Interface definition by function
As a generic definition, an interface in an SoC is a hardware block that acts as a proxy through which transactions are converted from one domain into another. The domain itself depends on the type of interface in question and what transformation it performs. We can distinguish many functions in an SoC topology, some of which are as follows:
- Type 1: A peripheral that performs a dedicated task in the hardware within the same chip, such as an interrupt controller, a system timer, or a central direct memory access (DMA) engine.
- Type 2: A peripheral that performs a dedicated task in the hardware in another chip external to the SoC, such as a temperature sensor, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), or an analog-to-digital converter (ADC).
- Type 3: A peripheral that acts as an input/output (I/O) device such as a general-purpose input/output (GPIO) device or a display controller.
- Type 4: A peripheral that performs a low-speed communication...