page_title: System on a chip
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: System on a chip / Types
caption_attribution_description: English: CPU Am286ZX/LX (SoC)
context_page_description: A system on a chip is an integrated circuit that integrates all or most components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit, memory, input/output ports and secondary storage – all on a single substrate or microchip, the size of a coin. It may contain digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio frequency signal processing functions, otherwise it will only be considered as an application processor. As they are integrated on a single substrate, SoCs consume much less power and take up much less area than multi-chip designs with equivalent functionality. Because of this, SoCs are very common in the mobile computing and edge computing markets. System on a chip are typically fabricated using metal–oxide–semiconductor technology, and are commonly used in embedded systems and the Internet of Things. Higher-performance SoCs are often paired with dedicated and physically separate memory and secondary storage chips, that may be layered on top of the SoC in what's known as a Package on package configuration, or be placed close to the SoC. Additionally, SoCs may use separate wireless modems.
context_section_description: In general, there are four distinguishable types of SoCs:
  SoCs built around a microcontroller (μC),
  SoCs built around a microprocessor (μP), often found in mobile phones;
  Specialized SoCs designed for specific applications that do not fit into the above two categories, and
  Programmable SoCs (PSoC), where most functionality is fixed but some functionality is reprogrammable in a manner analogous to a field-programmable gate array.
caption: AMD Am286ZX/LX, SoC based on Intel 80286
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