Function introduction:
1. The full name of Soc is: System on Chip, which means “make the system on one chip”. If in the PC era we say that the core of a computer is CPU, then in the era of smart terminal, the core of mobile phone is SoC.
This is because the SoC integrates many of the most critical components on the phone, such as CPU, GPU, and memory. That is to say, although it exists on the motherboard only as a chip, the SoC is made up of a lot of component encapsulation. For example, what we usually call Qualcomm 801, Tegra 4, and so on, are the general terms of the packaged and sealed system components (SoC). The packaging contents vary from brand to brand, and the names are not all the same.
2. For example, the integration of Qualcomm's SoC is often relatively high, including APU/GPU (Krait), GPU (Adreno), RAM (running memory), Modem (communication module), ISP (image processor), DSP (digital signal processing), Codec (encoder) and so on. Among these many parts, Modem communication module has the greatest advantage. Qualcomm SoC is favored by major mobile phone manufacturers because of its high integration, integrating all the required functions of the system into one chip. This way, they do not need to purchase for any additional parts, and the motherboard space will be richer, which helps to reduce power consumption.
3. Of course, in the design of terminal products, mobile phone manufacturers can use parts of the functions integrated in SoC according to their own needs. SmartisanT1, for example, does not use the ISP (image processor) that comes with the Qualcomm SoC; instead, it places a Fuji ISP outside of SoC. Another example, Xiaomi chooses Smartear as the noise reduction scheme instead of the noise reduction function in Qualcomm SoC. Vivo chooses to add a series of high-end audio chips outside SoC to increase Hi-Fi performance, which also exemplifies this kind of "partial adoption".
4. In a word, the design of any SoC is a balance of performance, power consumption, stability and process difficulty. It is easier to highlight any single indicator, and what really puzzles R & D personnel is to achieve balance. In theory, the higher the integration, the better, as far as possible towards the direction of high integration, low power consumption. However, the higher the integration, the more difficult it will be to package and debug, and the R & D personnel are constantly exploring and adjusting the balance point.
Application on Xiaomi:
Before the launch of the MI 3, the Mi 1 series and the Mi 2 series all applied highly integrated SoC from Qualcomm integration. Other vendors' SoCs have been introduced since the Mi 3, including Nvida and MTK.