System-On-Chip(SOC) Technologies develops semiconductor intellectual property for video-based electronic systems.
SOC specializes in high-performance video CODEC IP Cores such as MPEG2, H.264, and H.265 encoders, decoders, and transcoders. SOC's MPEG CODECs are implemented using its proprietary single-clock driven, all-hardware parallel architecture (without processors and embedded software), which feature a tiny silicon footprint, ultra-low latency, and ultra-low power consumption.
SOC MPEG video/audio CODECs are available as IP Cores for FPGA-level integration and as standalone plug-and-play modules for PCB-level integration. SOC offers great flexibility, customizing product specifications and hardware interfaces to suit the needs of its clients. SOC also manufactures FPGA prototyping boards and provides additional IP Cores such as Ethernet, UDP/IP, video scaling, to enable faster video-based product development.
SOC started as a research effort in 1995 led by Dr. Shaowen Song out of Wilfird Laurier University, to develop the most high-performance CODEC engines using all-hardware architecture without any embedded processors or software. In 2005, SOC successfully brought MPEG-2 CODECs to market, followed by H.264 CODECs soon after. SOC also supported the H.265 standard after its release.
Today, SOC continues to innovate in the hardware CODEC IP marketplace, investing in new standards while supporting its customers and portfolio of current CODEC products. SOC's products are designed future-proof so that customers can easily upgrade to SOC's next-generation products when they choose to. SOC has customers spread out over 30 countries and counting.
SOC's mission is to provide high-end video-audio CODEC solutions that enable video content to be delivered to/from hardware systems over any network, with minimum latency and resource utilization.
Driven by engineering excellence and customer success, SOC has sucessfully brought H.265, H.264, and MPEG-2 Codec products to market, and continues to invest in multimedia hardware products.
Dr. Song is the founder, and currently the president and CTO of SOC Technologies. Dr. Song received his Ph.D. in engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1993, and has been working in the fields of R&D and academia since, with positions at National Research Council Canada (1992-1995), University of Prince Edward Island (1995-1998), and Wilfrid Laurier University (1998-present). Dr. Song is a professor of computer science at Wilfrid Laurier University. He has over 80 publications and holds a number of patents in electronics and opto-electronics. Dr. Song is a senior member of IEEE, and was the associate editor of Canadian IEEE Review for 4 years (1999-2003). Shaowen is currently sitting on editorial boards for several international journals. Dr. Song’s previous business experience include: General Manager of Atlantic Import/Export Ltd. (1989 – 1995), Owner of Newtech Computers Ltd. (1995-1998), Co-founder and CTO of Nary-Photonics Corporation (1999-2001).
Mr. Chad Hartman received his B.Sc. in Computer Electronics from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2006, and has been with SOC Technologies since. Chad completed his required courses for a Master’s Degree of Engineering at the University of Guelph through a part-time program while also working at SOC. He also completed a number of training courses related to hardware design and FPGA technology. As the Chief Engineer, Chad provides the leadership on technology research and product development at SOC. His knowledge of video/audio compression techniques and skills in digital systems have contributed greatly to the success of SOC.
Mr. Blake Li received his Master's Degree of Electrical Engineering from Polytechnique Montréal in 2010 and has been with SOC Technologies since 2011. He has also completed numerous training courses related to Hardware Design and FPGA Technologies. As the VP of R&D, Blake currently provides leadership in Technology Research and Product Development at SOC.
Allan Beaupre has worked independently as a Certified Accountant (CA) since 1996. Previously, he has served venture capital firms in both partner and CFO roles. Additionally, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of several medium-sized corporations in South-western Ontario. Allan has volunteered in many capacities - most recently as treasurer of St. Joseph's Health System and as the Chair of Kitchener Wilmot Hydro.