What Is a System-on-Chip (SoC)?
You may hear about the “ system-on-chip “ (SoC) design with so much talk these days about Apple M1 chips and smartphones. But what are SoCs, and how are they different from processors and microprocessors? We’ll explain.
A brief definition of system-on-chip
A system-on-chip is an integrated circuit that combines many elements of a computer system into a single chip. An SoC always contains at least one processor.
Still, it can also handle memory, some controllers like USB system memory, peripheral controllers (for USB, storage), and more advanced peripherals such as GPUs, specialized neural network circuits, radio modems (for Bluetooth or Wi-Fi), and more.
The system-on-a-chip approach contrasts with a traditional computer with a CPU chip and separate controller, GPU, and RAM chips that can be swapped, upgraded, or interchanged as needed. Using SoCs makes computers smaller, faster, cheaper, and less power-hungry.
A brief history of electronics integration
Since the early 20th century, the evolution of electronics has followed a predictable path involving two significant trends: miniaturization and integration.
