Processors & Compute
What is SoC?
System on Chip
A system on chip (SoC) integrates a processor, memory interfaces, and peripherals — sometimes radios or AI accelerators — on one chip to cut cost/space.
SoCs power everything from phones to IoT devices. Higher integration reduces board complexity and BOM cost, at the price of a more involved bring-up and layout.
What an SoC integrates
A system on chip combines processor cores with memory controllers, graphics or AI accelerators, radios and many peripherals on one die. Phone application processors, wireless chips such as the ESP32 (Wi-Fi + Bluetooth) and Nordic nRF52/nRF53 (Bluetooth LE/802.15.4), and automotive processors are all SoCs.
SoC vs MCU vs SoM
An MCU is a small SoC tuned for control and low power. Larger SoCs run Linux or Android and need external DRAM. A system-on-module (SoM) is a small board that carries an SoC with its memory and power so a product team can plug it into a carrier board.
SoC FAQ
- What does SoC stand for?
- SoC stands for system on chip (or system on a chip).
- Is a CPU the same as an SoC?
- No. A CPU is the processor core; an SoC is a complete chip that contains one or more CPUs plus memory interfaces and peripherals.