Microprocessor Challenge - Innovate Solutions for self-reliance India

India, being capable of making innovations, are still depend on an imported good. In the past few months, an initiative has been taken by the honorable PM of India which has a goal of making India a self-reliance country by all possible means. “स्वदेशी Microprocessor Challenge - Innovate Solutions for #आत्मनिर्भर भारत (Indigenous Microprocessor Challenge - Innovate Solutions for self-reliance India)” is one such step towards self-reliance India. The idea here is to develop applications based on two indigenously developed microprocessors by Indian Institution IIT-Madras & research organization CDAC. This article tells the whole idea behind this, the typical flow of the initiative, & the outcome of the program.

Credits: https://innovate.mygov.in/swadeshi-microprocessor-challenge/

Background:

India is a country where almost every electronics gadget is imported, a detailed analysis can be found here. To reduce the imported items the ‘ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India’ has initiated a step back in 2015 to indigenously develop microprocessors for every application in India. In response, some research scholars in IIT-Madras came up with a microprocessor design that can be used in application starting from embedded systems to defense & space. They call it ‘shakti’, it has various varieties depending upon the application. On the other hand, C-DAC: Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, India, has also developed 2 microprocessor cores leading to a self-reliance India, they are called ‘VEGA’ series of processors. These processors are based on a RISC-V architecture, which can support low power applications.

Also, they do have other designs that can target high power & high computational load applications like, desktop, servers, smartphones. Both ‘shakti’ & ‘VEGA’ are capable of embedded systems application as well as general-purpose applications. Certain applications are there which use these processors, but there is much more to explore.

That’s why MeitY wants students, researchers, start-ups to explore the processor architecture and try to find out other use full scenario where it can be used, modified, and make it appropriate for use.

How it will be done?

It does not end here, MeitY has started an open challenge for everyone to come and explore the same through a competition. Under Microprocessor Development Programme spearheaded by MeitY at C-DAC, IIT Madras, and IIT Bombay, not only the family of industry-grade Microprocessors has been designed from the scratch but also the compute ecosystem around them has been evolved as a step towards meeting India's future requirements.

To provide further impetus to the strong ecosystem of start-ups, innovators & researchers in the country, MeitY announces Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge made available by IIT Madras and C-DAC, by utilizing ‘Shakti’ & ‘VEGA’ processors powered by FPGA Boards of XILINX which is supported by CoreEL Technologies. For details, the viewer is advised to visit the ministry website here. The competition time table is typically like this:

Stage	Event	Timeline	Short description
1	Registration	18th August – 15th September 2020	All the participating teams meeting the Eligibility Criteria are expected to register on or before 15th September 2020 at MyGov Portal here.
2	Quarter Finals	16th September- 10th November 2020	A). Pre-Screening Stage (substage I, ii, iii) B).  Ideate Stage submissions will be reviewed by a panel of domain experts against 2 categories – Business Potential and Technical Innovation. The announcement for the 100 Teams to be shortlisted for the Semi-Finals Stage will be made by 25th December 2020.
3	Semi-Finals	01st January – 15th March 2021	A). Minimum Viable Prototype (MVP) Stage B). Proof-of-Concept (POC) Stage Only 25 teams will be able to make it to finals
4	Finals	1st April – 15th June 2021	The monthly progress to be submitted along with the following-  Progress Report including deviations, if any, and Video demonstration of Hardware Prototype & Business Plan. All Finalists will be invited to demonstrate their Hardware Prototype in the Final, a total 10 will be considered and the prize will be given to them

This is a highlighted one, for details please check to the ministry website here.

Prizes:

Stage	Event	prizes
1	Registration	-
2	Quarter Finals	-
3	Semi-Finals	A) Cash Prize of Rs. 25,000/- for minimum Viable Prototype B)  Further Rs. 75,000/- may be provided to those Semi-Finalists during the 1st review, who – (a) either demonstrate POC/ substantial progress or, (b) require additional COTS to demonstrate a POC.
4	Finals	Rs. 35.00 Lakh to the Winning Team,    Rs. 30.00 Lakh to 1st Runner-up Team,    Rs. 25.00 Lakh to 2nd Runner-up Team    Total Rs. 1.40 Crore to 7 other Teams.

 This is a highlighted one, for details, please check to the ministry website here.

The outcome of the program:

The main objective of the event is to encourage youth in developing indigenous solutions for future self-reliance in India.  The top 10 teams winning in the Final Stage will be announced in June 2021 for awards & support towards incubating the Start-up at the identified Incubation Centre. For a self-dependent country, the most important aspect is to let every entrepreneur fly freely, and society, the government has to provide the support to spread his/ her wings. For rule & regulation, visit the ministry website here. I hope every capable person would at least think about it and if possible, participate.