System on a chip

A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines a computer’s main processing components and often other system functions on one chip.

Central processing unit: A processor that executes general-purpose instructions and coordinates computer operations. Many SoCs include CPU cores for operating systems and general-purpose software.
Hardware accelerator: Specialized hardware that performs a defined computation more efficiently than a general-purpose processor. SoCs often add accelerators for tasks such as image processing or machine learning.
Smartphone: A handheld mobile device that combines telephony, computing, and internet access. Smartphones rely on SoCs to combine application processing, graphics, connectivity, and imaging.
Microcontroller: A compact computer on an integrated circuit, typically containing a processor, memory, and peripheral interfaces. Microcontrollers overlap with SoCs but usually target simpler embedded control tasks.
Moore's law: The observation that transistor counts in integrated circuits historically grew at an exponential pace. Increasing transistor density made it practical to place more system functions on one die.
Graphics processing unit: A processor designed to perform many graphics and parallel-computation operations simultaneously. An integrated GPU handles graphics without requiring a separate graphics chip.
Clock gating: A power-saving technique that stops clock signals to inactive circuit blocks. It reduces dynamic power when parts of an SoC are idle.
Raspberry Pi: A family of low-cost single-board computers developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Many Raspberry Pi models use an SoC to run a general-purpose computer on a small board.
Chiplet: A small integrated-circuit die designed to work with other dies in a larger package. Chiplet systems distribute functions across dies rather than placing everything on one die.
Arm architecture: A family of processor instruction-set architectures widely used in mobile and embedded computing. Its licensing model helped many firms build SoCs around compatible processor designs.

Linked from 32 pages