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mg777

Senior Member

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Posts: 131

SoC v. SiP
May 25^th, 2007, 9:46am

[A previous forum post on SiP costs has not elicited any replies]

Let me pose a question about how SiP's will impact the welfare of the Ancient Order of Analog Chipmasons. On the pro-SiP side we have increased voltage headroom and better control over process variations. On the pro-SoC (arguably anti-SiP) side we have scope for close integration of analog & digital, with ramifications stretching from system architecture to ATE costs.

Now, the SiP-pers may argue that low-power serial connections between analog and digital SiP-lings can provide for close synergies across a few bond wires or BGA substrate traces. The SoC-cers will no doubt counter with aggressive head(room)-butting plays amidst increased G-BW products. In which direction will things head?

M.G.Rajan
www.eecalc.com

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sheldon

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Posts: 751

Re: SoC v. SiP
Reply #1 - May 25^th, 2007, 4:48pm

mg777,

Both, they are tools to solve problems. There many different
business models and neither SiP or SoC are appropriate for all
of them. In the end it is about making money by selling products.
For example, suppose you want to make a lot of very low cost
hand sets then an SoC maybe great. You can amortize the
development cost over a lot of products. On the other hand,
there are also markets driven by time to market, features,
performance and short product life, in that case, SiP is better
approach. Since the products are differentiated, the ASPs can
be higher supporting the higher unit costs for SiP. The real
challenge is being able to make the decision about which approach
to use for which product.

Best Regards,

Sheldon

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RobertZ Community Member Offline the art of analog Posts: 55 San Diego, CA	Re: SoC v. SiP Reply #2 - May 25^th, 2007, 5:37pm When new technology comes out slower and slower (I don't know when will this happen), and analog design methodology is more mature, maybe SoC will be dominant, if time to market are comparable for both approaches.
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