Plenary speaker: “Visions of future SoC design: Why heterogeneous architectures and power matter”

Summary form only given. SoCs have transformed the semiconductor and electronics industries, integrating staggering breadth of functionality and performance into highly cost-effective, low power but complex single-chip solution platforms. However, total power consumption has been and is a challenge moving forward as SoCs keep increasing in performance and functionality whilst users shift from mains powered appliances to the use of battery driven equipment. The presentation therefore discusses some of these challenges and shows examples of how said challenges have been and will be addressed moving forward. Understanding technological and market trends and their drivers in key segments determine the ability to successfully translate vision into reality, and to constantly enhance it. The presentation further touches upon key functional blocks in modern SoCs and explains how the GPU is becoming the new driving force not only for modern applications but also for design methodologies and process technologies, and how heterogeneous processing is transforming the way SoCs handle key user applications such as UI´s, gaming, multimedia and more.