10 hot products in 2019

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

As we head into the new year, Electronic Products looks back at the top 10 products of 2019. It’s not surprising that the majority of products are focused on power and power management. Innovations in sensor technologies were also of keen interest to designers. The top 10 products are based on the highest page views in 2019.

Two development kits also made the list, indicating a need for more design help in the areas of emerging technologies — 3D imaging — and hot market segments like drones and electric vehicles. These evaluation kits often give engineers the ability to test-drive new components and technologies for both new designs and existing products.

Two new test and measurement products also made the list this year. A PC-based scope that delivers high-speed performance at half the cost made the top five.

Here are the top 10 most popular products of 2019.

1. Ultra-low quiescent current delivers longer battery life
TI’s TPS7A02 ultra-low-power LDO linear voltage regulator claims the industry’s lowest quiescent current of sub-25 nA and doubles the battery life for applications using standard battery chemistries.

2. Hybrid protection devices combine a GDT and MOV in a single package
Bourns’s integrated FLAT gas discharge tube (GDT) technology with a metal oxide varistor (MOV) solves the limitations of using MOVs alone.

3. Buck switchers deliver low standby current for always-on devices
Buck switchers with low standby current and high efficiency target low-power applications and are particularly suited for small appliances and IoT endpoints.

4. PC-based oscilloscope delivers high-speed performance at half the cost
Real-time oscilloscope gives you the choice of real-time or equivalent-time sampling.

5. Sub-PMICs are the future of power management
The latest sub-PMIC family sports a 4-MHz switching frequency that enables the use of smaller external components, supports a single output up to 6/10 A or dual outputs up to 3/5 A per output, and runs from a single-cell Li-ion battery or 3.3-V or 5-V power supplies.

6. Dev kits jumpstart digital-power and motor-control designs
STMicroelectronics offers digital-power and motor-control discovery kits for its STM32G4 microcontrollers, targeting applications such as race drones, prosumer drones, and small electric vehicles.

7. Vayyar unveils mmWave 3D imaging SoC evaluation kit
Gives engineers the ability to test-drive and scale Vayyar’s 3D imaging technology for new or existing products.

8. STMicro launches 8-pin STM32 microcontrollers
The 8-pin STM32GO microcontrollers from STMicroelectronics leverage the performance and power efficiency of the 32-bit STM32 family in a small package for simple embedded designs.

9. Sub-terahertz array sensor can ‘see’ in extreme weather conditions
MIT researchers developed a prototype of an on-chip sub-terahertz array sensor that can be used in autonomous vehicles and drones, helping them to see in extreme weather conditions such as fog and dust clouds.

10. Scope accessory adds two-port shunt-through impedance measurement
The Picotest two-way wideband active splitter adds the power integrity verification measurement to oscilloscopes, traditionally only available on VNAs or FRAs.