Productintroduction
Withthedevelopmentofdesignandmanufacturingtechnology,integratedcircuitdesignhasevolvedfromtheintegrationoftransistorstotheintegrationoflogicgates,andnowtotheintegrationofIP,namelySoC(System-on-a-Chip)designtechnology.SoCcaneffectivelyreducethedevelopmentcostofelectronic/informationsystemproducts,shortenthedevelopmentcycle,andimprovethecompetitivenessofproducts.Itisthemostimportantproductdevelopmentmethodthattheindustrywilladoptinthefuture.AlthoughthetermSoChasappearedmanyyearsago,therearedifferentopinionsaboutwhatSoCis.Afteryearsofdebate,theexpertsreachedaconsensusonthedefinitionofSoC.Althoughthisdefinitionisnotverystrict,itclearlyshowsthecharacteristicsofSoC:
VLSItorealizecomplexsystemfunctions;adoptultra-deepsubmicronprocesstechnology;
usemorethanoneembeddedCPU/DigitalSignalProcessor(DSP);
Thechipcanbeprogrammedexternally;
Definition
SoChasvariousdefinitions,becauseofitsrichconnotation,Theapplicationrangeiswide,anditisdifficulttogiveanaccuratedefinition.Generallyspeaking,SoCiscalledsystem-levelchip,alsocalledsystem-on-chip,whichmeansthatitisaproduct,anintegratedcircuitwithaspecialpurpose,whichcontainsacompletesystemandallthecontentsofembeddedsoftware.Atthesametime,itisakindoftechnologytorealizethewholeprocessfromdeterminingthesystemfunctiontodividingthesoftware/hardwareandcompletingthedesign.Fromanarrowperspective,itisthechipintegrationatthecoreoftheinformationsystem,whichintegratesthekeycomponentsofthesystemonachip;fromabroadperspective,theSoCisamicro-smallsystem.Ifthecentralprocessingunit(CPU)isthebrain,thentheSoCItisthesystemthatincludesthebrain,heart,eyes,andhands.TheacademiccirclesathomeandabroadgenerallytendtodefineSoCastheintegrationofmicroprocessor,analogIPcore,digitalIPcoreandmemory(oroff-chipstoragecontrolinterface)onasinglechip.Itisusuallycustomizedbycustomersorforspecificpurposes.Standardproduct.
ThesmartTVSOCchipindependentlydevelopedbyChineselocalenterpriseSkyworthandHiSiliconsuccessfullydevelopedandachievedmassproductionforthefirsttime.ThecoreperformanceofthesmartTVsuchasthesystemspeedanddecodingcapabilityofthenewSkyworthGLEDproductequippedwiththischipisattheleadinglevelintheindustry.Atthesametime,Skyworth’s“SmartTVSOCChipR&DandIndustrialization”projecthasalreadydeclaredthe“CoreElectronicDevices,High-endGeneralChipsandBasicSoftwareProducts”NationalScienceandTechnologyMajorSpecialProject(referredtoasthe"NuclearHigh-techMajorSpecialProject").SkyworthwillcooperatewithHiSiliconhascarriedoutin-depthcooperationincoreareassuchaschipdefinition,chipverification,andoverallchipdevelopmentandindustrialization."
Generalcomposition
Fromthelargerpointofview,SOCcontains:
1.LogiccoresincludeCPU,clockcircuits,timers,interruptcontrollers,serialandparallelinterfaces,otherperipherals,I/Oports,andgluelogicbetweenvariousIPcores,etc.Etc.;
2.Thememorycoreincludesavarietyofvolatile,non-volatileandCachememories;
3.TheanalogcoreincludesADC,DAC,PLLandsomehigh-speedcircuitsusedinTheanalogcircuit.
CurrentproblemsencounteredbySOC
Today,thedevelopmentofSoCalsoencountersatleastthefollowingfourinsurmountablechallenges:
First.TheincreasingvarietyandcomplexityofIPandthelackofuniversalinterfacesmaketheintegrationofIPmoreandmoredifficult;
Second.Today'shighlyintegratedSoCdesignrequirestheuseofmoreadvancedtechnologybelow90nm,anditwillmaketheproblemsofpowerandtimingclosuremoreprominent,whichwillinevitablyleadtolongerdesignverificationtime;
Third.Itisdifficulttorealizetheintegrationofanalog,mixedsignalanddigitalcircuitsonSoC;
Fourth.ThecostofNREforadvancedSoCdevelopmentistensofmillionsofdollars,andthedevelopmentcycleisverylong.
ExamplesofSOCchiptechnologyinthefieldofmobilephones
OneofthekeyadvantagesofSoCtechnologyisthatitcanreducethedelaycausedbythesignalenteringandexitingbetweenmultiplechipsonthesystemboard.Duetoitslimitedperformance,italsoimprovesthereliabilityofthesystemandreducesthetotalsystemcost.Inaddition,inapplicationswherePCBspaceisparticularlytightandlowpowerconsumptionisconsideredthefirstdesigngoal,suchasmobilephones,SoCisoftentheonlycost-effectivesolution.
Example
a.Videophone
Z228canbeusedtodesignlow-costvideophoneandvideoconferencingsystems.UsingZ228,combinedwithcolorimagesensormoduleandLCDdisplaymodule,theproductcantransmittwo-wayMPEG-4videosignals.TheVGAsizepicture,coupledwiththelow-latencymodeanderror-proofingtechnology,cansignificantlyimprovetheuserexperience.TheARM926EJprocessorcanruntheSIPprotocolstackanddynamicallyadjustthebitrateofthevideostreamtoadapttodifferentchannelbandwidths.
Videosurveillance
Z228isanidealchoiceforbuildingavideosurveillancesystem.Itsbuilt-inARM9processorandhardwarevideocodecareconducivetothedevelopmentofmoreflexibleandinexpensivedistributedterminalequipmentandIP-basedsurveillancenetwork,whichisinlinewiththetrendofnetworked,digitalandintelligentvideosurveillance.Z228'sadvancedvideocompressionalgorithmcanprovidegoodpicturequality(greaterthan30dB)atlowerbandwidth(lessthan700kbps);inlow-latencymode,theend-to-enddelay(excludingtransmissiondelay)islessthan60ms;ARM9processorTheexistenceofthismakestherealizationofaudioandvideosynchronizationmoreconvenient.
Note:Z228isahighlyintegratedSoCchip.
WhatisVLSI
Integrateelectroniccomponentssuchastransistors,resistors,capacitors,diodes,etc.onachip(chip).Becausethebodyoftheintegratedcircuitisverysmall,theelectronsmoveThedistanceisgreatlyreduced,sothespeedisextremelyfastandthereliabilityishigh.Thetypesofintegratedcircuitsaregenerallyclassifiedbythenumberofelectroniccomponentssuchastransistors:
MSI(mediumintegratedcircuits),Thenumberoftransistorsis100~1,000
LSI(LargeScaleIntegratedCircuit),thenumberoftransistorsis1,000~10,0000
VLSI(Verylarge-scaleintegratedcircuit),thenumberoftransistorsis100,000~
WhatisanIPcore
IPcoreisaVISIblockwithcomplexsystemfunctionsthatcanbesoldindependently.
Domesticproductionandapplication
SkyworthSmartTVG8200
OnAugust20th,SkyworthGroupunitedHuaweiHiSiliconhasreleasedtheGLED8200seriesofultra-high-definitionsmartTVsusingHiSiliconHi3751smartTVSOCchip,markingthesuccessfuldevelopmentandmassproductionofthefirstsmartTVchipinChina.
OnAugust20,2014,thedomesticcolorTVgiantSkyworthheldanewproductlaunchconferenceinBeijingwiththethemeof"WitnesstotheOddG"andreleasedtheworld'sfirstGLEDTVinahigh-profilemanner.Thepressconferencewascalledaheavyweight.NotonlydidSkyworthGroup'sseniorleadersattendedallthemeetings,butalsotheDirectoroftheMinistryofIndustryandInformationTechnologyDiao,aswellasmorethan160domesticmainstreammediaandindustryexpertswereinvited.
Atthemeeting,DirectorDiaooftheMinistryofIndustryandInformationTechnologydeliveredaspeech.Thecontentofthespeechsaid:SkyworthGroupandHuaweiHiSiliconhaveformedclosepartnershipswiththeprojectasalink,andsuccessfullydevelopedmycountry’sfirstindependentresearchanddevelopmentandsuccessfullyrealizedit.Themass-producedhigh-endsmartTVchipshavebetterchipperformancethansimilarchipsinthemarket,whichisofgreatsignificancetochangingthesituationofmycountry'scolorTVindustrylackingcoresandscreensandenhancingthecorecompetitivenessoftheelectronicinformationindustry!
OnAugust21,2014,"NewsNetwork"reported:"ThesmartTVSOCchipindependentlydevelopedbyChineselocalenterpriseSkyworthandHiSiliconsuccessfullydevelopedandachievedmassproductionforthefirsttime.SkyworthGLEDnewproductequippedwiththischipThecoreperformanceofsmartTVs,suchasthesystemspeedanddecodingcapabilities,isattheleadinglevelintheindustry.”Atthesametime,Skyworth’s“SmartTVSOCChipR&DandIndustrialization”projecthasalreadydeclared“coreelectronicdevices,high-endgeneral-purposechips,andbasicsoftwareproducts”asamajornationalscienceandtechnologyproject.Forthespecialproject(referredtoasthe"nuclearhigh-basemajorspecialproject"),Skyworthwillconductin-depthcooperationwithHiSiliconinthecoreareasofchipdefinition,chipverification,completechipdevelopmentandindustrialization.Thefirst4,000newproductsoftheSkyworthG8200seriesequippedwiththischipwerelaunchedonAugust20,2014.