CDAC plans to set up local unit to design microprocessors

New Delhi: As part of the government’s Make in India campaign, the Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) plans to develop its own microprocessor design unit to cater to the growing demand for electronic devices.

“We have created a space in higher-end technologies, and we can do the similar thing with electronics. We are looking at launching a microprocessor design for our own needs,” said Rajat Moona, director general of CDAC, a research and development organization that is part of the department of electronics and information technology.

CDAC, according to Moona, is looking at a complete ecosystem—designing, providing tools, providing design support or reference designs, manpower, fabs (short for fabrication units or semiconductor manufacturing plants), support infrastructure and manufacturing units.

A microprocessor is an integrated circuit that can perform all the functions of a central processing unit, which can be likened to the heart of a computer. If locally manufactured, it can reduce the cost of electronic devices since it does away with licensing costs.

Pointing out that bigger companies such as Intel Corp. and ARM Holdings Plc dominate in the area of electronic manufacturing, Moona said since “we don’t have that kind of funding”, CDAC is looking “at niche markets to supply it (the in-house microprocessor), for particular applications such as Internet of Things (IoT), cameras, sensors and embedded controller systems, and then maybe grow from there”.

Moona explained that every time an Indian company uses a processor from a mobile device manufacturing company like Intel or ARM to develop a physical product, it has to pay a royalty to these companies.

Typically, he added, that for a $100 mobile device, the licensing cost would be $1-1.25, in addition to other costs including physical components. CDAC, according to Moona, is exploring a licence-free mechanism that “will definitely bring down the cost”.

“The point is microprocessors can be built in India, owned in India. One major impact will be ownership of technology. The other will be impact on manpower and expertise because once something becomes available, the expertise grows around it. Once you have expertise and people here and the product is available, then the cost reduction happened automatically,” said Moona.

While demand for electronics hardware is rapidly increasing in India and is projected to rise to $400 billion by 2020, domestic production is expected to reach $104 billion, creating a gap of $296 billion between demand and production, according to a 2014 report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd.

Manufacturing and designing microprocessors locally come with their own set of challenges.

“If India is able to design microprocessors or micro-controllers, or cores as we call it, it will be definitely useful for the industry at large. However, it can not happen overnight,” said Narayana Swamy, managing director of Meti M2M India Pvt. Ltd, a Mysore-based company that develops IoT technologies.