The Relationship between Clock Generator and Crystal Oscillator

Clock generator is a device used to generate clock signals. 

The clock generator is often used in digital products and all electronic components in the circuit board will operate synchronously with the clock signal. Digital products must be controlled by a clock in order to accurately process digital signals. If the clock is unstable, it may cause errors in the transmission of digital signals, or it may cause problems such as failure to start the digital equipment or system disorder.

Generally, there is a clock generator inside the single chip microcomputer. But usually, we will connect a crystal oscillator outside the MCU to make the frequency of the clock pulse more accurate and stable. It should be noted that crystal oscillators are divided into active crystal oscillators and passive crystal oscillators. There are great differences in their application circuits, which will not be described here.

If the crystal oscillator stops or vibrates from time to time, the digital equipment often shows a sudden and inexplicable crash, or sometimes it operates normally and sometimes it is abnormal. 

You may want to know: Avoided Misconceptions in Crystal Oscillation Selection