What we usually call "chip" refers to a silicon chip containing an integrated circuit, which is small in size and is often part of a computer or other electronic equipment. Chip or microcircuit, microchip, integrated circuit (English: integrated circuit, IC), in electronics is a kind of circuit (mainly including semiconductor equipment, but also passive components, etc.) It is miniaturized and usually manufactured on the surface of a semiconductor wafer. The aforementioned integrated circuits whose circuits are fabricated on the surface of semiconductor chips are also called thin-film integrated circuits. Another type of thick-film hybrid integrated circuit (hybrid integrated circuit) is a miniaturized circuit composed of independent semiconductor devices and passive components integrated into a substrate or circuit board.

1. The internal structure of the chip

1.1 system level

Take a mobile phone as an example. The entire mobile phone is a complex circuit system that can play games, make calls, listen to music, etc. Its internal structure is composed of multiple semiconductor chips and interconnected resistors, inductors, and capacitors. Called the system level. (Of course, with the development of technology, the technology of building an entire system on a chip has also appeared for many years-SoC technology)

1.2 module level

is divided into many functional modules in the entire system to perform their duties. Some manage power, some are responsible for communication, some are responsible for display, some are responsible for making sounds, some are responsible for commanding overall calculations, and so on. We call it the module level. Every module in it is a huge field, and it is the crystallization of countless human wisdom.

1.3 Register transfer level (RTL)

Each module is an example of a digital circuit module that accounts for a large proportion of the entire system (it is responsible for logical operations, and the electrical signals processed are all discrete 0 and 1). It is composed of registers and combinational logic circuits.

A register is a circuit structure that can temporarily store logic values. It needs a clock signal to control the length of time the logic values are stored. In practical applications, a clock is needed to measure the length of time, and a clock signal is also needed in the circuit to make overall arrangements. The clock signal is a rectangular wave with a stable period. In reality, one second movement is a basic time scale, and one cycle of rectangular waves in a circuit is a time scale of their world. The circuit components act accordingly and fulfill their obligations according to this time scale.

Combination logic is a combination of many "AND, OR, and NOT" logic gates.

A complex functional module is composed of many registers and combinational logic. Call this level the register transfer level.

1.4 gate level

The register in the register transfer stage is actually composed of AND or non-logic. If it is subdivided into AND, OR, and non-logic, it reaches the gate level (they are like doors that block/allow electrical signals). In and out, hence the name).

1.5 Transistor level

Regardless of whether it is a digital circuit or an analog circuit, the lowest level is transistor level. All logic gates (AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, XOR, etc.) are composed of transistors. Therefore, integrated circuits go from macroscopic to microscopic, reaching the lowest level. Looking around, they are actually transistors and the wires that connect them.

Bipolar transistors (BJT) were used more in the early days, commonly known as triodes. It is connected with resistors, power supplies, and capacitors, and has the function of amplifying the signal itself. Like a pile of wood, it can be used to form various circuits, such as switches, voltage/current source circuits, the above-mentioned logic gate circuits, filters, comparators, adders and even integrators, and so on. The circuit built by BJT is called TTL (Transistor-TransistorLogic) circuit.

But later, the emergence of metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) swept the IC field with excellent electrical characteristics and ultra-low power consumption. In addition to the presence of BJT in analog circuits, basically today's integrated circuits are composed of MOS transistors. Similarly, thousands of circuits can be built by it. And it can also be used as basic circuit elements such as resistors and capacitors through proper connection.
In summary, in actual industrial production, the manufacturing of chips is actually the manufacturing process of thousands of transistors. It's just that in reality, the order of manufacturing chips is reversed, starting with the transistors at the bottom layer and building up layer by layer.

2. Chipset

Chipset (Chipset) is the core component of the motherboard. According to the different arrangement position on the motherboard, it is usually divided into North Bridge chip and South Bridge chip. The North Bridge chip provides support for CPU type and main frequency, memory type and maximum capacity, ISA/PCI/AGP slot, ECC error correction, etc. The South Bridge chip provides support for KBC (keyboard controller), RTC (real-time clock controller), USB (universal serial bus), Ultra DMA/33 (66) EIDE data transmission method and ACPI (advanced energy management), etc. . Among them, the north bridge chip plays a leading role, also known as the host bridge (Host Bridge).

The identification of the chipset is also very easy. Take the Intel 440BX chipset as an example. Its north bridge chip is the Intel 82443BX chip, which is usually located near the CPU socket on the motherboard. Due to the high heat generation of the chip, it is installed on this chip. heat sink. The South Bridge chip is located close to the ISA and PCI slots, and the chip name is Intel 82371EB. The arrangement position of other chipsets is basically the same. For different chipsets, there are also gaps in performance.

(Summarized by Easybom)