartz has been the backbone of precision timing, powering everything from consumer electronics to industrial systems. Its stability and reliability established it as the industry standard. However, as devices have grown smaller, smarter, and more connected, quartz has struggled to keep pace with the demands of modern design.

Enter MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology. Over the past several years, MEMS has steadily disrupted the timing market, offering smaller, more resilient, and more versatile solutions in oscillators and clocks. Now, with the introduction of the SiTime Titan Platform™, MEMS technology is addressing quartz’s final stronghold resonators.

Titan represents more than just a new product; it marks a pivotal shift for system designers. By reducing design complexity, enabling tighter SoC integration, and eliminating many of the limitations of quartz, Titan is paving the way for the next generation of connected devices. Its impact spans wearables, medical devices, and IoT, where size, power efficiency, and reliability are critical.

To explore this transformation in depth, Electropages sat down with Piyush Sevalia, EVP Marketing at SiTime, to discuss how the Titan Platform reshapes the timing landscape and what it means for the future of precision technology.

Q&A with Piyush Sevalia, EVP Marketing, SiTime

Questions from Electropages:
Our plan is to frame the article as the point where MEMS finally overtakes quartz in one of its last strongholds. We want to explore how Titan removes key barriers to integration, why this matters for system designers, and what it means for the next generation of connected devices.

Responses attributed to Piyush Sevalia, EVP Marketing, SiTime:

Q1. With Titan completing SiTime's offering of oscillators, clocks and resonators, how do you see this changing your position in the timing market? Does it open new kinds of partnerships or design opportunities with SoC and MCU makers?

Launching Titan Platform™, a breakthrough family of MEMS resonators, makes SiTime the only company that offers the full Precision Timing portfolio of oscillators, clocks, resonators, plus software that enables the highest system performance. That positions SiTime as a key provider of all the customer's timing needs and deepens our role as a system solution provider, rather than just a component supplier.

For SoC and MCU makers, Titan unlocks true integration: they can co-package our resonator die inside their chip package, eliminating external timing components and delivering a more complete solution to their customers. Note that it's also possible to easily integrate quartz ceramic packages along with a microcontroller die in a plastic package.

With integration, the SoC / MCU provider simplifies design for the customer who does not need to select from the plethora of quartz resonators, select the correct one with the best electrical characteristics, figure out where to place it on the board, pay attention to the traces to ensure that noise is coupling on these lines, all in service of the higher goal of having a very clean clock.

We have heard that system providers send their boards for testing back to the quartz companies to ensure that the quartz resonator meets the system performance and reliability requirements, which introduces 2-4 weeks of delay in development. Therefore, by integrating the MEMS resonator inside the package, the SoC / MCU supplier adds additional value to their customers.

Because of this, these SoC and MCU partners can boost their revenue by increasing their base selling price and also increasing their market share with more differentiated offerings compared to legacy chips, which require an off-chip resonator on the board. This creates new revenue streams for them and changes the way resonators are sold in the timing market.

Q2. Titan is much smaller and more resilient than quartz. What were the biggest technical breakthroughs that made this possible, and why has it been difficult for others in the industry to match this level of integration?

The breakthroughs came from two decades of focused innovation in MEMS and semiconductor technology. First, we engineered a resonator at the die level that holds its vacuum without requiring a bulky ceramic package into a 0.46 x 0.46 mm CSP (SiTime calls it 0505 size), several generations smaller than quartz.

Second, we applied system-level expertise to optimise power consumption and startup time. Third, we ensured Titan is electrically compatible with the oscillator circuitry inside existing SoCs and MCUs so that they can adopt it immediately.

SiTime is unique in bringing the MEMS, analog, packaging, and systems under one roof, which is why we believe that Titan is years ahead of legacy quartz and competitive efforts.

Q3. You have highlighted wearables, medical devices and industrial IoT as key targets. Can you share an example of how Titan is already helping a customer build something smaller and more power-efficient or with features that were not possible before?

One possible example is in advanced wearables. A customer developing an advanced Receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aid can potentially expand their features and performance – e.g. better audio, echo cancellation, faster response times – but the size of their system, and therefore, their SOC, is constrained.

Titan can replace a much larger quartz resonator, freeing up board space, which can then be used to grow their ASIC / SOC or add another to provide this increased performance and functionality while maintaining the tiny form factor of their hearing aid.

Titan's faster startup also allows more aggressive duty cycles of sleep modes, reducing overall power consumption. This combination of a smaller footprint, longer battery life, and higher reliability enables products that were simply not feasible with quartz.

Q4. Moving the resonator from the PCB into the SoC package feels like a big shift. What kind of impact does that have on how engineers design their systems, and what does it mean for your semiconductor partners?

It's transformative. Engineers no longer need to worry about board layout sensitivities, external matching, or capacitor selection - the resonator is integrated at the package level, with performance already optimised.

For semiconductor partners, it means they can deliver a turnkey solution: timing is built in, validated, and invisible to the end customer. That simplifies design time for the board designer, reduces time to market, and allows them to capture more system value since they're now delivering a more complete chip.

Also, these SoC and MCU companies have indicated that a large portion of their hardware-related support calls from their customers before and after production are related to resonator-related issues – Titan integration eliminates this support burden.

It's the kind of integration that consumer and medical wearables, IoT, and SoC/MCU customers have been waiting for. And it's not new to the semiconductor industry – we have been adding adjacent content to our devices since the industry began. SiTime's Titan MEMS resonator enables this now.

Q5. Titan is only the beginning. What can you tell us about what comes next, whether that is new frequencies, more integration or how you are working with the wider ecosystem to speed up adoption?

Titan launches with a family of 5 products (frequencies) on 17th September 2025, with 32 MHz already sampling its production version and additional frequencies, including 38.4, 40, 48 and 76.8 MHz sampling shortly thereafter.

That 5-product portfolio, along with our roadmap, will expand our serviceable market to $1B in the next three years. Our future direction in this product category is rich with possibilities - we can add broader frequency coverage, performance enhancements, and unique functionality, all of which can be shared during future product launches.

Our goal is to transform timing from a discrete component into an integrated platform that accelerates innovation across wearables, medical devices, IoT, and beyond.

Why Titan Matters: Breaking Down the Key Themes

The launch of the SiTime Titan Platform™ represents more than an incremental improvement in timing technology, it signals a structural shift in how engineers and semiconductor partners approach system design. By removing barriers imposed by quartz resonators, Titan enables a new era of MEMS integration and precision timing solutions.

By moving resonators from the PCB directly into the SoC package, Titan simplifies the design process and reduces the need for extensive validation. This not only eliminates weeks of development delay but also ensures that timing is optimised and invisible to the end user. For designers, it means fewer layout constraints and faster time to market.

At just 0.46 x 0.46 mm, Titan’s MEMS resonator is several generations smaller than quartz, enabling engineers to reclaim valuable board space. Its lower power consumption and faster startup times also enhance energy efficiency, supporting devices where every milliwatt matters, especially in battery-powered IoT and wearable applications.

The SiTime Titan MEMS resonator (foreground) shown against a quartz package highlights its ultra-small 0.46 x 0.46 mm footprint—several generations smaller than quartz.

Quartz limitations once held back innovation in sectors like hearing aids, medical wearables, and industrial IoT. With Titan, system designers can now deliver advanced features such as better audio processing, improved echo cancellation, and longer battery life, all within compact form factors that were previously unachievable.

For SoC and MCU makers, Titan delivers a turnkey timing solution that reduces support burdens, eliminates resonator-related issues, and differentiates their products in a competitive market. The result is new revenue opportunities, increased market share, and a stronger ability to meet the needs of next-generation connected devices.

Market Impact and Future Outlook

The introduction of the SiTime Titan Platform™ has far-reaching implications for the MEMS timing market. By completing the shift from quartz to MEMS across oscillators, clocks, and resonators, Titan positions SiTime to expand its serviceable market to $1B within the next three years. This marks a significant milestone in the broader adoption of MEMS over quartz in precision timing applications.

The Titan family launches with five frequencies: 32 MHz, 38.4 MHz, 40 MHz, 48 MHz, and 76.8 MHz. With 32 MHz already in production sampling and the others following shortly, this roadmap provides designers with the flexibility and coverage needed to address a wide range of system requirements.

The transition from discrete quartz components to an integrated MEMS timing platform represents more than a technology upgrade, it redefines system architecture. By embedding timing directly into SoC and MCU packages, Titan eliminates traditional design bottlenecks, reduces external dependencies, and unlocks new possibilities for device innovation.

The ripple effects of Titan adoption extend across the semiconductor ecosystem. Engineers benefit from shorter time-to-market and simplified design processes, while end users gain access to devices with higher reliability, longer battery life, and smaller form factors. For semiconductor partners, Titan delivers a differentiated offering that drives new revenue streams and strengthens their position in competitive markets.

Ultimately, Titan is more than a resonator, it’s a platform that sets the stage for the future of precision timing and accelerates the transition from quartz to MEMS in next-generation connected devices.

Closing Perspective: The Turning Point for Timing Technology

The launch of the SiTime Titan Platform™ marks a defining moment in the evolution of precision timing. With MEMS now overtaking quartz across oscillators, clocks, and resonators, the long-standing dominance of quartz has given way to a new standard in performance, integration, and reliability.

Titan is more than just a resonator, it is a transformative step that redefines system design strategies. By moving timing inside the SoC package, it removes traditional design hurdles and enables semiconductor makers to deliver complete, optimised solutions. This shift elevates timing from a component-level decision to a system-wide advantage.

The broader impact is clear: smaller, smarter, and more reliable devices across consumer electronics, industrial IoT, and medical technology. From hearing aids with longer battery life to connected sensors with greater efficiency, Titan unlocks innovations that quartz could not deliver.

Looking ahead, MEMS timing is no longer an emerging alternative, it is fast becoming the industry standard. As adoption accelerates, SiTime’s Titan platform stands at the forefront of timing technology innovation, driving the next generation of connected devices and signalling the definitive replacement of quartz.