Below are the finalists for the Analog ICs category of the 2012 ACE Awards Ultimate Products. After reviewing the finalists, cast your vote here. The voting deadline is February 24.

3LG family of CrystalFree CMOS oscillators, Integrated Device Technology

IDT's 3LG family of CrystalFree CMOS oscillators features a breakthrough 50-ppm frequency accuracy and ultra-low-power consumption. The new devices replace traditional quartz crystal-based oscillators for up to 75% power savings in any of a broad range of applications requiring a 50-ppm timing reference, including computing, communications, and consumer markets. The devices support Low-Voltage-Differential-Signaling (LVDS), Low-Voltage Positive Emitter-Coupled Logic (LVPECL), and Host-Clock Signal Level (HCSL) standards for compatibility in a variety of applications. They generate stable frequencies up to 125 MHz and offer high-performance phase jitter of less than 1 picosecond over the wide frequency offset of 12 kHz to 20 MHz. In addition, semiconductor-grade shock and vibration resistance provides reliability over the lifetime of the device, while the ultra-small, low-profile packages conserve valuable board area in compact designs.

MTD6505 sinusoidal, sensorless, 3-phase BLDC fan motor driver, Microchip Technology Inc

Microchip’s MTD6505 sinusoidal, sensorless, 3-phase BLDC Fan Motor Driver is a standalone, resistor-programmable driver that enables the selection of multiple back-EMF coefficient ranges. This unique feature allows engineers to design for a variety of 3-phase BLDC fan characteristics with a single device, thus saving time and money by standardizing multiple product lines on one driver and very few external components. Additionally, the low-cost driver comes in a 3x3 mm UDFN package with a 0.5-mm thickness for space-constrained applications, such as thin laptops and tiny BLDC fans. To enable high energy efficiency and quiet operation with low acoustic noise and mechanical vibration, the MTD6505 includes a 180-degree sinusoidal drive. Being a sensorless driver means that the MTD6505 eliminates the need for an external Hall-Effect sensor, reducing both cost and board space. Additionally, the driver provides a number of on-chip protection features to preserve the motor’s life and avoid harmful operating conditions, including thermal shutdown, over-current limiting, and lock-up protection. Product URL: www.microchip.com/get/2B02.

DAC1628D1G25 16-bit DAC, NXP Semiconductors

The DAC1628D1G25 from NXP is a dual-channel, 16-bit, 1.25-Gsps, 85-dBc typical SFDR digital-to-analog converter with four JESD204B-compliant lanes, each running at up to 6.25 Gbps. Other key features include: dynamic performance meeting the Multi-Carrier GSM spectral mask with comfortable design margin; JESD204B Device Subclass 0 and 1 compliant with full harmonic clocking and deterministic latency support, as well as JESD204B receiver equalization options to maximize interconnect robustness; NXP’s CGVxpress feature set, including MDS and assured FPGA interoperability; maximum input data rate of 625 Msps (only one JESD204B data lane required below 160 Msps); typical NSD of -164 dBm/Hz; on-chip digital IQ modulator controlled with a numerically controlled oscillator featuring a 40-bit programmable base frequency and a 16-bit programmable phase adjustment; ease-of-use features, including RF enable/disable, RF automatic mute, sleep and power-down modes, on-chip bypassable PLL, SPI interface for control and status monitoring, dual 10-bit auxiliary DACs, on-chip voltage reference, and optional inverse sinc filtering; operation from 1.8V and 3.3V power-supply rails; qualified for operation over the -40°C to +85°C industrial range; and available in an 8-mm x 8-mm HVQFN56 package.

SiT912x differential oscillators, SiTime Corp

The SiT912x differential oscillators offer 10-ppm stability and only 500 femtoseconds of integrated RMS phase jitter (12 kHz to 20 MHz). The SiT912x family was developed with SiTime’s analog CMOS and all-silicon MEMS resonator technology. The oscillators are aimed at high-performance telecom, storage, and networking applications, such as core and edge routers, SATA/SAS/Fibre Channel host bus adapters, cloud storage, servers, wireless base stations, and 10-Gb Ethernet switches. These devices can be programmed and configured to customers’ specifications and shipped with fast lead times. The SiT912x MEMS differential oscillators offer a wide frequency range (1 to 220 MHz for SiT9121 and 220 to 650 MHz for SiT9122); programmable frequency with 6 decimal places of accuracy, ensuring high system performance; configurable LVPECL and LVDS signaling levels; 50,000g shock and 70g vibration resistance, along with 500 million hours MTBF for high-reliability applications; operating voltage of 2.5V or 3.3V; temperature ranges of -40 to +85°C (industrial (-40 to +85°C) and -20 to +70°C (extended commercial); industry-standard footprints in 5.0x3.2-mm and 7.0x5.0-mm packages; sample shipments in 48 hours; and production lead time of 3 to 5 weeks.

TGS2351-SM GaN high-power RF switch, TriQuint Semiconductor Inc

The TGS2351-SM GaN MMIC SPDT switch can handle up to 40W (continuous wave power) at a maximum CW input power of 47 dBm. It is designed for 40V (typical) circuit applications, operates from DC to 6 GHz, switches in 31 nsec or less (31 nsec on/18 nsec off), and has insertion loss of less than 1 dB and isolation greater than 40 dB. The surface-mount package of the TGS2351-SM makes it easy to handle, store, and assemble. Using a proprietary approach within an industry-standard 4x4-mm, 24-lead, air-cavity ceramic package, the TGS2351-SM offers more reliable heat dissipation and better performance compared with alternatives using plastic packaging. Compared with a FET switch fabricated in a typical 0.25-micron GaAs process, the GaN high-power RF switch can handle 2.5 times the on-state power and eight times the off-state power and is highly stable with little or no performance degradation over temperature. TGS2351-SM is part of a family of MMIC RF/microwave SPDT switches that includes these die-level devices: TGS-2351 (DC to 6 GHz), TGS2352 (DC to 12 GHz, 20 W CW), and TGS2353 (DC to 18GHz, 10 W CW).

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Click here to view all the 2012 ACE Awards Ultimate Products finalists.