The integrated high-speed digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) sources the master clock (MCLK) used by the CPU and high-speed peripherals. By design, the DCO is active and fully stable in less than 1µs with no intermediate steps enabling “instant on” high-performance processing – no long start-up for a second crystal or 2-speed start-up required. Because the DCO is software configurable, the clock can be tuned to the application requirements. The MSP430 can also operate using only the internal DCO and VLO using no external components. Additionally, high-speed crystals can also be used for high performance applications.