What is exactly "System-on-chip"?

I think it has something to do with the kitchen sink.

Just like it sounds... a mixture of analog and digital all on a single chip.

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

Isn't that SOS, the cleaner, or S-O-S, the food ?:-)

...Jim Thompson

In S-O-S, the second "S" stands for "shingle" ;-)

...Jim Thompson

It's a, mostly failed, attempt to use the transistors that have become available as semiconductor processes have shrunk. Sweep the whole "system" onto the "chip". The attempts I've seen involve having a menu of macros (most hard macros) that can be plopped down on a chip to solve a particular problem with minimum engineering. Unfortunately, the mask costs for advanced processes are prohibitive for most applications.

Nah, SOS has been replaced by SOI. The second 'S' was too expensive.

CMOS gets clogged drains?

:)

I think the acronym would be S-O-C. Most of my SOCs get lost in the washing machine, not the sink.

Oooooh! Such a picture! Still turns my stomach!

...Jim Thompson

Whenever I've looked at the programmable analog stuff it's always seemed to be lots of sizzle and not much steak at all. I wonder if the stuff has actually made it into any products?

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Do you only think about "food"?

maybe this will help

martin

Serious error. All shortcuts have disappeared. Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

Hello Jim,

Sometimes, at least for me, there is too much marketing glitz in it when it comes to the programmable stuff. When looking at the specs of some opamp modules what I thought to be a nice motorcycle looked more like a moped. Lots of offset, little unity gain BW. It may be ok for the more mundane tasks though.

Regards, Joerg

Hello Tim,

I can only speak for med here but so far I have never seen any of these in circuits. And I get to look at a few designs from other engineers when called out for an EMC mitigation.

Another factor is cost. If something costs a Dollar or more it better has a whole lot of 'steak' and not just 'sizzle'. It is amazing how cheap a totally discrete design becomes once in mass production. A Dollar buys dozens of parts including SMT machine time. For a little over a dime we can buy an LM324. Contains four nice opamps and with its input CM range including the negative rail it can do a whole lot of chores in a single supply design. A typical run-of-the-mills BJT is two cents or less, a nice FET four to five cents. Circuits with these run circles around a lot of the 'modular approaches'.

A lot of times people say that this is old stuff. The manufacturers clearly know better since they migrate these devices to TSSOP. Even ye olde LM324.

Regards, Joerg

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

processor)

is

used?.

What the hell was that pink stuff?

Yes, and SOS is the source of the clogs.