2 days ago
Aheesa’s VIHAAN-I advances India’s indigenous semiconductor design ambitions
Aheesa is an Indian company that designs computer chips for broadband networks.
Its first chip is called VIHAAN-I.
The chip is meant to help equipment send internet data through fibre networks.
It worked correctly the first time it was manufactured, which is difficult and expensive to achieve.
The chip uses a processor designed in India by C-DAC.
Aheesa received government support and investment to build its tools and team.
The company now has about 40 employees and plans to create a much larger design centre in Chennai.
It hopes to test the chip fully and begin selling it in early 2027.
Aheesa wants to create more Indian-designed chips for broadband, cybersecurity and other industries.
Aheesa Digital Innovations developed VIHAAN-I, a networking system-on-chip for GPON and EPON broadband systems.
The chip achieved first-pass silicon success after being taped out on Republic Day and returning on Independence Day.
VIHAAN-I uses the indigenous VEGA processor core developed by C-DAC and based on the open RISC-V instruction set.
Government Design Linked Incentive support and a Rs 20-crore institutional investment helped fund Aheesa’s design and verification work.
Aheesa plans comprehensive system validation, production and a commercial launch in early 2027, alongside a Rs 250-crore Chennai design centre.
- Who
- Aheesa Digital Innovations, founded and led by CEO Sridharan Mani, developed the chip with co-founders Sukha R. Ghosh and Anil Raj Thulasi Das.
- What
- The company achieved first-pass silicon success for VIHAAN-I, a networking system-on-chip.
- Where
- The chip was designed in India, and Aheesa is planning a semiconductor design and product engineering centre in Chennai.
- When
- VIHAAN-I was taped out on Republic Day and achieved first-pass success on Independence Day; commercial launch is planned for early 2027.
- Why
- Aheesa aims to address India’s dependence on imported networking silicon amid expanding fibre broadband infrastructure.
Key facts
- Company founded
- Aheesa Digital Innovations was founded in 2021.
- First chip
- VIHAAN-I is the first in Aheesa’s planned family of system-on-chips.
- Target technologies
- The chip is designed for GPON and EPON broadband networks.
- Processor core
- VIHAAN-I uses C-DAC’s indigenous VEGA processor core, based on RISC-V.
- Government support
- Aheesa qualified under the Government’s Design Linked Incentive Scheme.
- Investment
- The company received Rs 20 crore in institutional investment.
- Planned facility
- Aheesa’s Chennai design, research and product engineering centre is expected to cost Rs 250 crore and create about 300 jobs.
Quotes
Sridharan Mani
Founder and CEO of Aheesa Digital Innovations
“Getting working silicon back on the first attempt is what took us from being a design team with a promising architecture to a company with a proven, manufacturable product.”
thehansindia.com
“This is a defining decade for India’s semiconductor story, as we move from technology consumption to technology creation.”
thehansindia.com
Sources
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