The document compares System on Chip (SoC) and System on Module (SoM) in embedded systems, detailing their definitions, building blocks, advantages, and motivations for their use. SoCs integrate all processing elements and peripherals into a single chip, while SoMs encapsulate these components on a small board connected to a baseboard. Both aim to facilitate the development of efficient, high-performance embedded systems suited to modern applications like AI and IoT.

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SoC Vs SoM : System On Chip Vs System On
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What Is System On Chip, SoC?
ASystem on Chipor SoCisakeycomponentin EmbeddedSystemstoday.An SoCreferstoa
singlechipor ICwith acompletelyelectronicor computer system fabricated.
ItusuallyintegratesaCPU,GPU,DSP,memory,I/Os,andexternal interfacessuch asUSBand
analoginputandoutputblocks.Thisway,an SoChaseverythingneededtofunction likean
independentsystem exceptfor apower supply.Itcan besolderedon amotherboardwith
power circuitryandrelevantexternal interfaces.
Tableof Content
• WhatisSystem onChip,SoC?
•Motivation
•Building Blocks ofan SoC
•Advantages ofSoC
•What is System on Module, SoM?
•Motivation
•SoM:An Answerto Developers’ Woes
• AdvantagesofSoM
• SoCvsSoM
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2. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
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Likeanyother computer system,an SoCcan perform variousfunctions,includingbutnot
limitedtoArtificial Intelligence,MachineLearning,IoT,wirelesscommunication,andimage
processing.
Exampleslikethepopular RaspberryPi’sBCM2835,ESP8266chip,NVIDIA’sTegraK1,
Qualcomm’sSnapdragon 820,andNXP’sI.MX series.
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Motivation
Themain motivation behindthedevelopmentof SoCtechnologyistomakepower efficient,
cost-effective,andminiaturizedsystems.An SoCisan answer toall thesequestionsbecause
itessentiallyreducesadesign containingmultipleprocessingelementsandmicrochipsinto
onesinglechip.
Thisway,notonlydoesitreducethedevicesizebutalsoeffectivelyreducesthepower
consumption.SoCisthemain drivingforcebehindthearrival of smartdigital devicessuch as
smartphones,tablets,laptops,andmanymore.
Building Blocks Of An SoC
Attimes,an SoCisreferredtoastheprocessor or controller in an embeddedapplication,butit
ismuch morethan that.An SoCtypicallyhasthefollowingbuildingblocks:
1.Dependingon theapplication,singleor multipleprocessingelementssuch asa
microprocessor,microcontroller,or DSP.
2.On-chipmemoryelementssuch asFlash,EEPROM,or RAM.Or memoryaccesscontrol
for external or off-chipmemory.
3.GPUfor graphical processing.
4.External communication interfacessuch asUSB,Ethernet,andI2C,etc.
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4. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
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5.Wi-Fi,Bluetooth,or anyother application-specificprotocol for wirelesscommunication.
6.Application-relatedhardwaresuch asvideoencoder/decoder.
7.Voltageregulator,ADC/DAC,Clock,PLL,etc
8.Internal interfacebus.
Advantages Of SoC
1.Softwareandhardwareco-design andIP corereusability.
2.Power efficiency,small size,andreducedcost.
3.Reducedlatencyasasinglechipisresponsiblefor all tasksandhenceefficient
performance.
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5. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
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4.Reducedeffortfor softwaredevelopersastheydon’thavetoworryaboutdesigning
underlyingfunctional hardware.
What Is System On Module, SoM?
Much likean SoC,aSystem on aModuleor SoMintegratesthecorecomponentsof an
embeddedprocessingsystem,such asprocessor,memory,andperipherals,in oneplace.
However,unlikean SoC,an SoMprovidesthisfunctionalityon aPCBor amodulerather than a
singlechip.In thisregard,an SoMisaboard-level system.Typically,itisasmall boardthathas
manyICsor chipsincorporatedintoit.
TheseICsusuallyincludean SoCanditssupportingcomponentssuch asmemory,clock,
power management,andother application-relatedpartssuch asADC/DAC,GPS,Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth,audiocodecmodem,etc.
However,an SoMisnotthecompleteproductbutapartof theproduct.Itisconnectedtoan
external boardor thebaseboardthrough pins,edgeconnectors,or solder tabs.Itservesas
thethinkingboardor themain processingelementfor thespecifiedapplication.
SomeexamplesincludeXilinx’sKria,Google’sCoral SoM,ESP32-WROOM-32,Microchip’s
SAMA5D27,etc.
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6. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
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Motivation
Thekeymotivation behindthedesign of SoMsistoeaseembeddedhardware’shighlycomplex
design procedureandfulfill theprocessingrequirementsof high-endapplicationslikeAI.
Theuseof SoCdoesmakethingssimpler asthedesigner doesn’thavetoputeffortintoeach
aspectof thecircuit,andalotof functionalitycomesintothechip.
However,thedesigner still needstohaveadetailedunderstandingof theSoCchip,including
each pin’sfunction,thethermal propertiesof theSoC,andthepaddesign.
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7. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
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Totakecareof this,an SoMoffersamodulewith areallysmall form factor thatcan be
connectedtoabaseboard,simplifyingthewholeprocedurewhilekeepingpower budgetslow
andmakingthem suitablefor awiderangeof applications.
SoM: An Answer To Developers’ Woes
Thedesign anddevelopmentof an embeddedsystem can betedious,especiallywhen you
havetodesign acustomizedboard.
Manufacturingandtestingdelaysmaketimeconstraintsmuch tighter.An SoMmakesthe
wholedesign proceduresmoother.All you needtodoistochoosean SoMthatsuitsyour
requirements,integrateitwith your main deviceandyou aregoodtogo.
Developerscan useall thissavedtimetoconcentrateon their application software,
significantlycuttingdown thetime-to-marketandtheoverall costs.
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8. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
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Although itappearsthatan SoMissimilar toan evaluation boardlikeArduino,whatmakesit
much morethan thatistheideathatan SoMcan alsobeusedin thefinal productwithout
losingreliabilityor performance.
On topof that,SoMsoffer greater performanceefficiency,reliability,andscalabilitytothe
design.
Advantages Of SoM
1.Noneedfor adeepunderstandingandexperiencein hardware,makingitideal for
softwaredevelopers.SomeSOMsalsocomewith driverssothedeveloper can
completelyfocuson theapplication layer.
2.Makesthedesign processfor hardwaredevelopersfaster,moreefficient,andmore
resourceefficient.FPGAperformanceandflexibilitycan beachievedwithoutgoing
through theslowandtediousprocessof PCBdesign andmanufacturing.
3.Interchangeabilityandeasytoupgrade.An upgradedversion of SoMwith thesameform
factor can easilyreplacetheolder unitwithoutchangingtheunderlyinghardware
completely.
4.Thesimplifiedlifecycleof theproduct.
5.High performance,reliability,andscalability.
6.Reducedtime-to-market
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9. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
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SoC Vs SoM
Asdiscussed,SOCandSOMboth servethebasicpurposeof makingembeddeddesign
procedureseasier andsmoother for developers.
Theyareintendedtoenabledeveloperstoworkon high-endapplicationssuch asAI andIoTs
anddesign andproduceembeddedsystemstomeetthestringentdesign requirementsof this
dayandage.
Theserequirementsincludelesser time-to-develop,reducedcost,lower power consumption,
lower latency,andhigh performance.
An SoCisessentiallyachipwith all theembeddedcomponentsneededfor aspecific
function,such asprocessingelements,memory,I/Os,andother peripherals,integratedinto
thatchip.
An SoMintegratesthesesamecomponentson asingleboardwith asmall form factor that
can easilybeconnectedtoamain boardor baseboard.
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10. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
https://oxeltech.de/en/system-on-chip-soc-vs-system-on-module-som/ 10/19
Still, there are some ways in which SoMs outperform SoCs, as follows:
1.DesigningandmanufacturingaproprietySoCisaveryexpensiveprocessandcan cost
millionsof dollars.Therefore,itisonlyaffordablebymajor companieslikeAppleand
Samsung.However,SMEscan useSoCsdevelopedbythesecompaniesthatarebest
suitedtotheir needs.
2.Although SoCmakesthetaskof thedeveloper easier bytakingcareof all the
applicationsinsidethechip,thereisstill aneedtobeawareof thedetailedfunctionality
of thechip,itspin configuration,thermal propertiesfor soldering,andpadstructure.An
SoM,on theother hand,makesyou completelyindependentof thesetasksasit’sjusta
plug-and-playsortof device.
3.SoMsalsooffer greater flexibilityasadeveloper can usemultipleSoMswith different
SoCson thesamebaseboard.Thiswayanyapplication can betestedon different
architecturesjustbyswappingtheSoMs.
4.SoMsoffer interchangeabilityin design asthecomponentsfrom theSoMcan beeasily
interchangedwhenever anewer improvedversion of thecomponentisavailablewith
thesameform factor.Therewill benoneedtomakeanychangestotherestof the
circuitor tochangeitcompletely.However,in thecaseof SoC,thereisonlyonewayto
upgrade,andthatistoreplacethechip.
5.SoMscan berecycledbyusingtheolder SoMboardsin cheaper designs.
6.ThesameSoMcan beusedin thefinal productusedduringthedevelopmentand
testingphasewithoutanylossof reliability.
7.SoMperformswell in termsof performanceefficiency,power consumption,speed,
reliability,andscalability.
In anutshell,duetoasignificantrisein demandfor embeddedelectronicdevicesin AI,
industrial IoT,andsmartcities,thereisastrongneedfor attributessuch asefficientusageof
power with high performanceandplugn’ playfeatures.System on Module,SoMappearstobe
agoodchoiceof devicetomeetsuch needs.
MuhammadUmair wrotetheArticlefrom OxelTech (https://oxeltech.de/).If you arefacing
anyproblemsin dealingwith problemsregardingtheSystem on Chip
(https://oxeltech.de/en/hardware-design-and-simulation/)in your design,you aremost
welcometogetin touch.
Team Oxeltech
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11. 2/24/23, 1:09 PM SoC vs SoM (System on Chip vs System on Module)
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 December 23, 2022(https://oxeltech.de/en/2022/12/23/)
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