System-on-a-chip

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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 integrate 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