System-on-chip (SoC) is a system on VLSI chip that has all the required analog as well as digital circuits, processors and software.
At the heart of most SoC designs are an embedded proprietary RISC processor and a block of RAM memory (for the software that runs on the processor). This allows the designer to partition a design into those parts that will implemented as software executing on the embedded processor (under an appropriate embedded real-time operating system [RTOS]) and those parts that will be implemented in hardware as high-speed application specific logic circuits.
A SoC device can be configured to include both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ IP (Intellectual Property) cores, plus user-designed digital circuits.
SoC devices typically provide co-processor support for digital signal processing, typically using a proprietary ‘hard’ IP digital signal processor (DSP). Alternatively, specific algorithms may be implemented using either ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ IP digital signal processing circuits. In the same way, signal acquisition may be facilitated using mixed-signal (digital/analogue) components such as analogue-to-digital (A/D) or digital-to-analogue (D/A) convertors. Interfacing these kinds of components is made easier by the on-chip provision of advanced data highways or buses, standardized bus interfaces (for key components such as RISC/DSP processors and the memory), sophisticated clock generators and a clock management unit.
External interfacing is facilitated by the use of ‘hard’ IP cores that support a wide range of high-bandwidth interface standards (for high-speed serial and parallel interfaces including either systems or source-synchronous parallel interfaces).
A SoC may be embedded with the following components:
- Embedded processor GPP or ASIP core.
- Single purpose processing cores or multiple processors.
- A network bus protocol core.
- An encryption function unit.
Modern SoC devices and the co-design technique (involving embedded RTOS software, ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ IP cores, and customized digital design provides a manageable and flexible route to embedded systems design. The reconfigurable SoC devices can be deployed in a wide range of applications and the common-platform nature of the devices helps avoid the non-recurring costs that are associated with fully bespoke designs.
Related: Features of an Embedded System
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