We investigate the differences in speed between applicationspecific integrated circuits and custom integrated circuits when each are implemented in the same process technology, with some examples in 0.25 micron CMOS. We first attempt to account for the elements that make the performance different and then examine ways in which tools and methodologies may close the performance gap between application-specific integrated circuits and custom circuits. Keywords ASIC, clock frequency, clock speed, comparison, custom.
David G. Chinnery, Kurt Keutzer