analogZONE Products of the Year - 2003
January 14, 2004....analogZONE today announced the recipients of their annual "Product of the Year" awards. A total of 42 different products in the categories of data acquisition, audio/video technology, "green" engineering, high frequency & RF technology, i/o technology, networking, and power management were selected, from among the hundreds of products reviewed annually by analogZONE.
"This is not a very democratic process," commented Editor-in-Chief Paul McGoldrick. "We don't hand out voting ballots to readers; we don't delay the process and haggle with vendors, or even ask them to submit essays for their reasons why they should win - as we always do at analogZONE, with every weekly review we write, we put our money where our mouth is." McGoldrick went on to state that he and editorial colleague Lee Goldberg believe the products selected "will make significant bottom line numbers for the companies involved" because of their strong technical merit, design innovation and marketability.
Recipients were as follows:
In Data Acquisition…
Best Analog EDA Tool:
Analog Design Automation's Creative Genius v2 and IP Explorer 2 analog EDA toolsBest Low-Distortion Op Amp:
Analog Devices' AD8099 low-distortion, high-speed op ampBest Temperature-Range Op Amp:
Microchip's MCP627x/8x/9x extended industrial temperature range op ampsBest Speed Performance ADC:
TelASIC's TC1410 14-bit 240-Msample/s ADC
In Audio/Video Technology…
Best Use of Existing Infrastructure:
Intersil's (Elantec) EL9110 differential receiver/equalizer.Best Video Filter:
Fairchild's FMS6417 video filter/line driverBest Professional Audio Product:
Texas Instruments' SRC4190/2/3 high-performance sample rate converter for pro-audioBest Consumer Audio Product:
Winbond's ISD5108 ChipCorder voice record & playbackBest Consumer Combination Product:
Wolfson's WM9712L audio and touchscreen codecBest Consumer Highly-Integrated Product:
Zarlink's ZL10320/21 single chip processors for terrestrial DTV PVRs
In the "Green" Technology Arena…
Best Solar Product:
SunPower's A300 20% efficient photovoltaic cellBest Product For 1-W Initiative:
Fairchild's FS high-efficiency power switch family for small ac adaptersBest Power Supply Design:
Power Integration's sub 1-W standby high-efficiency 30-W power supply development kit
In High-Frequency/RF Technology…
Best Power/Performance Combination Op Amp:
Intersil's (Elantec) EL5166/7 1.4-GHz current feedback op ampsBest Architected Downconverter:
Linear's LT5522 active downconverting mixerBest Receive Channel Product:
Maxim's MAX2055 low-distortion differential IF ADC driverBest Innovation Product:
Micrel's MICRF008 replacement for discrete RF receiversBest Advance In Packaging:
Motorola's MRF5S9100/1 100-W 900-MHz LDMOS PA in plasticBest 802.11 Physical Layer Product:
SiGe Semiconductor's SE2526A RF front-end for dual-mode 802.11b/gBest Performance ADC In CMOS:
Texas Instruments' ADS5500 14-bit 125-Msample/s ADC
In Input/Output Technology…
Best Backplane SerDes Product:
Accelerant's AN6420 multi-mode quad-channel 10-Gbit/s SerDes transceiverBest Signal Integrity Technology:
Quellan's Gigabit canceller/equalizerBest I/O Building Block:
Marvell's Discovery III system controllersBest Short-Haul Interconnect Product:
BitBlitz' CX-4 retimer
In Networking…
The Frank Goodenough "Oh Wow" Award for the highest cool factor:
Motorola's Reconfigurable Compute Fabric DeviceBest SoHo/Access Product:
Texas Instruments' Home Networking Router/VoIP GatewayBest LAN/Enterprise Product:
Broadcom's 10-Gbit/s Multi-Layer SwitchBest Metro/WAN Transport Product:
TranSwitch's PacketTrunk-4 TDM-over-IPBest Metro/WAN Switching Product:
TeraChip's Ezchip reference designBest Network Processing Product:
Seaway's content processorBest Traffic Management Product:
Bay Microsystems' Biscayne classifier/routerBest WLAN product:
IceFyre's TwinFyre 802.11a/b/g chip setBest VoB Product:
Agere's Wi-Fi/VoIP solutionBest Security Product:
Cavium's Nitrox II Security Processor
In Power Management Technology…
Best Advance In Isolation:
Analog Devices' ADuM1300/01 & 1400/01/02 multi-channel digital isolatorsBest Engineered PWM Controller:
Intersil's ISL6561 VRM10 multiphase PWM controllerBest In Simple Battery Charging:
Linear's LTC4006 low-cost Li-Ion battery chargerBest Boost Controller:
Microsemi's LX1744/45 PFM boost controllersBest High-Voltage Buck Regulator:
National's LM5007 80-V buck regulatorBest Architecture in Dc-Dc Controllers:
Siliconix' Si9122/3/4 500-kHz controllersBest Offline Switcher Architecture:
STMicroelectronics' VIPer53 offline switcherBest Engineered Power Controller:
Summit Microelectronics' SMM665 six-channel active controller
Product of the Year award winners were selected from those reviewed throughout the year by analogZONE editor-in-chief Paul McGoldrick and section editor Lee Goldberg, with specific emphasis on the product's performance, anticipated market success, and likely contribution to the field of analog engineering and product design.
analogZONE offers timely content tailored to the needs of design engineers specializing in analog applications. Regular weekly features include product reviews, technical notes, guest articles, news items, and more; and the publication has a reputation for incisive product understanding as well as a broad worldwide readership. Proposals for technical papers and columns, as well as sponsorship inquiries, are welcomed.
Editorial inquiries: pjm@analogzone.com