Once again, qualified readers of EE Times and eeProductCenter have selected the best of the best top 10 products in each of seven categories in our quarterly Ultimate Products survey. The categories are analog ICs; RF and microwave; logic/programmable logic and interface; test and measurement; processors and memory; power; and interconnection, passives and electromechanical components.

The results of our most recent Ultimate Products report covers the best products introduced during the third quarter. Diverse products made the cut. Among them is a Texas Instruments Inc. family of controllers for point-of-load converters. The parts offer such features as advanced tracing with margining functions, accurate overcurrent protection and startup into prebiased loads. Samsung Electronics' 16-Gbit NAND flash device, meanwhile, enables mobile- and portable-application designers to use memory cards with densities up to 32 Gbytes by combining up to 16 such devices on a single card.

Billed as the first "true" power surface-mount resistor device, Stackpole Electronics' surface-mount power resistor is capable of handling up to 12 watts at 85°C Available in 5-, 10- and 12-watt ratings, the HPC series offers a resistance value range from 0.1 ohm to 100 kohms. And Agilent's 6000 series 100-MHz oscilloscopes provide 3-D viewing using a high-definition XGA color LCD. The units provide a 768 x 1,024 screen area, for a 640-vertical-point x 1,000-horizontal-point waveform view.

Here's how Ultimate Products works: Our editors select up to 10 of the most significant products posted at www.eeProductCenter.com during the calendar quarter. Then, using an electronic balloting process, we submit the products with the accompanying editorial reviews to selected, qualified readers. Those readers score the products by technical significance and usability on a scale of 1 through 5, with 5 being the highest score. The product ranked No. 1 in each category was judged as most technically significant for that category. Relative usability rankings and selected reader comments are also reported. More than 1,000 of you helped to choose these products, and as always, we are grateful for your enthusiastic participation.

Marty Gold
Executive Editor, eeProductCenter
mgold@cmp.com

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.