Below are the finalists for the Passive components, sensors, indicators, and interconnects category of the 2012 ACE Awards Ultimate Products. After reviewing the finalists, cast your vote here. The voting deadline is February 24.

ADL5811/ADL5812 wideband passive mixers, Analog Devices Inc

Wireless receiver designers typically have had to choose between an active mixer, which offers excellent wideband operation and moderate spurious-free dynamic range, or a passive mixer, which has greater SFDR performance but much narrower operating bandwidth. The ADL5811 and ADL5812 passive mixers eliminate the need for this trade-off by giving multiband communications engineers the linearity, distortion, and noise performance they need while also supporting true wideband frequency operation. ADI’s single- and dual-channel RF mixers incorporate a wideband local oscillator (LO) amplifier, programmable RF balun and IF filter, and IF amplifier to support wideband operation for wireless infrastructure and software-defined radio applications. The high performance across 700 MHz to 2800 MHz of the new passive mixers is the result of three technical advances: 1. A limiting LO amplifier was developed, capable of generating a high-voltage, fast-rise-time, square wave over a wide bandwidth with no DC current penalty compared with existing narrowband mixers. 2. The integration of a tuned, RF balun structure to ensure a well-balanced RF signal is applied to the FET mixer. 3. In addressing the potential for the passive mixer’s structure to generate a composite signal that could result in the early compression of the IF amplifier, ADI reduced the amplitude of the unwanted sideband into a load by designing a tuned filter network to provide the proper sum termination as a function of the RF and LO frequencies.

AR1010 high-speed image sensor, Aptina Imaging Corp

Aptina’s AR1010 is a high-speed, CX-format, 10-MP CMOS image sensor that is enabling a new class of consumer digital still camera. Traditional compact digital still cameras (DSCs) have the benefits of being reasonably priced and easy to use but are slow and use small-format sensors that provide a less than optimal imaging performance. The alternative has been for consumers to upgrade to DSLR cameras that are bulkier, more expensive, and not so easy to use, yet use larger-format sensors that allow the capture of quite high-quality images. The new MILC segment is taking the best from DSCs and DSLRs to provide a camera that is reasonable in size and price, yet uses a larger-format sensor for high-performance imaging. The AR1010 targets this MILC segment and does so with a unique high-speed sensor design to further advance the speed of image capture and eliminate the slow camera response. The AR1010 has enabled a leading camera manufacturer to introduce an innovative camera in the MILC segment and highlights the performance benefits and advanced features the sensor enables. Key benefits/features of this particular camera enabled by the AR1010 sensor are a large CX-format imaging array with high sensitivity (ISO100 to ISO6400); small and light interchangeable lens digital cameras; full HD video, 1080p; fast autofocus system; focal plane phase-detection AF + contrast-detect AF; 10fps continuous shooting, with AF tracking; and 60fps full resolution shooting.

PCA9525/PCA9605 no-offset I²C-bus buffers, NXP Semiconductors NV

The PCA9525 and PCA9605 from NXP enable system designers to isolate capacitance and interface with other bus buffers. The no-offset devices are interoperable even with static offset or incremental bus buffers, allowing easy design-in regardless of which other devices are on the bus. In addition, NXP has introduced the PCA9646 fully buffered 4-channel switch with no-offset ports. All devices work to 1 MHz, and the PCA9605 and PCA9646 support Fast-mode Plus (Fm+), which has 10x the normal I2C-bus drive, allowing longer I2C-buses or placement of more devices on the bus. These new Fm+ devices allow buses to be broken into segments or branches to isolate the bus capacitance into lower capacitive segments. Technical features: Fast switching times allow operation in excess of 1 MHz; a hardware enable input disables the device, allowing bus segments to be disconnected to save power and reuse the same slave addresses over multiple I2C-bus segments; the no-offset bus buffer inputs follow the I2C-bus specification for hysteresis, which improves bus noise immunity; operating voltages from 2.7 to 5.5V; very low supply current (for example, typical 170 microamps operating for the PCA9525); 4-mA pull-down outputs on the PCA9525 and strong 30-mA pull-down outputs on the PCA9605 and PCA9646; and a no-offset feature enables designers to mix and match the bus capacitance loading on each side of the device.

EPIC sensor technology, Plessey Semiconductors

Plessey’s EPIC sensor measures changes in an electric field in the same way that a magnetometer detects changes in a magnetic field. The technology works at normal room temperatures and functions as an ultra-high, input impedance sensor. The EPIC sensor is a highly stable, extremely sensitive, contactless digital voltmeter that can measure tiny changes in the electric field down to millivolts. The EPIC sensor will enable innovative new products to be made, such as medical scanners that are simply held close to a patient’s chest to obtain a detailed ECG reading. It detects the voltage change in muscles and nerves without electrical contact, so there is no need to have electrodes on or in the body to detect current changes. It could enable devices that control artificial limbs from a simple pad on the skin’s surface, as well as detect eye-muscle movements for new human-machine interfaces, all without the need to implant electrodes. The sensor’s ability to detect movement over distances ranging from a few centimeters to several meters enables applications in security systems and for proximity control of lighting and other electric appliances. EPIC sensors are already sampling for medical and for movement sensing applications.

TMP006 temperature sensor, Texas Instruments

The TMP006 temperature sensor integrates an on-chip MEMS thermopile sensor, signal conditioning, a 16-bit analog-to-digital-converter (ADC), and local temperature and voltage references on a single 1.6-mm x 1.6-mm chip, providing a complete digital solution for contactless temperature measurement that is 95% smaller than and a fraction of the cost of other solutions. The TMP006 opens the ability to perform contactless thermometry to completely new markets, such as consumer electronics, previously precluded due to the cost and size of traditional thermopile sensors. This dramatically expands the use of thermopiles well beyond industrial and automotive markets, where thermopiles are used today. Imagine using an app on your phone to test the temperature of a baby’s bottle before a feeding, or to measure the storage temperature of meat at the grocery store to ensure that it’s safe to eat. The TMP006 is enabling all of these apps and more, all without ever having to make contact to determine temperature.

Cast your vote here to honor excellence in engineering.

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