Texas Instruments shows India not a chip of old block

You will probably watch the next cricket World Cup to be held in the Caribbeans live on the next-generation mobile phones. Or, you may watch it on the new digital television. You may end up discussing cricket scores with a close friend on your latest mobile gizmo.

But you may not be aware that these products used in your day-to-day life have a 'Made in India' component.

For instance, Texas Instruments (TI) recently launched 'Hollywood', a chip that enables mobile phone users to watch live TV programmes. A major chunk of the chip development happened at TI's India centre.

TI also played a major role in developing a single-chip technology (combining memory, power management and network processes) for mobile phone makers in emerging markets. The result "� mobile phones priced below Rs 1,000 or $20 became a reality!

Similarly, Motorola's Moto Razr V3, a product that redefined the mobile handset, has an Indian element in it. The baseband processor on which the software runs came out of Freescale's India Design Centre (IDC).

Also, the first 32-bit microcontroller with USB-On-The-Go and Flash Memory on a single chip solution for applications enabling remote data collection was developed at Freescale IDC.

Freescale, formerly Motorola's semiconductor products sector, began its R&D operations in 1998. "Our centre focusses on software development for the next-generation mobile platform solutions and technologies such as embedded software, solutions for multimedia, connectivity and digital video broadcasting," says Ganesh Guruswamy, country manager and director, Freescale Semiconductor India.

Another firm Cadence India is a microcosm of its global operations. Its R&D centre at Noida, established in 1987, is the largest outside North America.

"We are involved in new technology development, a growing patent portfolio and co-development of new design methodologies," points out Rahul Arya, marketing director, India and Saarc, Cadence Design Systems.

The Dutch conglomerate Royal Philips Electronics is working on chips for digital televisions. It has invested $60 million in its Bangalore centre to build the world's thinnest chip.

The Bangalore-based Beceem Communications, a start-up, has developed the world's first chipsets for mobile WiMax platforms. (WiMax is wireless technology that provides wireless broadband connectivity over long distances up to 50 km.)

India has finally arrived on the global stage of chip design. Companies, whether MNCs or start-ups, are working on next generation chips. About 130 chip firms presently operate out of India, employing over 10,000 engineers. As many as 18 of the top 25 chip companies have set up centres in India.

India Semiconductor Association president Poornima Shenoy notes that Indian chip design industry is not limited to low-end designs: "They are involved in end-to-end design activities ranging from chip architecture development, design verification and layout, all the way to design tape out. The design houses are working on 90/130 nm (nano metre) design rules with some players working on the 65 nm experimental lines. It clearly demonstrates the confidence of the global players in the potential of the talent pool available in the country."

MNCs such as AMD, IBM, Cisco, Broadcom, Philips and Freescale are showering their dollars in India to ramp up their presence.

According to S N Padmanabhan, senior vice-president (semiconductor practice), MindTree Consulting, if the trend of moving high-end design to India continues, the nation will emerge as a major semiconductor power in the next 10 years.

He adds: "It will cater to the need of the west and the east. Semiconductor manufacturing will start shifting towards India. It will also emerge as a dominant hub for intellectual property that gets incorporated in high-end design. The 'elephant' will overtake the 'tigers'."