eeProductCenter Ultimate Products 5.2

Analog Boards / Buses DSP Electromechanical Embedded Tools Interconnects Microprocessors Memory Logic and Interfaces Passives / Sensors PLDs / FPGAs Power Components Power Sources RF / Microwave Test / Measurement

Product Shopper New Product Info

(1)
CATALYST SEMICONDUCTOR
LED drivers provide 32 dimming levels
eeProductCenter's Gina Roos says: "Catalyst Semiconductor, Inc. has expanded its line of Quad-Mode fractional charge pump LED drivers with two high-resolution brightness devices that feature 32 dimming levels to provide enhanced LCD backlight control in emerging portable product applications. The new CAT3647 and CAT3648 address the need for high-resolution LCD control and longer battery life in cell phones, digital cameras and other handheld devices, where designers need to balance higher performance features with longer battery life."

Readers say:
"92 percent is great efficiency, however 10 percent improvement at 30mA is not "green" enough."

"Semtech's parts are smaller and have higher efficiency with 3 modes."

"Can this device be used in conjunction with reflected light from a finger tip for data input?"

USABILITY RANK: 1

(2)
INTERSIL
Automotive chip drives up to eight high-brightness LEDs
eeProductCenter's Ismini Scouras says: "Designed specifically to withstand harsh automotive environments, Intersil Corp.'s ISL78100 is a high power integrated LED driver well suited for display backlighting and body electronics applications."

Readers say:
"High flexibility will win in lower power markets."

USABILITY RANK: 2

(3)
ADVANCED ANALOGIC TECHNOLOGIES
LED driver delivers high-intensity lighting for camera phones
eeProductCenter's Gina Roos says: "Advanced Analogic Technologies Inc. (AnalogicTech) has claimed the industry's first 2-A flash LED driver IC capable of delivering high-intensity light from white LEDs (WLEDs), targeted at camera phones. Combining a high-frequency boost converter with fixed input current limiting, dual-output regulated current sinks and I2C control, the AAT1282 uses a supercapacitor to deliver the high peak current needed to support the high-intensity flash required for mobile phones featuring cameras with resolutions of 5 megapixel and higher while protecting the battery."

Readers say: " "Higher currents, even in a flash, run the battery down faster."

USABILITY RANK: 5

(4)
FREESCALE
Buck regulators improve power efficiency in portable devices
eeProductCenter's Gina Roos says: "Freescale Semiconductor has added the MC34726/27 dc/dc buck regulators to its analog portfolio optimized for space-constrained battery-powered applications. Manufactured with Freescale's SMARTMOS technology, the MC34726/27 devices are designed to enhance efficiencies at light loads and to improve standby time in mobile applications where Li-ion or Li-polymer batteries are the main power source."

Readers say:
"Such a very small size for a lot of current."

"Looks good, better that a couple of the others we have already looked at."

"Need a lower Ta. New batteries are heading for lower Ta and device needs to keep up."

USABILITY RANK: 3

(5)
MURATA
Miniature dc/dc converter reduces power consumption
eeProductCenter's Gina Roos says: "Murata Electronics North America has launched its MPDTY201S miniature dc/dc converter. Designed with a small footprint (11.4 x 8.9 x 5.6 mm) in a surface-mount package to reduce board space, the dc/dc converter offers high efficiency across the industrial operating temperature range in order to minimize power consumption."

Readers say:
"5A at 2.5V, impressive. No mention of efficiency (92 percent?)."

"Limited on output voltage. It would be more helpful if it went up to 3.6 V."

USABILITY RANK: 6

(6)
TI
TI boost controller drives industrial lighting innovation
eeProductCenter's Ismini Scouras says: "Texas Instruments Inc. has developed a 4.5-V to 52-V wide-input voltage, non-synchronous boost controller that is intended for applications where the output is a regulated current instead of a regulated voltage. The TPS40211, demonstrated at the Light+Building Frankfurt show (April 6 " 11, 2008) at the 'LED Light for you (LLFY)--powered by OSRAM', allows designers to efficiently manage LED lighting, industrial control and battery-powered systems."

Readers say:
"DC-DC current control is critical for power conservation in a DC system."

USABILITY RANK: 7

(7)
LINEAR TECH
500mA DC/DC regulator housed in tiny package
eeProductCenter's Ismini Scouras says: "Linear Technology Corp. has introduced the LTM8021, a complete DC/DC �Module regulator point-of-load (POL) system with on-board inductor and power components in a package that resembles a surface-mount IC."

Readers say:
"Small for 36V input, however Freescale beat the size with higher power output."

"Pretty expensive in low quantities. Looks like it could be useful controlling power to peripheral devices or functions."

USABILITY RANK: 4

(8)
LEADIS
Touch controllers integrate haptics driver for mobile phone apps
eeProductCenter's Gina Roos says: "Leadis Technology, Inc. has announced sample availability of the LDS6010 and LDS6040 touch controllers with integrated haptics driver for mobile phones. These two products are additions to the company's family of PureTouch low-power controllers designed for capacitive touch applications."

Readers say:
"Nice."

USABILITY RANK: 10

(9)
MAXIM
Negative-charge-pump WLED driver saves 50% PCB area
eeProductCenter's Ismini Scouras says: "Maxim Integrated Products has introduced the MAX8822, a white-LED (WLED) driver that combines a highly efficient negative charge pump with two independent, low-dropout (LDO) regulators. Available in a 3mm x 3mm x 0.8mm TQFN package, the MAX8822 for driving up to four WLEDs is 50 percent smaller than the standard two-chip solution. "

Readers say:
"Smaller and better"

USABILITY RANK: 8

(10)
MICROPOWER DIRECT
1-W dc/dc converters housed in ultra-miniature package
eeProductCenter's Gina Roos says: "MicroPower Direct has introduced the DM100E series of miniature 1-W dc/dc converters housed in 6-pin SIP packages, occupying a 0.15-sq. inch footprint ( 0.65 x 0.23) with a 0.3-inch profile. Available in single and dual outputs, the DM100E series offers twelve models that operate from 5 Vdc and 12 Vdc inputs, providing outputs of 5, 12, 15, �5, �12, or �15 Vdc. Standard features include an input/output isolation of 1,000 Vdc, an internal filter, efficiency as high as 81% and low noise operation. The MTBF (per MIL HDBK 217F) is greater than 3.5 Mhours."

Readers say:
"It's big and only 1W."

"No low voltage outputs like 3.3 or lower."

"Opens up some applications for DC-DC that were tough due to space constraints. High efficiency needed to deal with heat issues."

USABILITY RANK: 9

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 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. As always, we are grateful for your enthusiastic participation.

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