The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) has collaborated with United Kingdom (UK) based semiconductor IP (Intellectual property) company Arm through the “Arm Flexible Access for Startups” (AFAS) program to expand semiconductor support under the Design Linked Incentive Scheme (DLI) and foster the growth of the sector in India during the 2nd day of the conference ‘SemiconIndia 2023’ at Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
SemiconIndia 2023:
i.The ‘SemiconIndia 2023’ is being organized by India Semiconductor Mission in partnership with industry associations.
ii.It aims to make India a global hub for Semiconductor Design, Manufacturing and Technology Development which will help propel the vision of India Semiconductor Mission.
iii.The Conference was inaugurated by Prime Minister(PM), Narendra Modi on 28th July, 2023.
Key points:
i.AFAS program, gives USD $0 license fee access to a broad portfolio of verified Arm IP, tools and training to startups.
- This helps in broadening its eligibility criteria to welcome applications from startups that qualify under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MeitY) SemiconIndia futureDESIGN DLI scheme.
ii.With this partnership, a total of seven startups will work towards producing chip and IP cores for the automotive, mobility, and computing sectors.
DLI scheme:
The DLI scheme, implemented by CDAC, aims to provide financial incentives and design infrastructure support for the development and deployment of semiconductor designs for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductor linked design over a period of five years.
CDAC and Arm intend to work towards the following objectives:
i.Startups selected under DLI will qualify for the Arm Flexible Access for Startups program.
ii.Arm will provide the startups with access to processor and system IPs, reference designs, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Image Signal Processor (ISP), and artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator IPs, and software development tools.
iii.Arm will provide access to thousands of Artisan physical IP products supporting multiple foundries and process nodes for physical design and implementation.
Exchange of MoU Between CeNSE, IISc and LAM Research
Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru,Karnataka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lam Research India to support the skill development of engineers at the SemiconIndia 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
- The MoU aims to develop a customized course offering for Indian universities to teach semiconductor fabrication technology utilizing Lam Research’s Semiverse Solutions virtual fabrication software, SEMulator3D.
The first tranche of the programme with 30 engineers will commence in August 2023 at CeNSE which is expected to be completed by December 2023, and the 2nd tranche by June 2024.
About Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC):
Director General- Magesh Ethirajan
Establishment- 1988
Headquarters- Pune, Maharashtra
