The IRIS Chip

Blog Credit : Trupti Thakur

Image Courtesy : Google

The IRIS Chip

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have achieved milestone in semiconductor technology. They have developed and successfully tested an aerospace-quality SHAKTI-based semiconductor chip named IRIS (Indigenous RISCV Controller for Space Applications). This project is part of India’s broader initiative to promote self-reliance in technology and aligns with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat‘ mission.

Background of the SHAKTI Project

• The SHAKTI project is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the ‘Digital India RISC-V’ initiative.
• This initiative aims to encourage the indigenous development of microprocessor-based products.
• RISC-V is an open-source Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) which offers flexibility and security for designing custom processors.

Development Process of the IRIS Chip

The IRIS chip was designed by the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) in Thiruvananthapuram, with implementation from IIT Madras. The entire process, including chip design, fabrication, and packaging, was carried out within India. The chip was manufactured by Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) in Chandigarh and packaged by Tata Advanced Systems in Karnataka.

Features and Applications of the IRIS Chip

The IRIS chip is designed for various applications, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices and compute systems for strategic needs. It features fault-tolerant internal memories to enhance reliability. Custom functional modules such as CORDIC and WATCHDOG timers are integrated, making it suitable for space mission applications.

Significance of the Achievement

This achievement marks step towards self-reliance in semiconductor technology in India. This is the third SHAKTI chip developed, following RIMO in 2018 and MOUSHIK in 2020. The successful booting of the chip demonstrates India’s capability in developing a complete semiconductor ecosystem.

Future Prospects

ISRO plans to flight test a product based on the IRIS controller in the near future. The successful development of this chip is expected to contribute to future embedded controllers for space missions.

OverView

In a strategic move to strengthen indigenous semiconductors development for the country’s various space-based applications, ISRO and IIT Madras scientists have jointly developed the Indigenous RISCV Controller for Space Applications (IRIS).

IRIS has been built on the SHAKTI processor baseline. This allows a wide deployment onto diverse domains from Internet of Things (IoT) to compute systems that are inbuilt in various strategic areas.

SHAKTI belongs to a class of systems on RISC-IV, which is an open-source Instruction Set Architecture used for designing custom processors. SHAKTI, supported by the Electronics and IT, is a flagship initiative to promote indigenous development of microprocessor-based products offering high-end security for users.

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Inertial Systems Unit, Thiruvananthapuram, had conceived the design of a 64-bit RSIC-V-based controller and the chip configurations and computing requirements were finalised based on the existing sensor systems used by the space agency. The IIT Madras team, led by V Kamakoti at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, developed it under the chip under the SHAKTI microprocessor project.

The internal memory being fault-tolerant, the system offers higher reliability ; integration of peripheral interface modules and advanced serial buses were performed and the overall system underwent both software and hardware testing, following which
results hold promise for expanding it to future space missions, the team said.

ISRO Chairman, V Narayanan, lauded the indigenous development of the IRIS Controller.

He said, ” I am sure that this high-performance controller will contribute significantly to the future embedded controllers for space mission-related applications. Its performance will be confirmed during the planned product-based flight test to be done shortly.”

” The chip design, fabrication, packaging, motherboard design and fabrication, assembly, software boot were all done in India, validating the existence of the complete semiconductor ecosystem and expertise within the country,” said Kamakoti.

 

 

Blog By : Trupti Thakur