EACH QUARTER WE TRY to make your job just a little easier by providing you access to the opinions of fellow engineers - your peers -- the people who matter most when you're trying to make a product selection decision. You've told us that you weigh a number of factors when you select active or passive components (or test equipment) for use in your designs. But, you've always said that, most of all, you value what other engineers think about those products.

ULTIMATE PRODUCTS is the conduit to the opinions of your peers. Here's how it works: Our expert editors select up to 10 of the most significant products introduced during the quarter - in each of seven categories -- and then, using an electronic balloting mechanism, we submit these products with the accompanying editorial reviews to selected, qualified readers of EE Times and eeProductCenter. Readers rate these products on "technical significance" and "likelihood of use."

Welcome to the third issue of ULTIMATE PRODUCTS that reports on the editorial selections and reader rankings the most significant products introduced in the third quarter of 2004. Once again, more than 1000 of you helped us rank these products. As always we remain grateful that you took the time to participate and share your expertise - and your incisive comments -- with your peers. Separate research shows that ULTIMATE PRODUCTS is rated as "valuable or very valuable to your job" by the vast majority of EE Times and eeProductCenter's readers. We urge you to continue to participate in even larger numbers for subsequent issues. Please let me know how we can improve this service.

Marty Gold
Executive Editor, eeProductCenter

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Analog ICs

Processors & Memory

IP&E

Logic & Programmable Logic

Power

RF & Microwave

Test & Measurement

THE RANKINGS

Readers ranked products for technical significance and usability on a scale of 1 through 5 (with 5 as the highest score). However, the product rankings reported in this issue are relative to other products within the category-not absolute scores. The product ranked 1 in each category was judged as most technically significant for that category. Relative usability rankings and selected reader comments are also reported.