2015 Best of Power Goes to Li-Cell Backup-Power-Management System

摘要

Over the course of 10 months, from January 1 to the end of October (the timeframe we had for choosing the best power innovation), 16 new power ICs were announced by the five largest semiconductor companies: Analog Devices, Fairchild, International Rectifier (now part of Infineon), Linear Technology, and Texas Instruments. Choosing one product as "Best" was a hard call. Any time chip designers squeeze previously unheard-of performance characteristics out of traditional product types, that breakthrough represents significant effort and further advances process-technology and packaging knowledge. However, I opted instead to look for something new in applications: an innovation that Electronic Design readers would consider as a door-opener to other user-product opportunities.