ESC views SOC design as a significant milestone in the field of embedded systems and has a goal to become a recognized provider and developer of such systems.

With the all the complexity required in the development of a modern product, combined with the increasing complexity of today’s electronics components, new methods and techniques are needed to successfully complete this complicated state-of-the-art-design.  Tools such as High level Design Language (HDL) for the hardware, Unified Modeling Language (UML) and Open Source components for software design have made possible developing today's the complicated systems.

Electronic components have reached a level of complexity, integration and performance far beyond the simple integrated circuits produced in the past.  Today’s components are truly systems on a chip.  It is necessary to use all the available design aids in order to successfully finish a modern day project.

Monolithic Solution:     

The ARM technology has become universally accepted by the major semiconductor manufactures and they offer a variety of systems using that ARM core.  Also as semiconductor processing has advanced and intellectual property cores have been developed and licensed, you can truly select a complete system on a chip.  Today’s offerings contain CPU, RAM, FLASH, peripherals including USB and Ethernet available for under $10.  Some even have an RTOS in ROM on board.  The tools are also ready for development of complex systems.

This advancement is just the natural extension of the System on Chip (SOC) technology.  But it opens opportunities to add serious communications and interconnection capabilities to embedded systems.

FPGA Solution:

The combination of the growth in size and complexity of programmable logic array devices combined with the increased capability of the development tools has led to the possibility of defining a complete system and placing that design in the logic array.  At a minimum, these systems include a CPU, memory interface, interrupt capabilities, several commonly used peripherals and the ability to add custom logic.

Using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), we can develop custom components or license available Intellectual Property (IP) in both the hardware and software aspects of the design.  We have successfully completed several designs using the Altera NIOS II processor.  These systems also include sophisticated digital techniques for filtering and managing the data.

Background:

The initial implementations of microprocessors were not much more than the raw CPU in a chip.  The clock driver, address driver, data bus drivers and peripherals were all off the IC.  Starting with the IMP16 from National Semiconductor (a version of a popular Data General minicomputer). Over the past 35 years we have designed and developed embedded systems using these devices.  Typically as a new device or technique becomes available we are a rapid adopter and lead the industry in product introductions. 

We have observed the devices and tools change from the first microprocessors to the complete computers on a chip to systems on a chip and now to systems that the user can define on a chip.  We have matched our capabilities and resources with the industry offerings and customer requirements to provide the necessary services.

Capabilities:

We offer SOC design for FPGAs such as Altera NIOS and Lattice Mico8/32 FPGAs.  We also support monolithic solutions for the major semiconductor manufactures such as TI, Renesas and Freescale to name a few.  We have the test and measurement equipment to support the design and analysis.  We have partnered with PCB design houses and Contract Manufactures to support your prototype and production requirements.

Check in the Articles and Project pages for updates on our more recent articles and designs.  Contact us to find out how ESC can help you succeed in the SOC design arena.