computer science

System on a chip

System on a chip is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand System on a chip rather than just read about it. In short: A system on a chip, or system on chip (SoC), is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and data storage control functions, along with optional features like a graphics processing unit (GPU), Wi-Fi connectivity, and radio frequency processing.

Key takeaways

System on a chip belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect System on a chip to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of System on a chip from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A system on a chip, or system on chip (SoC), is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and data storage control functions, along with optional features like a graphics processing unit (GPU), Wi-Fi connectivity, and radio frequency processing. This high level of integration minimizes the need for separate, discrete components, thereby enhancing power efficiency and simplifying device design. High-performance SoCs are often paired with dedicated memory, such as LPDDR, and flash storage chips, such as eUFS or eMMC, which may be stacked directly on top of the SoC in a package-on-package (PoP) configuration or placed nearby on the motherboard. Some SoCs also operate alongside specialized chips, such as cellular modems. Fundamentally, SoCs integrate one or more processor cores with critical peripherals. This comprehensive integration is conceptually similar to how a microcontroller is designed, but providing far greater computational power. This unified design delivers lower power consumption and a reduced semiconductor die area compared to traditional multi-chip architectures, though at the cost of reduced modularity and component replaceability. SoCs are ubiquitous in mobile computing, where compact, energy-efficient designs are critical. They power smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches, and are increasingly important in edge computing, where real-time data processing occurs close to the data source.

Types

In general, there are three distinguishable types of SoCs:

SoCs built around a microcontroller, SoCs built around a microprocessor, often found in mobile phones; Specialized application-specific integrated circuit SoCs designed for specific applications that do not fit into the above two categories.

Applications SoCs can be applied to any computing task. However, they are typically used in mobile computing such as tablets, smartphones, smartwatches, and netbooks as well as embedded systems and in applications where previously microcontrollers would be used.

Embedded systems Where previously only microcontrollers could be used, SoCs are rising to prominence in the embedded systems market. Tighter system integration offers better reliability and mean time between failures, and SoCs offer more advanced functionality and computing power than microcontrollers. Applications include AI acceleration, embedded machine vision, data collection, telemetry, vector processing and ambient intelligence. Often embedded SoCs target the internet of things, multimedia, networking, telecommunications and edge computing markets. Some examples of SoCs for embedded applications include the STMicroelectronics STM32, the Raspberry Pi Ltd RP2040, and the AMD Zynq 7000.

Mobile computing

Mobile computing based SoCs always bundle processors, memories, on-chip caches, wireless networking capabilities and often digital camera hardware and firmware. With increasing memory sizes, high end SoCs will often have no memory and flash storage and instead, the memory and flash memory will be placed right next to, or above (package on package), the SoC. Some examples of mobile computing SoCs include:

Samsung Electronics: list, typically based on Arm Exynos, used mainly by Samsung's Galaxy series of smartphones Qualcomm: Snapdragon (list), used in many smartphones. In 2018, Snapdragon SoCs were being used as the backbone of laptop computers running Windows 10, marketed as "Always Connected PCs". MediaTek, typically based on Arm Dimensity & Kompanio Series. Standalone application & tablet processors that power devices such as Amazon Echo Show

Personal computers In 1992, Acorn Computers produced the A3010, A3020 and A4000 range of personal computers with the ARM250 SoC. It combined the original Acorn ARM2 processor with a memory controller (MEMC), video controller (VIDC), and I/O controller (IOC). In previous Acorn ARM-powered computers, these were four discrete chips. The ARM7500 chip was their second-generation SoC, based on the ARM700, VIDC20 and IOMD controllers, and was widely licensed in embedded devices such as set-top-boxes, as well as later Acorn personal computers. Tablet and laptop manufacturers have learned lessons from embedded systems and smartphone markets about reduced power consumption, better performance and reliability from tighter integration of hardware and firmware modules, and LTE and other wireless network communications integrated on chip (integrated network interface controllers). On modern laptops and mini PCs, the low-power variants of AMD Ryzen and Intel Core processors use SoC design integrating CPU, IGPU, chipset and other processors in a single package. However, such x86 processors still require external memory and storage chips.

Structure An SoC consists of hardware functional units, including microprocessors that run software code, as well as a communications subsystem to connect, control, direct and interface between these functional modules.

Functional components

Processor cores An SoC must have at least one processor core, but typically an SoC has more than one core. Processor cores can be a microcontroller, microprocessor (μP), digital signal processor (DSP) or application-specific instruction set processor (ASIP) core. ASIPs have instruction sets that are customized for an application domain and designed to be more efficient than general-purpose instructions for a specific type of workload. Multiprocessor SoCs have more than one processor core by definition. The Arm architecture is a common choice for SoC processor cores because some Arm-architecture cores are soft processors specified as IP cores.

Memory

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with System on a chip

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what System on a chip claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to System on a chip before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about System on a chip ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of System on a chip

In research: System on a chip appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses System on a chip in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: System on a chip is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Application-specific integrated circuits, Computer engineering, Computer systems, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for System on a chip outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study System on a chip in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what System on a chip means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain System on a chip out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is System on a chip in simple terms?

Why does System on a chip matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study System on a chip?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on System on a chip.