Industry Expert Blogs

From: [ Jim Hogan of Vista Ventures LLC ]

Hi, John,

I noticed in the article on IP reuse tools as the #2 user pick for DAC, the respondent who discussed Sonics SGN Network-on-Chip (NoC) IP pointed out a common source of confusion. There is a category of On-Chip Communications Network technology that is extremely important for multi-core SoCs, yet still ill-defined, and I think as a result, not well understood.

As a long term investor of Sonics -- and recently a board member -- I have constructed a Meta map of this area for my own understanding. I would like to share it with your readers for their use. It covers everything from market drivers, terminology, make-or-buy, and metrics and rankings for commercial Network-on-Chip IP vendors. As always, I welcome input to help add clarity and understanding.

Mobile consumer devices are driving SoC growth, led by smart phones, solid state memory devices and tablets. Users want their applications to run fast, and they want to have the device run for a day without recharging. Apple's iPad has raised consumer's expectations with regard to how well HW and SW work together.

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