30 years of recognizing the industry's best products
Every year for 30 years now the editors of Electronic Products have given special recognition to selected products introduced during the previous year. Looking back over the history of the Product of the Year awards offers an interesting overview of several decades of product technology development.
The 1977 issue – the very first in which the awards were presented – is a case in point. “Microcomputers” and terminals were all the rage, with the micoNOVA from Data General, the SBC 80/10 from Intel, and the PDP-8/A from Digital Eqipment winning awards. Also winning were some logic analyzers – noted as the “glamour instrument of recent months” – from Biomation and Hewlett Packard.
Microprocessors and “memories” were big, including the Z-80 from Zilog, the M10800 4-bit slice processor from Motorola, and the 1802 8-bit CMOS microprocessor from RCA. Memory products included the MK 4027 4k RAM from Mostek and 2115/2125 1k MOS RAM devices from Intel.
Linear ICs honored with an award included the Ad582/583 sample-and-holds from Analog Devices, the 3.5-MHz HA-4741 quad op amp from Harris Semiconductor, and the SG1524 16-pin switching regulator from Silicon General. And in the area of power sources, awards were given to the 25-Ah Model 660 Lithium battery from Power Conversion, the Model 700 dc/dc converter from Burr-Brown, and power supplies from Lambda Electronics, Intronics, and RO Associates.
Here are some other highlights from past years:
1978
• Programmable array logic (PAL) devices – Monolithic Memories
1980
• The MC68000 microprocessor – Motorola
• The Model 7104 1-GHz analog scope – Tektronix
1982
• AD7546 CMOS 16-bit DAC – Analog Devices
1983
• Virtual memory CPUs – Intel (286), Motorola (68010), National Semiconductor (16032), and Zilog (Z8003/4)
1984
• The TMS320 DSPs – Texas Instruments
• XT-1140 143-Mbyte hard-disk drive – Maxtor
• The industry' first IGBTs – General Electric (IGT) and RCA (COMFET)
1985
• P-CAD design and layout software for the IBM PC – Personal CAD Systems
• 32-bit microprocessors – Motorola (68020) and National Semiconductor (32032)
1986
• XC 2064 reconfigurable logic array – Xilinx
1987
• LT1088 rms/dc converter – Linear Technology
1988
• XT-8760E 5-1/4-in. 765-Mbyte disk drive – Maxtor
• Data acquisition ICs – Linear Technology (LTC1090) and Micro Linear (ML2200)
1990
• The i860 64-bit RISC microprocessor – Intel
• The HDL Compiler synthesis tool – Synopsys
• The FC110 fuzzy logic chip – Togai InfraLogic
1991
• The TM26D02VC2AA 10-in. color TFT LCD – Hitachi
1992
• The Model 97 ScopeMeter digital scope/DMM – John Fluke Mfg. and Philips Test & Measurement
• The ADXL-50 MEMS accelerometer – Analog Devices
• First SMT LED – Hewlett-Packard and Siemens
• R4000 microprocessor – Mips Computer Systems
1994
• RF2103 HBT-based RF power amplifier – RF Micro Devices
• First rechargeable alkaline battery – Rayovac
1995
• TDS700A TruCapture DSOs – Tektronix
1996
• AD1483 multichannel codec – Analog Devices
• SA01 hybrid PWM amplifier – Apex Microtechnology
1997
• LM2825 complete 1-A dc/dc converter in a 24-pin DIP – National Semiconductor
• The DZ Series high-density capacitors – ELNA America
1998
• VV6405 complete NTSC color camera IC – VLSI Vision
• LogiDart advanced logic probe – Hewlett Packard
• Cyber Display 0.25-in. active-matrix LCD – Kopin
1999
• OpenTouch fingerprint recognition chip – Veridicom
• STB5600/ST20GP6 GPS receiver chipset – STMicroelectronics
• PowerCache ultracapacitor – Maxwell Energy Products
2000
• Othello GSM direct-conversion radio chipset – Analog Devices
• AT94Kxx field-programmable system-level ICs – Atmel
• CS5460 power meter IC – Cirrus Logic
• Q Series ultraminiature high-voltage dc/dc converter – Emco High Voltage
• The Fast-Cycle RAM (FCRAM) – Fujitsu Microelectronics
2001
• 1-GHz Athlon microprocessor – AMD
• Field instantly programmable oscillators (FIPOs) – Cardinal Components
• Webench on-line simulation tool – National Semiconductor
• Crusoe microprocessors – Transmeta
2002
• 10-Gbit/s connectors – Teradyne (GbX) and Winchester Electronics (Connector-X)
• DiskOnKey USB flash storage devices – M-Systems
• Virtex-II platform FPGAs – Xilinx
• Full-color OLED microdisplay – eMagin
• AES3500 fingerprint sensor – Authentec
2003
• Nitron HC08 8-bit flash microcontrollers – Motorola
• iMEMS ADXRS MEMS gyroscope IC – Analog Devices
• Megabright Series UV-emitting LEDs – Cree
• Niobium capacitors – EPCOS and Vishay
• IRF660x DirectFET power MOSFETs – International Rectifier
• TSL2550 ambient light sensor – Texas Advanced Optoelectronics Solutions
2004
• Optical fuse – Molex
• MC33794 electric-field imaging chip – Motorola SEmiconductor
• maXyz chip-scale power converters – Power One
• GRM Hi-Cap chip ceramic capacitors – Murata Electronics
• TimeMachine debugger – Green Hills Software
• WirelessUSB radio-system-on-a-chip – Cypress Semiconductor
Advertisement
