An ASIC, or application-specific integrated circuit, is a chip with instruction sets hard-wired on it to perform a specific function. ASICs can consolidate the work of many chips into a single, smaller, faster package, reducing manufacturing and support costs while boosting the speed of the device built with them. ASIC technology is now so advanced that many functions traditionally implemented in software can be migrated to ASICs. More specifically, ASICs let designers use the power of constantly improving silicon technology to build devices targeted at specific functions, such as routing. Performance improvements of up to threefold can be achieved through the use of ASICs when compared with the same functions being executed in software. But when you migrate functions to silicon, there is a trade-off. A fully hard-wired implementation of a router can be inflexible and risky. Standards on which the chips are based can change.
