A system-on-a-chip (SoC) integrates digital, analogue and mixed signals, as well as RF functions into a single unit. It consumes less power, which makes it ideal for smartphones.
Lower the power consumed by a chipset, higher is its efficiency. To ensure this, chipset technology has now reached 10nm scale, where key SoC manufacturers such as Qualcomm, Spreadtrum, Mediatek, Apple, Huawei and Intel are competing to outdo each other in chip performance and capture markets worldwide.
However, 10nm is not the final limit. “It is predicted that 10nm technology will be used till the end of year 2017. Year 2019 will experience a new 7nm technology, while around 2022 5nm technology would be in the market,” says Jag Bolaria, principal analyst for embedded and servers at Linley Group.
Features embedded in SoCs
An SoC is equivalent to the motherboard of a computer system that comprises a GPU, CPU and memory on a single chip. It is a successful integration of multiple domains such as device, design and application. As far as the device is concerned, several transistors are embedded into one single chip. This allows the chip to perform a wide range of functions through a single unit (chip).
As the increasing number of transistors on the chip push its applications to a broader range, chip design is becoming complicated and challenging. The challenge could be related to the device, design or execution.
SoCs comprise internal components such as microcontrollers/microprocessors, memory blocks, oscillators and phase-locked loops (PLLs) for timing, counter-timers/real-time timers, external interfaces such as USB, Ethernet and FireWire, analogue interfaces, voltage regulators and power management circuits.
Evolution in SoC technology
This story is from the October 2017 edition of Electronics For You.
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This story is from the October 2017 edition of Electronics For You.
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