SoC and SiP difference

[techcossack]

Dear all,

i know this question has likely been raised before, but since Intel CEO Gelsinger mentioned “system foundry”, I’ll ask again:
what is the difference between System on A Chip (SoC) and System in Package (SiP)? I was going through the Internet, and I‘ve got the impression that the concepts are changing as time goes on, since the definitions I got are all a bit different.

I’m interested in the conceptual difference from the angle of advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration:
1. in SoC, does it mean that different tiles (GPU, CPU etc) have the same process nodes, whereas in a SiP, they are of different nodes?
2. in SoC, are all the tiles put on the same interposer, whereas in SiP, chips are on different substrates? (This part is the most confusing)
Also, in SoC and SiP, who will be the ones integrating the chiplet’s? OSAT (ex. ASE) or foundry (ex. TSMC)?

 

[Nish]

System on chip (SoC) generally means it is a single chip, no tiles or chiplets... If you have multiple chips like tiles or chiplets, then its system in package (SiP)...

 

[blueone]

System on chip (SoC) generally means it is a single chip, no tiles or chiplets... If you have multiple chips like tiles or chiplets, then its system in package (SiP)...

There's also a variation where you have a chip, like the Apple M2 CPU, which Apple calls an SoC:

Apple unveils M2 with breakthrough performance and capabilities

Apple today announced M2, beginning the next generation of Apple silicon designed specifically for the Mac.

www.apple.com

Likely because it has multiple independent subsystems of different types of compute cores and memory and I/O units on the same die, and puts the SoC into a single package with other chips, like LPDDR5 memory, and creates an SiP with one or more integrated SoCs. The M1 Ultra is an SiP that contains two SoCs with an UltraFusion chip connecting them within the package:

Apple unveils M1 Ultra, the world’s most powerful chip for a personal computer

Apple today announced M1 Ultra, the next giant leap for Apple silicon and the Mac.

www.apple.com

 

[techcossack]

There's also a variation where you have a chip, like the Apple M2 CPU, which Apple calls an SoC:

Apple unveils M2 with breakthrough performance and capabilities

Apple today announced M2, beginning the next generation of Apple silicon designed specifically for the Mac.

www.apple.com

Likely because it has multiple independent subsystems of different types of compute cores and memory and I/O units on the same die, and puts the SoC into a single package with other chips, like LPDDR5 memory, and creates an SiP with one or more integrated SoCs. The M1 Ultra is an SiP that contains two SoCs with an UltraFusion chip connecting them within the package:

Apple unveils M1 Ultra, the world’s most powerful chip for a personal computer

Apple today announced M1 Ultra, the next giant leap for Apple silicon and the Mac.

www.apple.com

So…the M1 SoC isn’t in a single package?

 

[blueone]

So…the M1 SoC isn’t in a single package?

All of the M1s and M2s are in a single package.

 

[techcossack]

All of the M1s and M2s are in a single package.

That’s why I’ve been confused by the terms. If both M1 and M2 are in a single package, and both basically integrate cores with different functions..why one is a SiP and the other is a SoC? Does it have something to do with interposer and how the dies are connected?

 

[blueone]

That’s why I’ve been confused by the terms. If both M1 and M2 are in a single package, and both basically integrate cores with different functions..why one is a SiP and the other is a SoC? Does it have something to do with interposer and how the dies are connected?

Both the M1 and the M2 consist of one or two SoCs and multiple memory chips in a single package, hence all of them are both SoCs and SiPs. Every one of them.

 

[techcossack]

I see. is there a good example of a SoC that is not a SiP?

 

[blueone]

I see. is there a good example of a SoC that is not a SiP?

I think the Nvidia Bluefield 3 DPU is an SoC that's not an SiP, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. Or even $100.

https://www.nvidia.com/content/dam/en-zz/Solutions/Data-Center/documents/datasheet-nvidia-bluefield-3-dpu.pdf

 

[yanfeng]

SIP is a system of systems of SOC, and SOC is a standalone and functional
die

 

[Paul2]

I see. is there a good example of a SoC that is not a SiP?

Qualcomm snapdragon: single die systems with tons of analog, and RF hardware moved onto die as well.