Essential Guide to Semiconductors, The

Custom ASIC Chips

For companies with the financial and technical wherewithal, an ASIC is the product of choice. These are “real” custom chips, manufactured using the best process technology to deliver the best performance and lowest power consumption. ASICs aren't generic like field-programmable chips, although they are mass-produced, but only for one customer. An ASIC is the best opportunity for a moderately funded company to design, own, and sell its own chips.

In this chapter, we use ASIC as a catch-all term for a group of subtly different products and processes that all solve the same problem. ASIC stands for application-specific integrated circuit, which is meant to suggest that the chip is designed for one specific application or product. ...