System-on-a-chip

System-on-a-chip (SoC or SOC) is an idea of integrating all components of a computer system into a single chip.

A typical computer system consists of a number of integrated circuits that perform different tasks. These are: microprocessor, RAM, ROM, UARTs, parallel ports, DMA controller chips, etc. The recent improvements in semiconductor technology caused that VLSI integrated circuits are larger and larger. These improvements allow to integration of all the functions of a system in a single chip, which is being done in a number of technologies. These are:

• Full-custom
• Standard cell
• FPGA