DESIGNERS CAST A SKEPTICAL EYE ON MIXED-SIGNAL SOCs.

This article highlights the growing skepticism among microprocessors designers about the future of system on chip (SOC) technology. SOC is the technology being used for tool integration in microprocessor design and development. The advance of SOC technology is made by vacuuming up all the digital functions in a system until there is nothing of important cost or function left outside the microprocessor. Technology forecasters have identified precision analog or radio frequency (RF) blocks as the next frontier for SOC integration. Manufacturers of cellular-phone handsets, such as Infineon and Texas Instruments, are already exploring RF blocks for SOC integration.