Integration in SOC/ASIC – From a discrete solution to an integrated module

When a discrete electronic circuit with multiple components is replaced by an integrated component (ASIC – Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a whole range of economic and technical advantages suddenly arise. These range from a dramatic reduction in size or power consumption, to increased reliability or independence from supply chains, to opening up new markets and applications.

• Power consumption, performance and functionality can be tailored to the application.
• An ASIC the size of a fingernail can replace a circuit of discrete function blocks hundreds of times larger.
• The unit cost of ASICs is very low compared to discrete circuits. Only the one-time, initial development costs are high. An ASIC-based solution therefore scales very well to high volumes.
  
• An in-house ASIC eliminates the dependency on complex component supply chains. The component can simply be "reordered" and third parties generally have no influence on the unit price.
  
• Naturally, the reliability of an ASIC is much higher than that of a multi-component solution.