Programmable SoCs - the end of ASICs? Configurable and reconfigurable SoCs are changing the ASIC landscape

摘要

Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are the ideal solution for designs that are perfectly thought out and stable, that don't change over time, and that are guaranteed to sell in sufficiently high volume to justify the huge cost and risk involved in developing them. In other words, for designs that don't begin to resemble the one you're working on right now. You can go through three generations of a consumer electronics device in the time it takes you to design an ASIC or system-on-chip (SoC) for it. The NRE for that same device may be larger than the marketing budget for the cell phone or MP3 player in which it will be just one component. And the codec or wireless interface you're incorporating may change substantially over the lifetime of your design. Today, programmable SoCs that can accommodate evolving standards and interfaces are challenging standard ASICs and SoGs in the portable consumer electronics market in particular.