可编程片上系统如何帮助我们找到配置和性能之间的平衡

　　可编程片上系统帮助制造商找到配置和性能之间的平衡

　　尽管半导体技术是所有电子产品的基础，但真正使我们的现代世界得以发展的是软件。与硬件相比，软件提供了几乎无限的灵活性，当在高性能微处理器上运行时，它可以带来惊人的结果。例如，如果没有在最新处理器上运行的软件的结合，人工智能的发展将是不可能的。

　　在过去的几十年里，硬件和软件之间的平衡发生了变化。人们普遍认为，产品功能的大约70%现在是在嵌入式软件级别定义的，这几乎完全取决于它的灵活性。

　　然而，随着应用程序推动性能的界限，这种不平衡成为限制因素。软件最终是以抽象的形式实现一个函数，它在执行时间方面不可避免地增加了开销。在专用硬件中实现的同一功能，在晶体管级，将总是更快地执行。这种性能增益通常是以灵活性为代价的，但是由于集成了三个关键技术：处理核心、固定功能和可重构硬件，设备性能和灵活性之间的平衡变得更加容易。

　　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.