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TITLE: SOC AND VIRTUAL COMPONENTS
The average system-on-chip (SoC) design in 1999 contained 3
million gates and ran at clock speeds up to 600 MHz. In 2000,
the average SoC contained 8 million gates at speeds up to 800
MHz. It is forecast that by 2002 the average SoC will contain 20
million gates and operate at 1 GHz. The Fabless Semiconductor
Association's 2000 Survey forecasts wafer demand to grow 48
percent in 2001. In 1995 there were 15 major semiconductor
vendors but now there are only 5. Because of increased capital
spending by large chip manufacturers, capacity may exceed demand
by late 2001. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. is the
world's largest foundry. It spent $4.7 billion in 2000 and plans
to spend another $4.7 billion in 2001. PCs continue to consume
the most semiconductors with $119 billion forecast for 2001.
However, the market is shifting to supply the global rollout of
advanced communications infrastructure (routers, etc.) which is
expected to increase from $27 billion in sales in 1999 to $69
billion in 2004. It should also be noted that communication
devices, typically mobile phones and internet infrastructure
equipment, consume large quantities of flash memories and SRAMs
whereas PCs consist of microprocessors with DRAMs and graphics
chips. About half of the statistics for SoC generally include
cell phone products which typically contain a processor core and
a DSP core. Digital cell phones consist of a single SoC. For
additional information, access: Electronics Journal
Time-to-market is the dominant factor that must be optimized
instead of number of transistors in most SoC designs. Hence,
reuse of virtual components is becoming essential. The Virtual
Socket Interface Alliance (VSIA) was formed only four years ago
but already has 170 member companies and has released 19
specifications and standards for developing and sharing virtual
components. Developers will report their compliance with these
standards in a machine-searchable format. It should be noted
that a component can be considered compliant by satisfying
a subset of a standard. For additional information, access: VSIA
The most popular virtual components are microprocessors (e.g.
ARM) and interfacing modules (e.g. PCI bus). Web sites that
facilitate the match-making of suppliers and consumers of virtual
components are described below:
SiliconX is an IC design portal that provides a resource locator
including e-catalogs with detailed data sheets and links to
design service companies. For additional information, access: SiliconX
Virtual Exchange not only lists suppliers of virtual components
but also provides a web-based, regulated trading exchange.
Business, legal and insurance issues required to adopt these
components into the design flow are addressed with the goal of
reducing the time for adoption from months to weeks or even days.
For additional information, access: VCX
Design & Reuse provides for SoC match-making and exchange with
the world's largest directory of 1500 virtual components from
190 companies. The organization sponsors workshops which
address issues of interest. A large collection of
presentation slides are available on-line as well. For
additional information, access: Design & Reuse
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FILENUMBER: 9966
BEGIN_KEYWORDS
SOC VIRTUAL COMPONENTS
END_KEYWORDS
DATE: February 2001
TITLE: SOC AND VIRTUAL COMPONENTS
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