可編程片上系統幫助制造商找到配置和性能之間的平衡

　　盡管半導體技術是所有電子產品的基礎，但真正使我們的現代世界得以發展的是軟件。與硬件相比，軟件提供了幾乎無限的靈活性，當在高性能微處理器上運行時，它可以帶來驚人的結果。例如，如果沒有在最新處理器上運行的軟件的結合，人工智能的發展將是不可能的。

　　在過去的幾十年里，硬件和軟件之間的平衡發生了變化。人們普遍認為，產品功能的大約70%現在是在嵌入式軟件級別定義的，這幾乎完全取決于它的靈活性。

　　然而，隨著應用程序推動性能的界限，這種不平衡成為限制因素。軟件最終是以抽象的形式實現一個函數，它在執行時間方面不可避免地增加了開銷。在專用硬件中實現的同一功能，在晶體管級，將總是更快地執行。這種性能增益通常是以靈活性為代價的，但是由于集成了三個關鍵技術：處理核心、固定功能和可重構硬件，設備性能和靈活性之間的平衡變得更加容易。

　　High performance optimized solutions

　　Devices that integrate all three technologies are commonly referred to as a system-on-chip， or SoC. By their nature they offer greater flexibility than a fixed function device， increased configurability over a microcontroller， and more functional diversity than an FPGA， by bringing the best of all these features together in a single platform.

　　There are several reasons why this is a good mix for an application. Performance is the predominant one， which could be interpreted as either throughput or real-time response. Low power and optimized design may be another. The more functions that can be integrated on a single device， the fewer external components needed. These scenarios cover the two ‘corner points’ of SoCs， those that deliver pure performance and those that provide an optimized design.