Re: Will SoC completely replace generalized microcontrollers?

Telenochek wrote: 
Sure I understand that right now FPGA dev tools put a heavy burden on
the developer. Same goes for ARM development.

But when the development tools become advanced enough so that you can
go:
I want a 16bit 30MIPS processor in the center, and a CAN controller
over here and RF transmitter over here, and a FFT core right here.
Then write some code in software (Java/C++)  (not VHDL/Verilog HDLs) or
better yet just draw it in a visual GUI in the form of a block diagram,
click the block, set some settings and it works. With all the hardware
correctly configured & clocking synchronization issues automatically
taken care of.
Like C++ application development, only in hardware.

How far away are we from the above scenario? 

 If you want to look at trends, the problem is not going to be
software, it will be power consumption.
 Yes, SW has been getting steadily better, but the Static Icc of
FPGAs has been getting worse for a number of generations.

Take something like a MSP430, and try and get even close to replace that electrical performance in a FPGA.

 Another flaw of the SoC mindset, is the resource wastage. For
some designs it looks a good solution, but for many others, the
components the SoC vendor has chosen, have hard ceilings, and
you end up more constrained in design, than when using more
conventional components.

 The number of generalized microcontrollers has been growing, not
declining, over the last decade, and that is not about to reverse.

-jg

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