Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)
An Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) is an integrated circuit chip that is customized for a particular use.
- Context:
- It can (typically) be used in a wide variety of applications, including auto emission control, environmental monitoring, and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
- It can (typically) offer better performance than a general-purpose chip for certain applications due to its specialized nature.
- It can (typically) be more expensive and time-consuming to design and manufacture due to its custom nature.
- It can (typically) be found in applications where efficiency and performance are crucial.
- …
- Example(s):
- Counter-Example(s):
- A General-Purpose Processor, such as an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 9.
- A System on a Chip (SoC), which integrates all components of a computer or other system into a single chip, and is typically not designed for a single, specific application.
- A Programmable Logic Device (PLD), which is designed to be configured by the user for specific tasks.
- …
- See: Integrated Circuit, SoC, Microcontroller, Microprocessor, Digital Voice Recorder, Video Codec, Application-Specific Standard Product.
References
2023
- (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application-specific_integrated_circuit Retrieved:2023-6-5.
- An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficiency video codec. Application-specific standard product chips are intermediate between ASICs and industry standard integrated circuits like the 7400 series or the 4000 series.[1] ASIC chips are typically fabricated using metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) technology, as MOS integrated circuit chips.[2]
As feature sizes have shrunk and chip design tools improved over the years, the maximum complexity (and hence functionality) possible in an ASIC has grown from 5,000 logic gates to over 100 million. Modern ASICs often include entire microprocessors, memory blocks including ROM, RAM, EEPROM, flash memory and other large building blocks. Such an ASIC is often termed a SoC (system-on-chip). Designers of digital ASICs often use a hardware description language (HDL), such as Verilog or VHDL, to describe the functionality of ASICs.[1]
Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) are the modern-day technology improvement on breadboards, meaning that they are not made to be application-specific as opposed to ASICs. Programmable logic blocks and programmable interconnects allow the same FPGA to be used in many different applications. For smaller designs or lower production volumes, FPGAs may be more cost-effective than an ASIC design, even in production. The non-recurring engineering (NRE) cost of an ASIC can run into the millions of dollars. Therefore, device manufacturers typically prefer FPGAs for prototyping and devices with low production volume and ASICs for very large production volumes where NRE costs can be amortized across many devices.
- An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficiency video codec. Application-specific standard product chips are intermediate between ASICs and industry standard integrated circuits like the 7400 series or the 4000 series.[1] ASIC chips are typically fabricated using metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) technology, as MOS integrated circuit chips.[2]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Barr, Keith (2007). ASIC Design in the Silicon Sandbox: A Complete Guide to Building Mixed-signal Integrated Circuits. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-148161-8. OCLC 76935560.
- ↑ "1967: Application Specific Integrated Circuits employ Computer-Aided Design". The Silicon Engine. Computer History Museum. Retrieved 9 November 2019.