8.

5 Low Frequency Crystal Oscillator

The low-frequency crystal oscillator is optimized for use with a 32.768kHz watch crystal. When selecting crystals, load
capacitance and crystal’s equivalent series resistance, ESR must be taken into consideration. Both values are specified by
the crystal vendor. ATmega328P oscillator is optimized for very low power consumption, and thus when selecting crystals,
see Table 8-7 for maximum ESR recommendations on 6.5pF, 9.0pF and 12.5pF crystals

Table 8-7. Maximum ESR Recommendation for 32.768 kHz Crystal

Crystal CL (pF) Max ESR [k](1)

6.5 75
9.0 65
12.5 30
Note: 1. Maximum ESR is typical value based on characterization

The low-frequency crystal oscillator provides an internal load capacitance of typical 6pF at each TOSC pin. The external
capacitance (C) needed at each TOSC pin can be calculated by using:
C = 2  CL – C S

where CL is the load capacitance for a 32.768kHz crystal specified by the crystal vendor and CS is the total stray
capacitance for one TOSC pin.
Crystals specifying load capacitance (CL) higher than 6pF, require external capacitors applied as described in
Figure 8-2 on page 26.
The low-frequency crystal oscillator must be selected by setting the CKSEL fuses to “0110” or “0111”, as shown in Table 8-9.
Start-up times are determined by the SUT fuses as shown in Table 8-8.

Table 8-8. Start-up Times for the Low-frequency Crystal Oscillator Clock Selection
SUT1..0 Additional Delay from Reset (VCC = 5.0V) Recommended Usage
00 4CK Fast rising power or BOD enabled
01 4CK + 4.1ms Slowly rising power
10 4CK + 65ms Stable frequency at start-up
11 Reserved

Table 8-9. Start-up Times for the Low-frequency Crystal Oscillator Clock Selection

Start-up Time from

CKSEL3..0 Power-down and Power-save Recommended Usage
(1)
0100 1KCK
0101 32KCK Stable frequency at start-up
Note: 1. This option should only be used if frequency stability at start-up is not important for the application

8.6 Calibrated Internal RC Oscillator

By default, the internal RC oscillator provides an approximate 8.0MHz clock. Though voltage and temperature dependent,
this clock can be very accurately calibrated by the user. See Table 28-1 on page 260 for more details. The device is shipped
with the CKDIV8 fuse programmed. See Section 8.11 “System Clock Prescaler” on page 32 for more details.
This clock may be selected as the system clock by programming the CKSEL fuses as shown in Table 8-10 on page 30. If
selected, it will operate with no external components. During reset, hardware loads the pre-programmed calibration value
into the OSCCAL register and thereby automatically calibrates the RC oscillator. The accuracy of this calibration is shown as
factory calibration in Table 28-1 on page 260.

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