Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras scholars and researchers have toiled hard to come up with India’s first indigenous microprocessor, according to a report. Named ‘Shakti’, this will prove to be very useful in reducing dependency on microchips which are imported from abroad. ‘Shakti’ can utilise in surveillance cameras and smartphones. The design of this microprocessor was done by IIT-Madras. Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Chandigarh has fabricated the microchip which is essential for ‘Shakti’.
Talking to TOI, the chief researcher at IIT-M’s laboratory Kamakoti Veezhinatham said that modern synthesis language named Bluespec has been used for the chips. He said that the researcher has used such a design which will help them overcome the difficulties that arise due to addition of new features and changes that are required to be used in different devices. Veezhinathan also said that with the advent of digital India there are several applications that require customised processor cores.
According to IIT-M, the product would assist the defence, nuclear power and government agencies in reducing the threat from systems infected with back-doors and hardware Trojans. The SCL, which has played a significant part, is an autonomous body engaged in research and development in microelectronics to meet the strategic needs of the country, it added.
