ASIC
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is a chip custom-designed and fabricated to perform one particular function, trading the flexibility of general-purpose hardware for higher performance and efficiency at that specific task.
Definition
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is a chip custom-designed and fabricated to perform one particular function, trading the flexibility of general-purpose hardware for higher performance and efficiency at that specific task.
Overview
Where a general-purpose CPU or a reconfigurable FPGA can be programmed for many different tasks, an ASIC's circuitry is fixed at the time of manufacturing to perform exactly one job as efficiently as possible. Designing an ASIC involves a lengthy and expensive process of circuit design, simulation, and fabrication, so it's typically only economical when a chip will be produced and used at large enough scale to justify the upfront cost. In exchange for that inflexibility, ASICs generally offer better performance per watt and lower per-unit cost at scale than general-purpose alternatives, because every part of the chip is dedicated to the target workload rather than supporting a broad range of possible instructions. This tradeoff has made ASICs the standard choice for extremely high-volume or performance-critical applications, from cryptocurrency mining hardware to the specialized accelerator chips found in smartphones and data centers. Because an ASIC's function can't be changed after fabrication, hardware teams often prototype and validate a design on an FPGA first, only committing to an ASIC once the design is proven, since a flawed ASIC typically can't be fixed without an expensive re-fabrication. It is often mentioned alongside GPU Computing in this space. It is often mentioned alongside CUDA in this space.
Key Concepts
- Custom-designed and fabricated for one specific function
- Offers higher performance and power efficiency than general-purpose hardware for its target task
- Cannot be reprogrammed after manufacturing, unlike an FPGA
- High upfront design and fabrication cost, economical mainly at scale
- Often preceded by FPGA prototyping to validate the design first
- Widely used in high-volume consumer and specialized data center hardware