As the sun sets on 2007, qualified readers of EE Times and eeProductCenter once again have selected the best of the best—the top products in each of seven categories in our quarterly Ultimate Products survey. As always, the categories are Analog, RF & Microwave, Logic/Programmable Logic and Interface, Test & Measurement, Processors and Memory, Power and Interconnection/Passives and Electromechanical. The results highlighted here are for products introduced during the third quarter of 2007. Read on to find out what products are rising to the fore of today's electronic designs.

In processors and memory, we have an interesting contrast between the latest dual-core ARM implementation from NEC and a quad-core device from Intel. While Intel wins for sheer power, the wide ranging applicability of the NEC ARM device wins out and it takes the prize for usability. In the field of Logic/Programmable Logic and Interface, Analog Devices wins with its ADV7520NK low-power HDMI v1.3 transmitter for devices capable of supporting high-definition audio and video content. As one reader says, "This is great for helping HDMI grow in the mobile application space."

In Test & Measurement, the WaveExpert 100H from the LeCroy Corp. is the hands-down winner. The device is the industry's first sampling 'scope capable of acquiring, measuring and processing signals that cannot be physically probed. Not lost for words, one reader said: "More than luxury, it's need driven. Next generation networking needs truly require this kind of innovation." For power, Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. wins with its A6281 LED driver with on-chip oscillator for programmable brightness control.

The murky, black-magic realm of Analog is never without its debates, and this installment's winner is no exception. While OKI Electric's ML86V7665 video-decoder LSI combines all major standards to the applause of many readers, others question the relevance of including a 'dying' standard like NTSC. Put bluntly by one reader: "This product is not very relevant as analog television is going away."

In RF & Microwave, GCT Semiconductor's GDM7003 RF chip for receiving media broadcast from both S-DMB and T-DMB won out, while in Interconnection/Passives and Electromechanical, the trend toward 'green' design helped OSRAM take gold with its OSTAR headlamp LED. "High efficiency LED lighting will become more important in an increasingly energy conscious world," said one reader. So there you have it. I hope you enjoy this latest round of Ultimate Product selections.

In case you were wondering, 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 10, with 10 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. As always, we are grateful for your enthusiastic participation.

Patrick Mannion
Editor-in-Chief, Techonline Network and eeProductcenter.com
pmannion@cmp.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Analog ICs

IP&E

Power

Logic & Programmable Logic

Processors & Memory

RF & Microwave

Test & Measurement

THE ARCHIVE