Lin Y.-L.S. (Ed.) Essential Issues in SOC Design: Designing Complex Systems-on-Chip

Dordrecht: Springer. – 2006. – 404 p. Due to advance in semiconductor manufacturing technology, integration of whole electronics system on a single chip is feasible. Starting with baseline CMOS logic, semiconductor wafer manufacturers have gradually added to their portfolio embedded memory (SRAM, OPT, Flash), mixed signal devices, RF devices, and even MEMS. Because it offers many advantages over traditional multiple-chip solutions, system-on-a-chip (SOC) has drawn great attention from both academia and industry. We expect an SOC solution to be smaller, less expense, more energy efficient, more reliable, etc. However, designing an SOC for successful mass production is much more complicated than that of traditional simpler logic, memory, or analog chips. This book brings together experts from different research areas to present their knowledge in various topics related to SOC design. We hope that they have pointed to possible solutions and research directions for those who are either designing SOCs or are considering entering the field. Chapter One outlines some important issues that face an SOC design team and give brief introduction to each chapter of this book. Chapter 2 describes “An SOC Controller for Digital Still Camera.” This is a real industrial case. Chapter 3 presents “Multimedia IP Development – Image and Video Codec.” Chapter 4 deals with “SOC Memory System Design.” Memory will account for majority of silicon area in most SOCs. Chapter 5 describes “Embedded Software.” Contemporary SOCs all contain one or more microprocessors and DSPs. Both system software and application software are important. Chapter 6 presents “Energy Management Techniques for SOC Design.” Since most SOC solutions are for portable devices, which have limited battery life, power efficiency is a major concern. Chapter 7 describes “SOC Prototyping and Verification.” It takes a long time and huge costs to get a complex SOC manufactured. Chapter 8 deals with “SOC Testing and Design for Testability.” Testing is the key to a high quality product. In a complex SOC, we should be able to test every IP in the shortest possible test application time. Chapter 9 describes “Physical Design for SOC.” In the nanometer semiconductor manufacturing process, chip complexity and process variation together make physical implementation challenging.Contributing Authors
Essential Issues in System-on-a-Chip Design
A SOC Controller for Digital Still Camera
Multimedia IP Development – Image and Video Codecs
SoC Memory System Design
Embedded Software
Energy Management Techniques for SOC Design
SoC Prototyping and Verification
SoC Testing and Design for Testability
Physical Design for System-on-a-Chip