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Forging win-win industry-academia collaboration in VLSI education
Despite all the talk of semicon/VLSI going around in India, is the correct curriculum really being taught in the various institutes? Is the academia able to prepare students to be better equipped to tackle today’s world’s problems? Does the student have sufficient skills that the Indian (and global) semicon industry recruiters are looking for? Is the student, and the academia semiconductor-industry ready sufficiently?
Panel discussion on industry-academia collaboration in VLSI education.
There was a lively panel discussion titled: Forging win-win industry-academia collaboration in VLSI education during the post lunch session of CDNLive India University conference.
I remember last year’s CDNLive India panel discussion quite clearly! There was an entertaining session on how to prepare the students to be semiconductor industry read. It remains a top read till date!
This year’s panel discussion was moderated by Dr. C.P. Ravikumar, technical director, University Relations, Texas Instruments India.
The panelists were:
* Prof Ajit Kumar Panda, NIST Behrampur, Orissa.
* K Krishna Moorthy, MD, National Semiconductor India
* Dr K. Radhakrishna Rao, head, analog training, TI.
* R. Parthasarathy, managing director, CADD Centre.
Starting the discussion, Dr. Ravikumar said that the semicon industry is currently seeing fast paced growth. New knowledge is getting added every year. The semicon industry has been present in India for over 25 years now, and counting.
There is a varied expectations from the academia in India. For instance, should they teach fundamentals or skills? Do they have silicon experience, or can the institute bring this about on its own? What is important — going up or down the abstraction level?
Or, should VLSI education be introduced at the graduate level or should it be in the Masters leel? There are several gaps in the curriculum itself. What can the industry do about those gaps?
Dr. Ravikumar said: “TI is celebrating 25 years. The kinds of problems TI is working on today are vastly different from the times when it had started in India. Today, it is doing large SoCs. The industry has hige expectations from the academia.
People, he added. seem to have diverse opinion on VLSI. Even at abstraction levels, we can talk about power, circuit design, larger blocks, etc. You will likely hear different sort of viewpoints depending on who you are talking to.
He said: “A lot of effort is being put into the formation of new M Tech programs in VLSI across various institutes. Wheher the students passing out from these institutes will find employment in the Indian semiconductor industry- is also a point of debate. Again, I’ve seen VLSI being talked about in the graduate level as well.”
Since there were four panelists, I shall add their views in a separate post. Stay tuned, folks! 😉
India's teaching community contemplates SoC design
The VLSI Society of India recently organized a two-day faculty development workshop on SoC design, — Train-the-Trainer program — on Oct. 30-31, 2010, at the Texas Instruments India office, in co-operation with PragaTI (TI India Technical University) and Visweswaraya Technological University (VTU).
Dr. C.P. Ravikumar, TI, addressing the teachers at the workshop on SoC design.
I am highly obliged and very grateful to the VLSI Society of India and Dr. C.P. Ravikumar, technical director, University Relations, Texas Instruments India, for extending an invitation. Here is a report on the workshop, which the VSI Secretariat and Dr. Ravikumar have been most kind to share.
System-on-chip (SoC) refers to the technological revolution, which allows semiconductor manufacturers to integrate electronic systems on the same chip. System-on-board, which has been the conventional implementation of electronic systems, uses semiconductor chips soldered onto printed circuit boards (PCBs) to realize system functionality.
Systems typically include sensors, analog frontend, digital processors, memories and peripherals. Thanks to the advances in VLSI technology, these sub-systems can be integrated on the same chip, reducing the footprint, cutting down the cost, improving the performance and power efficiency.
While the industry has adopted SoC design for many years, the academic community around the world (India not being an exception) has not caught up with the state-of-the-art. Electrical/electronics engineering departments continue to teach a course on VLSI design, where the level of design abstraction is device-level, transistor-level, or gate-level.
Register-transfer-level (RTL) design using hardware description languages is taught in some Masters’ programs, but colleges often do not have the lab infrastructure to carry out large design projects; very few Indian universities have tie-ups with foundry services to get samples. A semester is too short a time to complete a large project.
The complexity of modern-day design flow is not easy to impart in a single undergraduate course. Masters’ programs are particularly relevant in VLSI, but the M.Tech programs in the country languish due to several reasons.
Ground realities
“M.Tech programs do not attract top students who are highly motivated,” said a professor who attended the two-day faculty development program organized by VLSI Society of India. “Almost all undergraduate programs today have a course on VLSI technology and design. But since we get students from different backgrounds, they do not have the pre-requisites. So, a course on VLSI design at M.Tech level will have a significant overlap with an undergraduate course on VLSI design.”
“Faculty members need training,” said another teacher. “When a new course is introduced, significant time is needed for preparation. Prescribed textbooks for a new course are often not available. Internet search for course materials often returns too much material and it is hard to decide what to use. Colleges that have autonomy can decide their own curriculum, but in a university setup, the faculty face a major challenge. We are evaluated on how well our students fare in the exams. Yet, our students have to face an exam made by a central committee.”
“Having a common exam poses many problems in setting up a relevant question paper. The format of the question paper is fixed. The students get a choice of answering five questions from a set of eight. Due to the common nature of the question paper, the questions tend to demand descriptive answers.”
Faculty development workshop on SoC design
About 30 faculty members interested in system-on-chip design took part in the faculty development workshop. The attendees came from about 25 different colleges from VTU, VIT University, and Anna University. The workshop was conducted in co-operation with the Viswesaraya Technological University (VTU) and sponsored by Texas Instruments, India.
The premise for the workshop was that a course on SoC design is required at the Masters’ level, since industrial practice has clearly moved in that direction. The RTL-to-layout flow, which continues to be relevant for IPs that constitute an SoC, aspects of SoC design, which relies on IP integration, are not covered in any course.
The workshop provided a forum for industry-academia interaction. Several professionals from the industry took part in the workshop and answered questions from the faculty members. Read more…
TI on green power and MCUs
Green power and TI
The power IC landscape is rapidly evolving – new technologies are being developed. Even well established mega-markets are changing process technologies that are used – driven, for example, by the integration of added sensor functionality.
Ananthaswamy highlighted TI’s role in green power. TI, along with leading energy harvesting vendors, are creating a complete ecosystem allowing designers to not only envision but also create a battery-less world. Also, TI’s LED lighting portfolio and worldwide technical support network are helping LED designers achieve their goals faster.
Think MCUs
From energy harvesting to aiding cutting-edge medical applications to bringing healthcare into homes, MCUs have helped to make a difference in the way people use electronics. In the energy segment, MCUs are used in:
In healthcare, it can be used for applications like personal healthcare and fitness equipment, portable healthcare devices like digital thermometers, handheld ultrasound, blood pressure meters, etc. It is also used in consumer electronics like mobile phones, computers, TVs, toys, etc. Read more…
Analog and MCUs stand out: Dr. Bobby Mitra, TI
Dr. Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra, president & MD, TI India.
It is always a pleasure to listen to Dr. Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra, president and managing director, Texas Instruments India. Therefore, when Texas Instruments India invited me to a media roundtable today, it was an event to look forward too. However, the famous Bangalore traffic jam held me up so long that I missed out on most of Dr Mitra’s keynote! Nevertheless, I did catch some bits of it toward the end.
Dr. Mitra noted that LEDs and lighting applications are becoming a key area for growth in India. He added that the industrial segment is just right in terms of applications in electronics growth.
In telecom, analog and MCUs stand out. “Every single customer has to use analog as part of its system design. Our no. 1 position in analog gives us a unique position,” he added.
MCUs play a very important role in a huge number of areas — from consumer appliances, energy meters, lighting products etc. There is a huge customer base in India where very large application specific innovation has been happening.
In India, TI has set up a strong sales network across 14 locations, giving it a pan-India presence. Dr. Mitra added: “We want to tap the India market with sales support and applications support. You need to work hand in hand with the OEMs. We also need to get closer to our customers.” TI India supports both Indian and MNC OEMs.
“The amount of system designs being done by the MNC OEMs in India is pretty high. The third area — design houses — these OEMs are their customers. The fourth area belongs to the EMS players,” he said.
Today was virtually a walk into TI India’s ‘kitchen.’ The roundtable participants were shown demos of some really cool products and applications, especially the handheld pico projector, which also played 3D cinema!
The sessions were largely focused on analog, low power and energy efficiency, metering, solar PV/solar inverters, LEDs, medical electronics, etc. — all key areas of focus for the Indian electronics and semiconductor industries.
I will add bits from the other speakers at this event later. Stay tuned folks!
India needs to develop the right products: Dr. Bobby Mitra @ VLSID 2010
Inaugurating the conference today, wirelessly, along with the other distinguished guests, Dr. Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra, President & Managing Director, Texas Instruments India, said that the technology behind the conference has already started. This year, the conference is being taken to greater heights — VLSID 2010 is being webcasted live for the first time! Dr. Mitra added, “Taking the conference to the people is absolutely wonderful.”
L-R: Dr. Mahesh Mehendale, Dr. Hermann Eul, Dr. Bobby Mitra, Prof. Dimitri A. Antoniadis, Dr. Ruben A. Parekhji, Prof. Niraj Jha and Srivaths Ravi at the VLSID 2010 opening ceremony.
Delivering the opening keynote, Dr. Mitra presented his views on how he foresees the change in India from a VLSI design community to a semiconductor community.
He said: “So far, the industry and the academia have been focused on developing products right. As we enter the new decade, another new vector is likely to become a guiding point — that is, developing the right products. We will be developing better chips for our customers the sooner we can better understand their system aspects.”
He urged the Indian semiconductor/VLSI community to continue developing products right, and also to develop products that really benefit the customer. “Understanding the end application is going to be very vital.”
According to him, India’s growing importance in semiconductors would be critical during this decade. However, India, as a market for semiconductors, will help everyone in learning more — when the customer is at your doorstep. The amount of consumption in semiconductors in India has been amazing so far, and will only grow in future.
He added that companies based in India — both MNCs and local — have been really innovating. India is a not-to-be-missed market! He concluded, “The time to invest in the Indian semiconductor market is now, not later!”
Later, welcoming the delegates, Dr. Mahesh Mehendale, General Co-chair VLSID 2010 and Texas Instruments Fellow & Director, Center of Excellence for Digital Video, Texas Instruments India, said that Bangalore had really emerged as hub for semiconductors and IT. In fact, 2010 indicates 25 years since this revolution started.
Commenting on this year’s conference, he said: “Our aim was to push this conference nationally and globally, by taking the conference to the desktops.” Dr. Ruben A. Parikhji, Program Co-chair, apprised delegates of the technical sessions.
This was followed by two technical keynotes:
* Deep submicron CMOS technology – the challenges for semiconductor IDM, Prof. Dr. Hermann Eul, Member of Management Board, Infineon.
Building pillars of India's tech infrastructure: Dr. Bobby Mitra, TI India
Dr. Bobby Mitra, president and managing director, Texas Instruments India with Lip-Bu Tan, Cadence's president and CEO.
Dr Mitra started his keynote by taking a bird’s eye view at the various things happening in India today. What’s the thrust? The winner hands down is infrastructure!
“How will the growth in infrastructure fuel the next growth? If India is an emerging ecomony, are we satisfied? Absolutely not! How do we accelerate toward being the emerged economy of tomorrow? That change has to be built on a technology infrastructure!”
Pillars of a technology infrastructure
A technology infrastructure has several pillars. These are:
* A communications and telecom infrastructure built on semicon and electronics has to be a very big thought,
* Energy infrastructure, which has to be a major pillar,
* Security and surveillance, and
* Education.
Electronics is everywhere, in each one of these areas. “We can and should put in high value in all of this infrastucture using semiconductors and electronics,” said Dr Mitra. “We are starting from behind. So, what do we do? We have to leapfrog to lead in the technology infrastructure.” Wireless handsets is one such area that has already done so, In fact, some parts of India have leapfrogged from no phones to wireless phones.
What is being done now? There are platforms that offer 20megapixel imaging, especially on the mobile phone. Phones can also have a week’s playback time. Some of these things are already happening.
Go for AMI!
Energy is another major area of opportunity. For example, every house in India has an energy meter. These are starting to be replaced by electronic meters. The utilities are already doing this. (There seems to be 38 known methods of tampering with the meters!). All of this is helping the SEBs (state electricity boards), the country and its economy.
How do we move from the electromechanical to electronic meters? Here, India needs to go for AMI — automated metering infrastructure and automated metering. Some of TI’s customers are starting to build these products, although in small numbers. One only has to imagine the speed and accuracy of such devices!
Lighting is another area of huge opportunity in India. Dr Mitra said: “How can we go from incandescent to CFLs? Can we go on to LED lighting? How can we have standard LED lighting? Can we design LED drivers? Once it becomes a mandate, it will encourage electronics companies to move into LED lighting.
Medical electronics is the next important area for India. A company had recently introduced a handheld ultrasound, with superior image clarity. “All the details about the patients will be in the doctors’ hands,” he added. “If you can add wireless connectivity, it will mean the world, and enable telemedicine! India can leapfrog to lead in this area.
A lot has been spoken about automotives. It has been going from high emission to low emission or even no emission in cars! Can we leapfrog here? It is fascinating to see companies building ebikes, hybrid vehicles, etc.
Energy efficiency is a non-glamorous, but equally key area for India, said Dr. Mitra. “Renewable energy especially, is a huge growth area. Energy efficiency is an area that hugely impact every area around us!” As an example, Coimbatore is very well known for pumps and submersible pumps. Can we build efficient chips and MCUs that can go inside such pumps and also irrigation pumps? The amount of opportunity in power reduction or low power is huge.
How shall we do all of this?
Dr. Mitra pointed out that several hundreds of OEMs in India are designing systems for each one of these areas and manufacturing. He advised the industry to work with customers who are building such complex systems. He noted: “We have to support them as they are the leaders in the electronics world. Let’s open up, instead of being a chip or an EDA provider and re-architect systems together.”
He said: “They (customers) bring the systems knowhow, while we bring the components knowhow. We can take customers to a completely different level. We have to understand the vocabulary of the customers and know what’s bothering them. It is important that we co-innovate with customers and show them the value.”
Dr Mitra also happens to be the vice chairman of the India Semiconductor Association (ISA). He said that the semicon TAM (total available market) in India is worth $2.8 billion and it is growing at a pretty good rate. “We should help to make the transition and leapfrog technologies, and lead!”
What does it take for students to be (semiconductor) industry-ready
Panel discussion @ CDN Live, Bangalore: What does it really take for students to be industry-ready?
Today, I was part of a wonderful panel discussion at Cadence Design Systems CDNLive, Bangalore, India edition, titled:What does it really take for students to be industry-ready?
Moderated by Dr. CP Ravikumar, technical director, University Relations HR, Texas Instruments, the panelists included Joe Lazar, director HR, Analog Devices India, SN Padmanabhan, senior VP, Semiconductor, Mindtree, Anand Bariya, MD, Netlogic Microsystems and Prof. Venugopal. Electronics and Communication Dept., SJCE, Mysore.
India boasts of some of the finest technical institutes of the world. This discussion centered around whether our graduating students are industry ready? What are the necessary qualities or aspects they would need to keep in mind when entering the semiconductor industry?
Avoid a bad attitude!
There is this quote from Scott Hamilton — “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” According to Joe Lazar of Analog Devices India, attitude is an observable behavior over a period of time.
When students come into the semiconductor industry, they need to collaborate and not compete with each other. There is a need to bring about some change in this aspect. Similarly, commitment to the job and to the company are equally important aspects.”Next, be prepared to understand what is good for you. Also, money is not everything. During campus hires, money may become an important driving force. However, it goes away after some point of time,” he added.
Lazar concluded with a quote from William James: “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.”
Are you ready for an inch wide and mile deep job?
Prof. Venugopal from SJCE, Mysore, focused on students to develop the right technical skills. Are they ready to join an industry that offers an ‘inch wide and miles deep job? Also, can students really communicate clearly?
It is equally important for the faculty in any institute to motivate students. When students are doing projects, they should also come to know how good they are with their technical skills. He advised: “Students should know the tools very well, and be very strong in their basics. They should be very good in circuit (analog/digital) design as well.”
The faculty of any institute has be really good enough to prepare its students for the challenges ahead as the technical skills required for the semiconductor industry are constantly changing.
Be prepared for the grind, and have strong foundations!
Anand Bariya of Netlogic Microsystems remarked: “What do we expect from fresh engineers? Their ability to learn with respect to the semiconductor industry!” He cited some examples, such as, today, it is impossible to design a chip without knowing low power techniques, or chips that incorporate very high speed serial interfaces. “There is a continuous demand for engineers who can learn and deliver quickly. Engineers who come in, should be prepared for the grind,” he added.
Next, manufacturing technologies and techniques are also changing, and present fresh challenges. “Designers need to keep up with the changes in manufacturing technologies,” said Bariya. He advised students, “Your foundations need to be very strong.” Fundamentals are very important for students to learn quickly. “In the semiconductor industry, we need people with a programming mindset. Your ability to learn is all in your attitude.”
He further advised students to develop a habit of taking notes (this applies to journalists too, who use voice recorders, rather than take notes during a meeting), as it helps to cement learnings. Also, a lot of learning is possible if students are willing to search on the Internet.
Strong ethics, integrity, respect for IP, others
MindTree’s SN Padmanabhan said the industry spends three to six months on an average on orientation programs for newcomers. Once, they get into projects and project teams, they can work seamlessly. Having strong fundamentals and basics are very important and paramount. He also touched upon the need for strong ethics as the semiconductor industry is global in nature where there’s a constant need to interact with teams made up of multicultural people.
Similarly, there is a need to communicate in a proper manner with peers and colleagues within the industry. Besides, email etiquette needs to be maintained. Especially, for communication, there are audio and video conferences. “We have to be in an audio conference at least 80 percent of the times. Hence. the need to understand and respect multicultures, and communicate properly and effectively.”
Another important aspect for students to understand is to respect the dress codes — which is meant to present a better image of ourselves.
Padmanabhan touched upon integrity and the need to be honest with yourselves. “Don’t fudge your resumes!” Gender sensitive issues and language come up as well, especially in a multicultural environment. “Try to make an attempt to learn about others cultures, and see that you don’t end up hurting them.”
He also stressed upon the need to respect IPs and IP protection. “How are you going to protect the customers’ rights? How will you ensure that you do not violate anyone’s right?” Most IP violations happen due to a lack of information. Also, he advised students who would be joining the semiconductor industry soon to be careful of the information shared with other people, especially over a cup of coffee.
Do look for apprenticeships!
Following a lively Q&A session, Jaswinder Ahuja, corporate VP and MD, Cadence Design Systems (I) Pvt Ltd, suggested that students could actually get into a ‘real job’ in the semiconductor industry, unlike any other industry. They could get involved immediately in projects to design and develop products that would be later on used by other industries such as medical, telecom, etc. Further, they should look at an apprenticeship as a system of training for a new generation of practitioners of a skill, in return, for perhaps, a stipend.
I quite agree with Ahuja’s suggestion for apprenticeships — I myself started this way, in the mid 1980s, making newspaper cuttings in a small room (or office) of a local magazine at Allahabad! Here’s where I learnt what it takes to be a journalist. I only got an LP record of The Police (to play on my gramophone) as stipend! However, I can never forget that period, as it became the launch pad for me to go forward and develop myself later in life as a tech journalist!
Ahuja also touched upon multicultures and how there’s a need for students to understand and respect the various cultures. Definitely, once you work for a global company, you interact with nationals from other countries, with different backgrounds and cultures.
Right folks, you’ve heard it all! Do you have it in you to carry the torch of the Indian semicon industry forward?
TI Beagle Board for Indian open source developers and hobbyists
Texas Instruments recently introduced the pocket-size, USB-powered Beagle Board based on TI’s OMAP3530 applications processor. It features an ARM Cortex-A8 core, 2D/3D graphics engine and high-performance TMS320C64x+ digital signal processor (DSP) core.
This will help open source developers and hobbyists in India to realize their creative design ideas without being restricted by expensive hardware development tools, lackluster performance capabilities, high power consumption or stifled design environments, according to Khasim Syed Mohammed, Lead Developer for Open Platforms, Texas Instruments India Pvt. Ltd.
He added: “It helps us in learning cutting edge technology, innovating new ideas and executing them. Beagle board should be used to explore the growing demand in areas like medical, security, infotainment, navigation, education, signal processing, mobile devices and communication.”
Important for India
This initiative is particularly important in India where students can use the board to learn, show case their efforts and global recognition for their innovations.
Innovators in India should use this opportunity to prototype their ideas using the specification software hardware openly available in a never before package. It is important for the student community to learn new technologies, explore new areas and innovate. This initiative by TI also helps startups in India who want to explore the OMAP hardware but have limited support base for their requirements.
Passionate open source developers and hobbyists in India can realize their creative design ideas without being restricted by expensive hardware development tools, lackluster performance capabilities, high power consumption or stifled design environments.
Open platform innovators have the expandability of desktop machines without the expense, bulk or noise with the Beagle board, which is a powerful, low-cost and fan-less embedded system development board smaller than the size of an index card.
Board named after Beagle
The board is named after a popular breed of dogs, Beagle. It has been designed it to be one of the shortest pocket sized OMAP3530 boards. TI is encouraging the Open community to treat this as a pet, which is easy to carry and can be USB powered so that development is made easy and can perform high end applications at very less power.
Inspired to create a small, open source development board, a small group of enthusiastic engineers worked together on the concept and realization of the Beagle board. The resulting 3×3-inch board bridges desktop and embedded development by allowing developers to use the same peripherals and usage mode for almost limitless expansion. Developers are able to design exactly according to their specifications and collaborate with the community on creative new applications.
Mohammed said: “There is a growing need for development support in the Open Community. The Open Community is capable and passionate to work on industry’s high end processors and architectures and build innovative applications and prototypes for mobile, portable infotainment, portable navigation, medical, home security and many such applications. Another important reason for this initiative was the cost implications in owning a high end platform which was restricting them in exploring many such ideas/applications.”
Beagleboard is a global initiative to address the growing needs of the Open community to help them innovate and explore new areas by providing them access to leading hardware and software, giving them a forum to present their views and thoughts, showcasing their efforts for global appreciation, maintain community’s contribution.
Developers can quickly maximize their design concepts by tapping into the expertise and support of some of the industry’s top Linux programmers already experimenting with the Beagle board. With communities hosting the latest updates and codes, live forums and chats for easy collaboration, developers have easy access to support and exchange of ideas. Users are encouraged to join active, existing communities already participating in the project.
Pradeep Chakraborty 