ABSTRACT
Microelectronic technology has matured considerably in the past few decades. Systems which until the start of the decade required a printed circuit board for implementation are now being developed on a single chip. These systems-on-a-chip (SOCs) are becoming a reality due to vast improvements in chip fabrication and process technology. A key component in SOC and other semiconductor chips are Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). These are specialized circuit blocks or entire chips which are designed specifically for a given application or an application domain. For instance, a video decoder circuit may be implemented as an ASIC chip to be used inside a personal computer product or in a range of multimedia appliances. Due to the custom nature of these designs, it is often possible to squeeze in more functionality under performance requirements-while reducing system size, power, heat, and cost-than possible with standard IC parts. Due to cost and performance advantages, ASICs and semiconductor chips with ASIC blocks are used in a wide range of products, from consumer electronics to space applications.
