Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

An ASIC is a custom-designed processor that improves performance over a similar design with standard chips and lowers the cost of developing new systems. ASICs are commonly used in high-speed switches and routers. A typical device designed without ASICs will have many individual chips and components, and run many functions in software. An ASIC can consolidate the function of all of those chips, and even the software, onto a single chip. The resulting chip is often referred to as "customized silicon." The latest ASIC technology can put millions of logic gates on a single chip.