Awards and Recognition

May 3, 2011 -- National Semiconductor announced that its WEBENCH® FPGA Power Architect was awarded an EDN Innovation Award in the Software Category at a ceremony on May 2 in San Jose, Calif. WEBENCH FPGA Power Architect is the industry's first online design tool to model and optimize power supplies for FPGAs in minutes. Read full article.

March 1, 2011- Military Embedded Systems recognized National's 16-bit digital-to-analog converter, the DAC161S055 with an Editor's Choice award noting its interesting features like its SPI. This precision DAC is available over a wide -40 °C to +105 °C temperature range, so it's ideal for high-rel applications. More importantly, the four-wire double-buffer SPI interface operates at 20 MHz and can be daisy-chained so multiple DACs in series can be connected via a single SPI I/F. Military Embedded Systems praised the DAC161S055 for the device's flexibility that might save the designer some board space. Read full article.

March 4, 2011 - EN-Genius Network honored National's LMH6629 Low-Noise High-Speed Op Amp with a 2010 Product of the Year award. The PowerWise® LMH6629 provides designers a unique mix of wide bandwidth, high gain and precision amplification for systems where minimal noise addition is a key performance requirement. These include 16-bit systems for communications, test and measurement, medical imaging, industrial and light detecting and ranging (LIDAR) applications. Award winners are selected from among the products reviewed by the EN-Genius editorial team in the course of the year, on the basis of their technical merit and likelihood of market success. Read full article.

February 17, 2011 - WEBENCH® FPGA Power Architect is a finalist in the Software category in EDN Magazine's annual Innovation Awards competition. WEBENCH FPGA Power Architect is the industry's first design tool to model and optimize power supplies for FPGAs in minutes. The EDN Innovation Awards program honors the most innovative technological advancements and the designers who invent them.

January 2011 - Application of Electronic Technology (AET) Magazine honored National's 4-channel high voltage current regulator LM3464 with the Excellent Product Award 2010. The award was generated by the vote of thousands of Electronic Technology (AET) readers. LM3464 was praised for its excellent performance, which maximizes system efficiency and reduces system complexity and cost in LED-intensive applications. It also earned high marks for Dynamic Headroom Control (DHC), a feature that can be linked with the external power supply to adjust the LED supply voltage to ultra low levels, yielding optimal overall efficiency.

January 2011 - Electronic Products Magazine honored National's 12-bit 3.6 Gbps ADC12D1800 ADC with the prestigious 2010 Product of the Year Award. Each year, the Electronic Products editorial board selects a few outstanding new products from the thousands introduced. These products represent significant advances in technology, an innovation in design or substantial gain in price performance. The ADC12D1800 stood out among its peers for enabling enabling new applications for wideband software-defined radios. Press Release

December 15, 2010 – EDN magazine chose National's ADC12D1800 3.6 GSPS 12-bit ADC, SIMPLE SWITCHER LMZ easy-to-use power module family, LM5035C PWM controller with integrated half-bridge & syncFET drivers, DS92LX2121/DS92LX2122 Channel Link III serializer/deserializer chipset with embedded bidirectional control channel, WEBENCH FPGA Power Architect tool, and WEBENCH LED Architect tool in its pick of top 100 products.

December 14, 2010 – Electronic Design chose the FPD-Link III DS90UH925Q serializer and DS90UH926Q deserializer chipset in the Automotive Infotainment category and WEBENCH LED Architect in the Power category for 2010's "Best Electronic Design" award. The FPD-Link III chipset supports in-car distribution of protected video and audio content -- such as Blu-ray movies up to 720p resolution -- to create a home theater experience in the vehicle. The first of its kind, WEBENCH LED Architect enables both novice and expert designers to perform real-time comparisons and optimize complex lighting systems for performance, size and cost in minutes. Electronic Design's editorial staff and contributing editors selected the award winners for the best technology, products and standards.

December 10, 2010 – National's 12-bit analogue-to-digital converter ADC12D1800 was named Analogue Semiconductor Product of the Year at the Elektra Awards ceremony on Thursday, 9th December, 2010. It was awarded for its high speed performance which enables a new generation of software-defined radio (SDR) architectures and applications. The Elektra Awards, founded by Electronics Weekly in 2003, recognise the achievements of individuals and companies in the electronics industry

November 18, 2010 – National's WEBENCH Power Architect is the industry's first design tool that allows engineers to rapidly create, model and implement multiple-output, high-performance DC-DC power supplies for an entire system. EDN China awarded WEBENCH Power Architect the "Best Product Award" for 2010. With WEBENCH Power Architect, system designers can instantly optimize multiple power supplies across several performance parameters including topology, intermediate voltage rails, footprint, efficiency, component count and bill of materials (BOM) cost.

November 18, 2010 – National's LM3464 is the industry's first LED driver with dynamic headroom control and multiple outputs for high-power applications that accurately and efficiently drives up to four strings of LEDs. EDN China has selected it for the "Leading Product Award" for 2010. The LM3464, a member of National's PowerWise energy-efficient product family, maximizes system efficiency and reduces system complexity and cost in LED-intensive applications such as industrial, street and automotive lighting.

September 7, 2010 – National Semiconductor's eight-channel ultrasound transmit/receive chipset, specifically designed for portable ultrasound systems used in hospitals, clinics, ambulances and remote point-of-care facilities, was selected as "Editor's Choice" by Embedded Computing Design magazine on October 2010. The PowerWise® chipset's innovative circuit architecture enables the design of both hand-carried and handheld units that deliver longer battery life and imaging performance comparable to larger console systems.

September 8, 2010 - National Semiconductor Corp. announced that the company's SolarMagic™ SM3320 smart panel chipset has received the Solar Industry Award for the "Energy Usage Enabling" category, which recognizes technologies and processes that enable better energy usage. The industry, through Solar (A PV Management Magazine), honored National's in-panel SolarMagic chipset for optimizing efficiency through a new category of solar systems: "smart panels".

April 30, 2010 - Two products from National Semiconductor were selected winners in the 2009 EDN Magazine Innovation Awards. The awards recognize unique, state-of-the-art electronics products in several categories.

• WEBENCH Visualizer - Real-Time Visual Comparison of Power Supply Solutions Across Multiple Criteria
• SolarMagic Power Optimizers – Allows Solar Array Owners to Recoup Over 50 Percent of Lost Power

April 29, 2010 - EE Times honored SolarMagic with an Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) Award, identifying SolarMagic as the most innovative technology in the Renewable Energy category.

• ADC16DV160 - Industry's First Dual 16-bit, 160-MSPS Pipeline A/D Converter
• LM3445 - Industry's First TRIAC Dimmable LED Driver with Both Full-range and Flicker-free Dimming
• WEBENCH Visualizer - Real-Time Visual Comparison of Power Supply Solutions Across Multiple Criteria
• SolarMagic Power Optimizers – Allows Solar Array Owners to Recoup Over 50 Percent of Lost Power

National's LM4562 amplifier and SCAN25100 interface ICs won awards at the first EETimes ACE Awards China.

The LMV951 was named product of the year in analogZone's 2006 list of winners. The LMV951 s a 1V, 2.7 MHz, Rail-to-Rail Input and Output Amplifier with Shutdown Option.

Introduced in September 2006, the LM4562's .00003 percent THD+N exceeds the performance achieved by the hand-built audiophile discrete methodologies used for the last 50 years. The LM4562 also has a wide, 55 MHz gain bandwidth, a 10 MHz power bandwidth, the highest power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) and common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) as well as a very low, 60 MHz 1/f noise corner frequency.

The high-performance audio op amp family includes various package options as well as the LME49710 single op amp and a quad op amp to be introduced in early spring 2007. Many other performance audio products are also in development. These devices are manufactured in Arlington, Texas, and assembled and tested in Melaka, Malaysia. Press Release

LM3370 is a dual step-down DC-DC converter optimized for powering ultra-low voltage circuits from a single Li-Ion battery and input rail ranging from 2.7V to 5.5V. It provides two outputs with 600mA load per channel. The output voltage range varies from 1V to 3.3V and can be dynamically controlled using the I²C compatible interface. This dynamic voltage scaling function allows processors to achieve maximum performance at the lowest power level. The I²C compatible interface can also be used to control auto PFM-PWM/PWM mode selection and other performance enhancing features. Press Release

National's dual, high-fidelity LM4562 audio op amp practically eliminates distortion, with total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) of 0.00003 percent. It sets a new level of performance with its remarkably low distortion, low noise, high speed, wide operating voltage and high output drive. These features, including 2.7 nV/rt Hz noise density and 56 MHz gain bandwidth product, make the op amp well-suited for professional and high-end audio applications such as audio/visual (AV) receivers, preamplifiers and mixers, as well as a range of 34V medical imaging and industrial applications.

The LM5071 is the industry's first single-chip controller specifically designed for PoE devices that operate from alternative power sources such as an AC adapter or the PoE-enabled network such as IP phones or security cameras. Simplifying the design of applications, the LM5071 solves the interface problem encountered by many PoE equipment designers through an integrated Powered Device (PD) front end. This integrated PD front end accepts power from the power sourcing equipment or auxiliary power to a single chip with a DC-DC controller that steps down the input voltage to power various PD loads. Press Release

Representatives from analogZONE, a popular online trade publication, were on site in Santa Clara to present members of the Data Conversion group with a Product of the Year award for the ADC08D1500. Earlier this year, analogZONE announced its list of top products from 2005 and recognized the ADC08D1500 for "best improvement in raw ADC speed."

In an expanded review of the ADC08D1500, the typically hard-to-impress analogZONE editor gushed about the ADC08D1500, saying "This is the kind of adventurous part that makes you want to love National all over again." In addition, he praised the company's pricing strategy, "it is always nice not to have to complain about National giving away parts by leaving money on the table."

"Receiving this Product of the Year Award from the editors at analogZONE is a huge accomplishment for the ADC08D1500 team and great public recognition of a truly industry-leading product," said Antonio Visconti, product line director of National's Data Conversion Division.

The ADC08D1500, announced last September, is a dual 8-bit converter that can sample one analog input at 3 giga-samples per second (GSPS) when operating in dual-edge sampling (DES) mode or two inputs at 1.5 GSPS. It was introduced along with the ADC08D500, a dual, 500 mega-samples per second (MSPS) 8-bit converter; and the ADC081500, a single version of the ADC08D1500. These ADCs join the ADC08D1000 and ADC081000, ultra-low-power gigahertz-speed ADCs introduced last year. For more information visit Ultra High-Speed, Giga-Sample (GSPS) A/D Converters, analogZONE

Company Launches Nine New Op Amps Manufactured on VIP50 BiCMOS Process

EDN Magazine selected National Semiconductor's precision operational amplifiers and VIP50 process from a field of hundreds as analog innovation of the year in its 16th Annual Innovation Awards. EDN announced the winners at a ceremony on April 3 in San Jose, Calif. Instituted in 1990, this awards program honors the outstanding electronic products that have shaped the semiconductor industry over the past year.

"Winning the Innovation of the Year award from EDN recognizes National's continued leadership and creativity in developing advanced analog technologies," said Erroll Dietz, vice president of National's Amplifier Group. Press Release

The first of its kind, National Semiconductor's PowerWise technology is an energy-saving technique for extending the battery life of feature-rich portable electronic devices, particularly mobile phones. PowerWise technology reduces the power consumed by high data-rate processors up to 70 percent and substantially increases battery life. Ultimately, consumers enjoy data-intensive features without additional charging periods.

PowerWise technology is a comprehensive, system-level solution for reducing processor power consumption in both data-intensive and stand-by modes of operation. During operation, the PowerWise technology ensures that the processor operates at power supply voltages best suited for the environmental conditions, semiconductor process variations or applications software workload. The LP5550 EMU manages specific voltages on the smaller silicon geometry processors so that stand-by power consumption is also reduced. Press Release

Introduced in August 2005, the LMH1251 is the industry's first high-definition component video (YPbPr) to RGB video converter IC that increases compatibility between different analog video standards. The converter eliminates the headaches associated with many discrete designs, which use complex external circuitry and additional chips, and digital devices, which can be expensive and offer poorer video quality. The LMH1251's conversion process is accomplished with analog technology via a color space conversion matrix. Conversion in the analog domain results in a cleaner, crisper decoded video image that is superior to those produced with current solutions. Press Release

The WEBENCH Active Filter Designer speeds the creation of sophisticated filters for data acquisition and signal conditioning applications. Designed by National employees from the ground up, the tool lets engineers design 200,000 advanced, highly customized filters for standard filter types up to ninth order in low-pass, high-pass and band-pass architectures. It provides a powerful component selection system to rapidly search among the company's portfolio of nearly 200 operational amplifier products, each with hundreds of different electrical parameters, and immediately configure the necessary bill of materials for every design. The Active Filter Designer and its simulators are available free of charge at http://webench.national.com. Press Release

In the analog category, EDN chose National's products based on its VIP50 process technology. National Semiconductor is the first company to develop a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) BiCMOS process optimized for precision amplifier products. This proprietary process dramatically improves the performance of the company's next-generation precision and low-power, low-voltage operational amplifiers. The first six operational amplifiers built on this new process feature significant improvements in accuracy, low power consumption and voltage noise for industrial, medical and automotive applications. These improvements, combined with the products' small size, also make them well-suited for portable applications.

The team of design engineers responsible for the VIP50 technology is a finalist in the Innovator of the Year category. Six full product development teams, test, product and application engineers, and marketing management from Santa Clara, Calif., Delft, The Netherlands, and Arlington, Texas, spent more than two years developing the VIP50 process and products. To enable excellent precision performance in a wide variety of small form factor packages, the team had to develop new test and packaging technologies. Press Release

The IEC selected the WEBENCH Active Filter Designer tool as one of three finalists in the system-level design tools category based on its innovation, market impact and benefits to customers. Using the tool, engineers can create a complete active filter design in minutes, greatly reducing the work hours needed to develop sophisticated filters for data acquisition and signal-conditioning applications. Designed by National employees from the ground up, the tool lets engineers design advanced, highly customized filters for standard filter types up to ninth order in low pass, high pass and band pass architectures. Press Release