Unit-I

System on Chip (SOC)

Introduction
System tradeoffs and evolution of ASIC Technology
System on chip concepts and methodology
SoC design issues
SoC challenges and components.
 What is SoC and how it is
different from processor?
SoC is short for System on a Chip, an integrated circuit that combines all the
primary components of a computer into a single chip such as CPU, graphics
card, memory controller and other components all rolled into a single chip,
that’s essentially an SoC.
This way, handset manufactures can simply drop this chip in their device and
reap the benefits of the chipset straight away.

Whereas A processor is the logic circuitry that responds to and Processes the
basic instructions that drive a computer. The four primary functions of a
processor are fetch, decode, execute and write back
 Why SoCs: Potential chip-level savings?
A typical broadband application consists of following chips: DSP, CPU, Data
Converters, ASIC/FPGA (Peripherals and Custom Logic), Ethernet, and Memories.

Memory Ethernet Data

Memory Phy CPU DSP ASIC Converters
$9 - $10 $1.5 $5 $5 $15 - $2.5
$20

Die area
Number of SoC reduction
packages
$16 - $24
in
reduced from 5
integrated
 1.
solution

Typical chip-level Savings of 30% - 45% using SoC

3
 Why SoCs?
1998 Memory F Memory

Internet
Ethernet P
Switch CPU DSP
G Area: ~32 sq. in.
Power: ~6 Watts
SLIC SLAC Cost: ~$100
A

2003
Memory Area: ~8 sq. in. IMPROVEMENTS
Power: ~1.5 Watts
Internet Cost: <$25 Area: 4x
SOC
Power: 4x
SLIC
Cost: 4x

 Advanced technologies enabling more integration

on a chip Reduced Product Cost.
 Physical size of products shrinking Minimize
number of parts on a board.
 Consumer electronics requiring low cost products
 More integration.
 Minimize number of silicon vendors for a product 4
 SOC introduction
• System on Chip usually known as an SoC contains an entire system embedded in
it. The design of a system on chip usually includes a central processing unit,
memory, ports for input and outputs, secondary storage devices, and peripheral
interfaces such as I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, Timers, etc.
• Depending upon the requirement it can also consist of a digital or analog signal
processing system or a floating-point unit.(Advanced SoCs also include analog,
digital, mixed-signal, and radio frequency (RF) signal processing capabilities, as
well as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and near field communication (NFC) wireless
networking).
• In SOC, Complex functionalities that previously required heterogeneous
components to be connected on a PCB, are integrated within one single silicon
chip.
System-on-a-Chip
SoC stands for System On Chip. It is a small integrated chip that contains all
the required components and circuits of a particular system. The components
of SoC include CPU, GPU, Memory, I/O devices, etc. SoC is used in various
devices such as smartphones, Internet of Things appliances, tablets, and
embedded system applications as shown.
 SoC Vs motherboard
• In motherboard of a PC architecture, which allows the user to attach or
detach the replaceable component,
• Whereas SoC integrates all the components on the circuit, in other words,
it can be stated as all the components supported by the SoC are hardcoded
on the circuit on-chip. SoC will connect the CPU, hard disk connectivity,
random-access memory, read-only memory, USB connectivity, and all the
secondary storage devices with the circuit embedded on the chip whereas
the motherboard does this using expansion cards.
• As technology is becoming more and more advanced, the tightly coupled
circuits have many pros on extended hardware, like small in size, high
performance, and low power consumption. Also, they consume a lot of
lesser space than extensive hardware.
Features of SOC
• Typically SOC incorporates
• A programmable processor
• On chip memory
• Accelerated Functional Units (e.g. Digital Encryption
Standard block, MPEG2 decoder)
• Peripheral devices
• Often mixed technology designs integrating
• Analog, RF Components
• Micro-electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
• Optical input/output
What are System-on-a-Chip used for/USES:
• As a complete computer system on a single chip, a SoC can perform any number of complex, essential
tasks quickly, efficiently, and even automatically, yet it has very Small Size and low Weight and Power
(SWaP) requirements compared to a traditional computer. This makes SoC computers a popular choice
often use in:
• Aircraft avionics systems.
• Automobile communications, navigation, and entertainment panels
• Electronic gaming devices
• Internet of Things (IoT) / smart home devices, like security cameras, thermostats, humidity alarms and controls,
door locks, lighting systems, smoke detectors, kitchen appliances, and smart speaker home hub controls
• Laptop and tablet computers
• Machine learning-based cyber and data security technologies
• Smart cell phones and smart watches
• Smart TVs, routers, and modems
• Wearable patient health monitors
• Space vehicle controls, robotic devices, and systems
• Laptop and tablet computers
• Electronic Warfare (EW) systems, such as signal sensing, threat detection, processing and response systems,
multi-spectral transmitters, cameras, guidance systems, attack signal emitters, electronic countermeasures, night
vision and targeting systems, and more
• Defense electronics, including intelligent autonomous systems, high-bandwidth microwave transceivers, digital
helmet-mounted displays, high voltage solid state transmitters, and more,
 SOC
Applications
Typical applications of
SOC:

Consumer devices.
Networking and communication.
 Biomedical Devices.

 Other segments of electronics industry.

 Microprocessor, Media processor GPS controllers, Cellular/Smart

phones, ASICs, HDTV, Game Consoles, PC-on-a-chip
TYPES, ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SOC
Types of SoC
•SoC used in microprocessors. Built for microcontrollers.
•SoC designed for a special dedicated application and cannot be used for any other work.
•Programmable SoC, not all but few components of such SoC are programmable.
Advantages of SoC
•It is small in size and includes many features and functions.
•It consumes low power.
•SoC is flexible in terms of size, and power factor.
•It is built on a single chip.
•It is cost-effective.
•It is produced in a large quantity.
•Reduction in overall system design as compare to motherboard based designs.
•Compact and small size chips even the size of a fingertip.
•Better efficiency and performance.
•Less power consumption.
Disadvantages of SoC:
•Time-consuming designing process. Usually, a designing process of SoC takes six to twelve months.
•If any component of the SoC is not functioning properly then it cannot be replaced in that case an entire SoC has to be replaced.
•Visibility of SoC is limited.
 System on chip concepts and
methodology
SOC Design include embedded processor cores, and a
significant software component, which leads to additional
design challenges.
An SOC is a system on an IC that integrates software and
hardware Intellectual Property (IP) using more than one
design methodology.
The designed system on a chip is application specific
 Evolution: Boards to
SoC
Evolution:
•IP based design
•Platform-based design
Some Challenges
•HW/SW Co-design
•Integration of analog (RF) IPs
•Mixed Design
•Productivity
Emerging new technologies
•Greater complexity
•Increased performance
•Higher density
•Lower power dissipation
 What is System-on-
Chip
SoC: More of a System not a Chip
* In addition to IC, SoC consists of software and
interconnection structure for integration.
SoC may consists of all or some of the following:
•Processor/CPU cores
•On-chip interconnection (busses, network, etc.)
•Analog circuits
•Accelerators or application specific hardware modules
•ASICs Logics
•Software – OS, Application, etc.
•Firmware
System on a Chip:
On-Chip Components?
A processor or multiple processors
* Including DSPs, microprocessors, microcontrollers
Cores (IPs): On-chip memory, accelerators,
peripherals (i.e. USB, ETH, etc.), PLLs, power
management, etc.
 Architecture of SoC

The basic architecture of SoC is shown in the

above figure which includes a processor, DSP,
memory, network interface card, CPU,
multimedia encoder/decoder, DMA, etc.
Multi-processor SOC
(MPSoC)?
• Full application platform
• Multiple processors.
• CPUs, DSPs, etc.
• Hardwired blocks.
• Mixed-signal.
• Custom memory system.
• Lots of software.
Configurable SOC
• Consisting of
• Processor
• Memory
• On-chip reconfigurable hardware parts for
customization to application
• Reconfigurable Platforms
• Fine-grained and coarse-grained reconfigurability
• FPGA vs network of processors
• Towards application specific programmable
products
Application-specific
instruction processors
• An ASIP is a stored-memory CPU whose
architecture is tailored for a particular set of
applications.
• Programmability allows changes to
implementation, use in several different products,
high data-path utilization.
• Application-specific architecture provides smaller
silicon area, higher speed.