A single-chip microcomputer

chipset

I'm a bit confused about what a single-chip microcomputer is. Specifically, what is the difference between a single-chip microcomputer and a multi-chip microcomputer? (Since chip is so informal, what exactly does it refer to?)

Best Answer

Here are the main differences:

Single Chip

PIC Chip single-chip computer

  • Everything is packaged in the same single physical IC
  • The IC contains the CPU core(s)
  • The IC contains the memory (ROM and RAM)
  • The IC contains all the IO hardware (Video, serial, etc)

Single-chip computers are mainly of the form known as Microcontroller chips (the most commonly known are the PIC range by Microchip inc) and used in embedded devices. They provide much more basic functionality but are far simpler to work with as they don't require any external chips in order to function. Some attempts have been made to create single-chip computers of the style of Intel or AMD PC architectures, but due to the complexity of the components involved this has not been a very easy task. Again, these are generally used in low-end embedded systems, such as touch-pad devices and industrial control systems.

Multi-chip

Multi-chip diagram

  • The CPU IC contains the CPU cores.
  • The Video GPU contains the video processor.
  • The RAM modules contain the RAM memory.
  • The BIOS chip contains the ROM memory.
  • The "chipset" (northbridge/southbridge, etc) contains the IO logic and bus interface logic

Traditional computers are Multi-Chip. Some of the most recent processors (some of the i series from Intel) include the video GPU in the processor IC, but they still require external chips in order to interface with the rest of the computer (PCI bridge, etc)

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