Indian Institute of Technology – Madras, (IIT-Madras) researchers have successfully meltdown ‘Moushik’, which is a Microprocessor designed and fabricated in India. Moushik, a processor and System-on-Chip (SoC), can read instructions and implement. Being an SoC processor, different components can be attached to it. This is the Shakti Microprocessor programme’s third in the series of six computer chips.

Prof. V. Kamakoti, Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems Engineering (RISE) Group, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT-Madras said, “Moushik’can be used in Credit cards, Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), surveillance cameras, safe locks, personalized Health Management Systems and a boost of other Internet of Things (IoT) devices.”

He added, “This is a 180nm chip with a 100Mhz speed and can cater to various small devices and home appliances. In terms of cost, if there is an order for one million units, the cost can be brought down to even 1USD per chip. Even though it is of less processing power, India needs billions of such chips for various purposes.”

Moushik is a collaborative effort between Indian academia and scientific facilities. IIT-Madras designed the microprocessor, motherboard PCB, and assembled it. It’s the place where the post-silicon boot-up is completed. The backend design and fabrication were completed at the Semi-Conductor Laboratory of India Space Research Organization (ISRO), Chandigarh. Manufacturing took place in Bengaluru and Shakthi Moushik SoC will form the heart of an indigenously-developed motherboard named - Ardonyx 1.0.

Moushik’s predecessor – Risecreek (Indian chip design which is 22nm and is fabricated by Intel) is being used in India’s strategic sector. Risecreek delivers the requirement of 100-350 MHz speed segment, and Rimo, is another chip was developed and designed in India on the 180nm technology. Prof Kamakoti said, “Now we have three processors ready and another class of processors is in the works. To serve higher computing speeds we can use the existing chips, combine them like building blocks and scale-up.”

At present, Indian developed can offer upto 180nm technology chips. As efficiency decrease with increase in nm, some of the chips that power contemporary smartphones and laptops range within 5nm and 22nm. Predictions suggest Indian facilities will scale up their technology in the next years.

IIT says, “The Shakti series Microprocessors can be used by others as it is on par with International Standards and can pave way for a global market. Given their open-source nature, startups and industries can customize its design based on their needs. Indigenous design, development and fabricating also reduces the risk of using (Imported) systems that may be infected with back-doors and hardware Trojans. This development will assume huge significance when systems based on SHAKTI processors are adopted by strategic sectors such as defense, nuclear power installations, and Government Agencies and Departments.”

The Indian government launched the Swadeshi Microprocessor challenge, through which startups in this segment will be able to deliver solutions to complex designs in the home-grown processor ecosystem, to India as well as other nations.