To overcome the disadvantages of discrete devices technology, the designs are developed using, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). The ASICs do have low cost solution for large hardware electronics circuits. However, ASIC requires masks and layouts of the design. These masks and layout are to be sent to the foundry which increases the cost of the ASIC chip. ASICs also require high non- recurring engineering (NRE) costs and high annual production volumes to be economic, either as semi-custom or full custom.
Advantages :
- The space requirement is lower.
- The power requirement is low.
- The cost is considerably low for mass production.
- The use of high level of integration reduces the cost.
- The designs can't be copied.
Disadvantages :
- The development cost is large.
- The testing efforts are larger.