System on Chip vs Network on Chip: What is the difference between SoC and NoC?

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What is a System on Chip?

A System on Chip(SoC) refers to a design strategy that unifies all of the system's parts on a single chip, including the CPU, memory, peripherals, and communication interfaces. SoC strives to decrease the system's size, cost, and power consumption as well as increase the speed and effectiveness of data transfer between the parts. SoC is frequently utilized in applications like mobile devices, embedded systems, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices where low power consumption and high performance are essential.

What is a System on Chip?

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System on Chip Components

Core components: The CPU, memory, and peripherals make up a SoC's core components. The SoC's CPU serves as its central processing unit and is in charge of carrying out commands. Data and instructions are stored in memory. The SoC's interface to the outside world is provided through peripherals such a monitor, keyboard, and network interface.
Supporting components: The clock, power management, and I/O controllers comprise the SoC's supporting components. The timing signal for the SoC is provided by the clock. Power management makes ensuring that the SoC only uses what is required. I/O controllers link the SoC to external hardware.
Software: A SoC's software is usually created in C or C++. The operating system, drivers, and application programs are all included in the software.

What is a Network on Chip?

A Network on Chip(NoC) is a design strategy that sees system parts as nodes in a network and ties them together on a single chip using communication infrastructure including routers, switches, and connections. NoC uses a modular and hierarchical architecture to get around some of the shortcomings of SoC, including wire complexity, bandwidth bottlenecks, and scalability concerns. Multiprocessor systems, machine learning, and multimedia processing are examples of applications that benefit from NoC's high parallelism, heterogeneity, and reconfigurability.

What is a Network on Chip?

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Network on Chip Components

Nodes: The processors, memory, and peripherals make up a NoC's nodes. The task of carrying out instructions falls on the processors. Data and instructions are stored in memory. The NoC's external connections are made by peripherals.
Links: The connections between the nodes make up a NoC's links. Data is transferred between the nodes using the links.
Routing: Choosing the path that data will follow between two nodes is the process of routing in a NoC.

SoCs vs NoCs

SoCs and NoCs are two different approaches to designing and implementing electronic systems. SoCs are frequently employed in applications where cost, size, and power efficiency are crucial factors. NoCs are frequently employed in applications where high performance, scalability, and flexibility are crucial factors. Key differences between SoCs and NoCs are shown in the following table:

Feature	SoC	NoC
Components	Core components, supporting components, software	Nodes, links, routing
Architecture	Single chip	Network of components on a single chip
Advantages	Power efficiency, cost effectiveness, small size	Scalability, performance, flexibility
Disadvantages	Limited scalability, performance, flexibility	Complex design, routing overhead

Advantages and Disadvantages of SoC

Advantages of SoC

Smaller size: Because SoCs do not need individual chips for each component, they are substantially smaller than conventional electronic systems. SoCs are therefore perfect for use in compact devices like smartphones and tablets.
Cost-effectiveness: Because SoCs require fewer components than conventional electronic systems, they are also less expensive. SoCs are now more reasonably priced for consumers.
Less power usage: Because SoCs do not need to communicate with individual chips, they utilize less power than conventional electronic systems. SoCs are therefore perfect for usage in battery-operated gadgets.
Greater performance: Because SoCs may be tailored for a particular purpose, they frequently offer greater performance than conventional electronic systems.
Greater adaptability: SoCs may be quickly changed to support various applications. SoCs are therefore perfect for usage in constantly updated goods like smartphones and tablets.

Disadvantages of SoC

Higher development costs: Developing SoCs is more expensive than developing conventional electronic systems. This is so because SoCs demand specialized IC design and semiconductor manufacture.
Less flexibility: Because SoCs are created for a particular application, they are less versatile than conventional electronic systems. Because of this, updating SoCs to accommodate new features or applications may be challenging.
Security risks: SoCs may be more susceptible to security risks than conventional electronic systems. This is as a result of SoCs having a greater attack surface.

And you can know more about Advantages and Disadvantages of SoC in System on Chip vs. System on Module: Unveiling main differences between them.

Advantages and Disadvantages of NoC

Advantages of NoC

Scalability: Compared to SoC, NoC can accommodate more components. This is so because NoC employs a distributed network architecture, which gives the system's design more latitude. The centralized architecture of SoC, on the other hand, might become a bottleneck as the number of components rises.
Performance: By lowering latency and congestion, NoC can outperform SoC in terms of performance. The amount of time it takes for data to go from one component to another is known as latency. When two or more components are attempting to use the same communication resources at the same time, this is known as contention. By adopting a shorter routing path between components, NoC can lower latency. By employing a more effective routing method, it might help lessen contention.
Power: NoC has a lower power requirement than SoC. This is so because NoC employs dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) methods and a reduced voltage signaling approach. When there isn't a lot of load on it, the NoC can lower its voltage and frequency thanks to DVFS.
Reliability: NoC has the potential to be more dependable than SoC. This is so that NoC can handle network problems since it uses fault-tolerant methods. Redundancy, for instance, can be used by NoC to guarantee that data is not lost if a link or router fails.

Disadvantages of NoC

Design complexity: The NoC system needs the integration of a network architecture, protocol, and interface with a wide range of components. For designers, this might be difficult because it calls for a lot of knowledge and abstraction.
Testing and debugging: Since it can be challenging to isolate and identify network issues, NoC is also a challenge to test for and troubleshoot. This is due to the fact that the network is spread and complicated, and there are numerous possible error causes.
Overhead: There is some overhead introduced by NoC in terms of latency, power, and area. This is because the network's management and infrastructure call for more resources. This may have an impact on the system's overall effectiveness and cost.

Difference between the Design Flow of SoC and NoC

SoC design flow differs significantly from NoC design flow. In a SoC, hardware and software play crucial roles as the command and control centers for other parts like DSP cores, microprocessors, and microcontrollers that are connected to them. The primary goal of the SoC is to guarantee concurrent operation of the hardware and software programs. The SoC often uses software drivers for software components and hardware blocks for hardware components to do this. They act similarly to the protocol stacks that are present inside the system so that the device can do so. Here, a software development environment is used to moduleize the software activities, and CAD tools are used to integrate the hardware. However, there are times when the processing capacity of these SoC is negatively impacted, and as a result, its potential starts to crumble. As a result, they become a complex and somewhat pricey system to employ. Therefore, NoC was required in order to handle such issues in a controllable manner. The IP blocks will be able to communicate data utilizing a shared platform known as the public "transportation" when NoC operations are in place. This type of chip uses a thick layer of stacked chips for the core system communication mode to operate with "Very Large Scale Integration" operations. This is organized with the aid of the point-to-point data link, which is connected to the routers technically, by adhering to the protocol, and then choosing a routing option. This chip closely resembles the one used in telecommunication networks to perform digital networking activities.

Conclusion of SoC vs NoC

SoCs and NoCs are two different approaches to designing and implementing electronic systems. SoCs are typically used in applications where power efficiency, cost effectiveness, and small size are important considerations. NoCs are typically used in applications where high performance, scalability, and flexibility are important considerations. However, when comparing NoC with SoC today, NoC is the winner because it has nearly completely established itself as a concept. This chip's technology, advantages, and adaptability are fantastic, and they significantly promote "Quality of Service" and have revived the potential of System On Chips. The development of this chip in a revolutionary shape and the transformation of system applications are the results of extensive research. The first thing that can be observed in the current situation is that the user only needs a minimal amount of practice to operate it in a better form, but the level of quality that is brought by this chip is absolutely astounding. Numerous NoCs have been created to date that adhere to the established protocols, but very few of them have been silicon-based. As a result, it is anticipated that NoC will have a wide range of applications with successful implementations in the near future.