India is developing in the sector of technology at a rapid speed. But most of the devices we use are imported, only a quarter of the devices are produced in the country. Electronic devices alone fill 10 percent of the total imported goods in India. But one electronic equipment that we always import is Microprocessor; the ‘brain’ of an electronic device. But IIT Bombay recently unveiled AJIT- first “Made in India” processor to fill that need.
AJIT: First Ever ‘Made in India’ Processor
Lead by Prof Dr. Madhav Desai, a team at IIT Bombay produced AJIT processor. AJIT microprocessor is entirely conceptualized, designed, developed, and manufactured right here in India. This is the first ever processor to be built from scratch in India. Electronics and Information technology (MeiTY) funded this project. A few months back India also unveiled its first-ever RISC-V based processor called Shakti. it was developed in collaboration with semiconductor tool design company Bluespec.
Specification Of AJIT
Akin to most microprocessors available today, AJIT comes with an arithmetic logic unit that can do basic arithmetic and logical operations like addition, subtraction and comparison. It has a memory management unit which can store and retrieve data from the memory. AJIT also has a special floating point unit that is designed to handle calculations with non-integer numbers efficiently. It also has a hardware debugger unit to help monitor and control the AJIT processor. The CPU has clock speed around 70-120 Mhz and it can be mass manufactured for just Rs 100 ($1.43) per unit. It’s built on a 180nm technology, though that will eventually be bumped up to 65nm.
Use Case Of AJIT
AJIT is smaller than a typical Intel Desktop Processor. It is a medium size processor. It can be used inside a set-top box, as a control panel for automation systems, in a traffic light controller or even robotic systems.
Researchers also have a plan to put AJIT in Indian satellites too. It can be used in the receivers being developed for NAVIC or IRNNS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System).
Researchers have made the software tools associated with AJIT freely available to everyone. AJIT has set the ground for upcoming engineering students. They can take the processor’s blueprint and learn processor designing from scratch.
This is a groundbreaking invention for India. Now it can be used in military equipment, nuclear reactors and other areas requiring maximum security. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.