What is SoC and why should you care about it?

Source: Vecteezy

System on Chip(SoC) is an integrated chip that integrates the components of a computer and other electronic components of a computer or any other electronic device. It may contain a bunch of functions and not just one function.

You must have come across the word SoC when browsing smartphones. Yes, the smartphone contains these little chips and are very important for the working of your smartphone. There are companies such as MediaTek and Snapdragon who are common names for the system on chip makers. These chips have more importance in your phones than you ever thought of!

What is inside a SoC?

SoCs may differ from each other but they generally have the following components:-

A microcontroller which provides the basic memory to connect with other peripherals. It can be said as the core of any SoC.

Memory blocks which according to the requirement may be a selection from RAM, ROM or flash memory.

Oscillators and phases which keep a look at the time. This would double the efficiency of SoCs.

External peripherals like USB. These help you connect your phone to the charger otherwise it would have been dead!

Buses which are some electrical lines parallel to each other help to transfer data and instructions.

Why is it needed?

For a long time every small electronic device which needs a battery, there's a chance that they have SoC inside them. Smartphones, tablet, PS Vita and even the famous Nintendo switch consists of SoC. And they are indeed powerful. You can guess that they have amazing power after playing Bayonetta on Switch or Modern Combat 5 on your phone!

Besides the gaming task, SoC also provides basic stuff such as 4G internet connection, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc. SoC controls most of the task of your smartphone.