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EN-Genius Network Announces 2009 Product Of The Year Winners
As ever, it is a pleasure to present EN-Genius Network's annual Product Of The Year awards for exceptional product releases throughout 2009. Award winners are selected from among the products reviewed by our editorial team in the course of the year, on the basis of their technical merit and likelihood of market success. Our warmest congratulations to all our 2009 recipients!
Note: Awards are listed alphabetically by the recipient company's name.
Best RF Test System
Agilent Digital Radio Frequency V4 Test Solution
The high-speed DigRF spec addressed by this test system (actually an assemblage of products from Agilent Technologies) is emerging as a standard serial interface between baseband chips and RFICs to be used in next-generation nomadic devices.
You use a common dashboard for driving all the cross-domain tests, based on common vector signal generation and vector signal analysis software. This also ensures measurement consistency on both sides of the DUT.
Thus a single platform gives you insight ranging from the protocol level all the way to the RF modulation level. You can work in either digital or RF domains, and get physical layer and/or protocol layer insight.
Best Priced 2.5 W Class-D Audio Amplifier
AnalogicTech AAT5101 2.5W Class D Audio Amplifier
If you are designing power management products with switching circuits, then getting into Class-D audio products is probably a no-brainer. The AAT5101 is directed at the mono portable market, of course, offering 1.35 W at 5.0 V with 1 kHz into 8 Ω.
The architecture of the AAT5101 is with a fully differential analog input that can be either dc- or ac-coupled. Thermal and short-circuit protection are included, as is a proprietary pop and click suppression system.
AnalogicTech’s first product is aiming at a niche that has other players in it, but they are getting their feet into the market with very low pricing. The 2.1 V operation could be a really big deal in the market – it certainly would be to the consumer who buys the end product, if he/she knew what it meant in battery life terms; it is probably worth a premium.
Most Efficient Handset PA
Avago ACPM-73*2 Power Amplifiers for Mobile Handsets
Who would have believed that the volume of wireless equipment would become so huge that it makes financial sense for Avago to move ahead with a fifth generation of its CoolPAM power amplifier modules? The amplifier is built on Avago’s InGaP HBT MMIC technology which has extremely high temperature stability.
Three logic pins (at 0 V or 2.6 V) set the output power levels with gains of typically 27 dB at high-power, 22 dB at mid-power, and 11.5 dB in bypass mode, all much more effective in power savings than just playing with the bias. Avago’s research shows that output power from a handset is typically less than +16 dBm during the majority of talk time.
With PAEs of typically 40.9%, 19.8%, and 13.3% (high, mid, bypass) this new generation of CoolPAM modules will ensure that Avago retains the lead in the market.
Best Value DSOs
B&K Precision Model 2540/2542 Dual-Channel Digital Oscilloscopes
When you consider how many oscilloscope applications probe low- to moderate-frequency signals, it makes sense to consider low-bandwidth instruments for these applications. For a kilobuck or so, B&K Precision's latest Model 2540 and Model 2542 smart digital oscilloscopes may prove to be very cost-effective instruments for controller-oriented mixed-signal designs, where embedded processors and peripherals typically tick away at just a few Megahertz. Spending more on higher bandwidth instruments may not make sense.
Judging by past experience with low cost B&K instrumentation, I would argue that you would get your money's worth, and then some.
Best High-Speed Power Amplifier
Cirrus PA107DP/MP103FC High-Voltage, High-Speed Power Amps
With a Class-AB biased MOSFET output stage, the PA107 can drive up to 180 V p-p, and can sink/source currents up to ±5 A peak, ±1.5 A steady-state. Feed-forward topology gives the part a bandwidth of 180 MHz, with a power bandwidth of at least 2 MHz at 170 V p-p output. Slew rate is an astounding typical 3000 V/µs and settling time is 12 µs. Open-loop gain is a typical 140 dB at dc and 40 dB at 1 MHz.
This part is, of course, a hybrid. It would not be possible with today’s technology to build it as a monolithic product, and I can attest that the hybrid production area at Apex is superb. A lot of extremely competent analog engineers have passed through the company’s portals and are there now. The PA107DP will be hugely popular in driving unusual and difficult loads like piezo loads and high-power RF control circuits, but its Class-AB linearity leaves it open to signal driving circuits and ATE.
Best New Optocoupler
Fairchild FOD8001 Optocoupler with High Noise Immunity
This is an optocoupler with a fairly standard architecture, but the bandwidth performance is not. The input side to the optocoupler drives an AlGaAs photodiode (an LED in this case) from a CMOS buffer and, across the isolation gap, a CMOS photo detector’s signal drives a transimpedance amplifier, a voltage comparator and a push-pull output driver. The part, however, offers a 25 Mbit/s NRZ data rate with only 40 ns propagation delay and a maximum of 6 ns pulse width distortion.
Noise is the killer in data transmission in parts like this, but the FOD8001 has a minimum static CMR of 20 kV/µs at Vcm of 1000 V, and a typical dynamic CMR of 25 kV/µs at Vcm of 1500 V and a 20 Mbit/s data rate.
The FOD8001 is rated from -40ºC to +105ºC. Approvals are pending for UL1577 (3750 Vac rms for 1 minute) and IEC60747-5-2.
This part will be widely used in industrial fieldbus communications such as DeviceNet, CAN, Profibus, Interbus, Modbus, and RS485. It is also ideal for isolation in industrial energy harvesting.
Best New Op Amps
Intersil ISL28207 Dual Op Amps with Bipolar Process Technology
It is interesting to see a new process that pushes the high-end supply voltage to 40 V. The lowest supply that can be used, at 4.5 V, may not be optimal for a lot of designers, but the low input bias current and low input offset are very attractive. Where the input bias current drift is important, particularly in medical instrumentation, the extra money being requested for these op amps will not be a problem. They will do well because of that.
Most Rugged High-Speed Driver For Auto
International Rectifier AUIRS2016S High-Side Driver for Automotive Gate Drive
The story with the AUIRS2016S is really its ruggedness, with AEC-Q100 automotive qualification. It is a high-voltage (up to 150 V offset) power MOSFET and IGBT high-side driver. There is one high-side output from the on-chip MOSFETs with an internal low-side Vs recharge nMOS making the device immune to spikes and very tolerant to dVs/dt.
The AUIRS2016S will find many automotive applications in fuel systems with magnetic valve applications. It will be highly profitable for International Rectifier; although, as with all auto applications, design implementations might take 18 - 24 months to get to production sales levels.
New Textbook Current Source
Linear LT3092 Programmable Two-Terminal Current Source
Current sources have not been straightforward in our semiconductor world. Throw in a requirement for a two-terminal solution and the choices have been few. The most popular has probably been the two-transistor solution also using two voltage references. But the references and associated pass diodes have different temperature characteristics compared to the transistors, and they drift away from one another over temperature. There are also two transistor junctions in series, so the headroom needed requires more than 3 V. Current accuracy is also limited to a few percent.
The LT3092 is a very different animal. It is based on the (unique itself) LT3080 single resistor voltage LDO, reviewed here in July 2007, a triumph of Robert Dobkin. The output is modified with a pnp transistor. The design inherently provides reversed battery and reverse current protection.
This is a major jump for current sources. It should now become standard textbook material and replace the two-transistor solution in college courses. The number and type of applications for the LT3092 are limitless. They have been priced at we-deserve-it levels and the company will undoubtedly score extremely well in the marketplace: extremely well.
Energy Harvesting Buck Converter
Linear LTC3108 20mV Step-Up Converter
Linear has indicated an interest in this technology before, as announced in their last Annual Report - 2009-09-29 (yes, people other than investors do take notice), and there was an earlier part that was a token stab at the technology.
Energy harvesting will find applications where battery technology is inconvenient – mostly because of replacement difficulties – or just downright dangerous. The energy can be sourced from heat waste, solar sourced, or from any other minute movement, light, moisture, strain, motion, or vibration. All these sources can be considered to be free as they are not deliberately generated for harvesting purposes.
Peltier-powered harvest energy is likely to be the first mainstream application of parts such as the LTC3108. With Linear now in this picture the technology is much more likely to become popular and we should expect to see things speed up considerably, particularly for remote sensing transmitters and the like.
Unique Analog-Controlled VGA
Linear LTC6412 800 MHz Analog-Controlled VGA
I have been very surprised at the low-key approach Linear has taken to this part. What is staggering about the LTC6412 is the gain linearity over frequency. Here, for the first time, is a part that you can throw a band of signals through, like 10 MHz to 200 MHz, and actually get a decent result at the output over a 31 dB gain range. And, of course, I love that the control is analog.
This is a sleeper part. It will provide a major number of breakthroughs in receiver and distribution applications, most of which I cannot fully imagine just yet. Once volume starts moving it will be a huge success for Linear.
Best ADC Buffer
Linear LTC6416 Differential ADC Buffer
As standard ADC ICs have attained higher and higher frequency performance at increasingly higher resolutions, the successful implementation of designs using such parts has come down to how to drive them. Here Linear is offering what is a well-balanced solution, albeit – but not at all unexpectedly – at the cost of current.
This is an extremely well balanced part in its specifications and is the first differential buffer I have seen that is truly suitable for driving high-speed 16-bit ADCs. It has been priced at a level to deter you from even thinking about putting together a discrete solution. Financially, for Linear, there will be a knock-on effect from the part as its availability will drive further sales from the LTC2208 (16-bit, up to 150 Msample/s) and LTC2209 (up to 185 Msample/s) ADCs, and other LTC22** family members, which is where real money is to be made – or lost – if you cannot provide a complete solution.
Novel Click-And-Pop Eliminator
Maxim MAX9892 Click-and-Pop Eliminator
This is such a simple, but incredibly smart, part. The MAX9892 is designed to provide a low impedance path for audio signals – right at the headphone jack of the amplifier – to eliminate clicks and pops during power up and down. A single mute input activates the analog switches that perform the magic.
Simple, low-cost, easily implemented; what more could you want? The MAX9892 is a high volume part that will be copied quickly, but not before Maxim has drained a lot of the swamp.
Best AFE Sampling System
Microchip MCP2036 Inductive Touch-Sensing AFE
I didn’t immediately think of inductive sensing as a practical technology, and that is a mistake on my part. There is no reason why that third passive quantity should not be up there with both resistive and capacitive sensing. Microchip proves that to be truly the case.
The technology of inductive touch sensing allows for detection of changes through a variety of materials that would not be possible with other systems: through metals, plastics, thick fabrics (think work gloves); and, the rate of change of an inductive touch also means that there will be an identifiable difference between a casual contact and a hard pressure one.
The series combination of coils are driven by an external multiplexer/demultiplexer and the derived ac signals are ac coupled from a similar mux/demux. Suggested by Microchip for a 4-key system is the venerable dual 4-channel CD4052BC from the original Fairchild – a 1983 part with a street price of less than 20 cents in volume.
Microchip has an extremely successful product on its hands.
Best Wireless Basestation Reference Design
National SP16160CH1RB Reference Design for Wireless Basestations
The world of RF/IF design using high-speed ADCs is not getting any simpler. With fewer and fewer design engineers with enough high-end analog design experience, the tasks just get more complex and more difficult. National is offering this reference board as a morale booster for those facing this task. The completely assembled and tested board comes with the WaveVision 5.1 data capture board and WaveVision 5 software.
Best Overvoltage Protection Part
ON Semi NCP370 Integrated Bi-directional OVP
There are two modes of operation for this overvoltage protection part. The first, called the direct mode by ON, will be the more common when the input is being powered from an ac-dc wall adapter; the second is reverse mode in ON parlance – a truly novel one for when an external appliance is allowed to be powered by the system’s battery.
The part will sell in extremely high volume, across the complete battery-powered product spectrum, and ON should have a nine month window in which to make a real killing.
Best RF Step Attenuator
Peregrine PE43501/43601 UltraCMOS Digital Step Attenuators
Peregrine’s digital step attenuators (DSAs) just keep getting better. The company’s UltraCMOS process (an SoI process on a sapphire substrate) gives GaAs-like performance at CMOS costs, and has proven to be extremely viable in the RF world. No blocking capacitors are required in the signal path and there are three different programming options: direct parallel, latched parallel, and serial addressable with up to eight addresses.
These are remarkable components with an incredible linearity and accuracy. They will be deployed in all sorts of basestation and femtostation applications, in huge volumes.
Best 10 A Dc-Dc Controller, With Factory Programming
Summit SMB211 10A Synchronous Dc-Dc Controller
The SMB211 is a single output power manager with an integrated switching buck dc-dc controller and digital control. The switching frequency can be set to one of four frequencies from 250 kHz to 1 MHz in 250 kHz steps, allowing the designer the ability to balance his application from a noise/component size compromise, together with efficiency. The part can operate in PWM mode for larger loads, also giving the lowest noise performance, or in a switched PWM/PFM mode for lighter load efficiency.
It’s nice to see Summit go back more to its roots and core skills – with some twists, of course. Flexibility is there in abundance and the HEX factory programming that allows users to get what they need directly from the delivered product has always been Summit’s key investment in IP. The SMB211 will sell extremely well into a lot of communications and printer/server types of application. Not many will necessarily use the full 10 A drive capability, but going to a single supply, instead of the rather specialist (single customer sometimes?) multi-channel outputs (with and without battery charger) products that have been the norm over the last few years, is refreshing – and will be profitable.
Smallest 16-bit ADCs
TI ADS1115 16-bit ADC
In the ADS1115 you have all that is in the ADS1114 with a multiplexer added in front. This adds a second differential input (the ADS1115 could be connected for four single-ended inputs, but the basic converter can only be operated with one single-ended input – if you don’t want, or can’t, go differential).
This family should be extremely easy to design in with superb space savings over near comparable device offerings at the 16-bit level. The small price premiums being asked will not be a deterrent to designers who want to use the flexibility of same-package integration. The comparator addition for monitoring is a nice touch and will be employed in many systems, while the PGA addition greatly simplifies external circuitry consumption and will allow sampling up to 3.3 ksample/s. This family will be huge sellers into temperature sensors, pressure and weight monitoring systems, and portable instruments and loggers, as well as into consumer products.
Best Dual-Channel Audio Op Amp
TI OPA1612 Dual-Channel, Bipolar-Input Audio Op Amp
When you read an audio amplifier data sheet distortion number with four zeros after the decimal point, you know you are looking at a very special product. The parts are dual rail: typical for professional audio to avoid crossover.
The OPA1612 is not a replacement part in designs where a load current of more than 200 mA is needed (the maximum here is about 40 mA), but the design technology and performance are clearly a long way towards getting such a replacement… The OPA1611 and OPA1612 will get into professional, broadcast, T&M, and other high-end applications: they will probably end up in the next audio analyzers that TI themselves purchase.
True Class-G Headphone Amplifier
TI TPA6140A2 Class-G Headphone Amplifiers
The Class-G audio amplifiers I have seen up to now have not truly been the kind of devices that I would have expected. With only two rails available, those devices are more like power-switched Class-AB parts.
TI has gone for the full Class-G McCoy with variable rails. With an on-board switch-regulator the supply voltages (with the negative rail provided by a charge pump) varies with the audio input levels. With a supply voltage rate change faster than audio frequencies the audio never hits a clipping or distortion level.
This is another winner from TI. Getting a Class-G amplifier with a variable supply rail, instead of just switching between supplies, is a breakthrough for the company and the technology.
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