Submarines, tanks, torpedoes & UAVs get Indian nav systems | SATNAV on chip

[Sunny Singh]

Outsmarting the know-how denials imposed by the West under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) developed in India are steadily finding a confirmed seat onboard multiple military platforms. The Research Centre Imarat (RCI) in Hyderabad today seems to have graduated in all the major technology areas of navigation, including sensors, SATNAV (satellite navigation) receivers, navigational aids, algorithms\schemes for different applications and infrastructure development. In the process, India has elevated its status on par with a handful of nations possessing a wide spectrum of sensor technologies.
The dynamically-tuned mechanical gyroscopes (DTG), optical–ring laser and fiber-optic gyroscopes, micro-gyroscopes and high-accuracy force balanced accelerometers (which measures the acceleration) are some hitherto-alien technologies now in India's command. (Gyroscopes are instruments that senses rotation). "Mastering these sensor technologies made the total independence from Western nations. These advancements have offered greater flexibility to configure and customize varied classes of INS of the users' choice," RCI sources said. "All missions are of very high precision strike capabilities, which is primarily decided by the accuracy of the INS. Today, we are on par with world leaders offering RLG-based (ring laser gyro) INS," sources said.
Agni-IV is the first missile on which a design version of RLG-based INS was used in mission mode successfully, probably signaling an end to imports in this segment. The navigation aids based on the different classes of inertial sensors developed by RCI is said to be not only meeting the requirements of strategic and tactical missile programmes, but are being heavily employed on combat aircraft, ships, submarines, tanks, unmanned aerial vehicles, torpedoes and smart munitions.
“The development ranges from highly miniaturized micro sensors-based system weighing around 300g for smart bombs and PGMs (precision-guided munitions) to a very-high accuracy 30 kg system for long-endurance naval applications,” sources said. Ultra high accuracy sensors development is already initiated for future needs of space and very long range missions.

The Inertial System Group at RCI is silently delivering solutions enhancing the multi-platform launch capability of the flight vehicle from ships (Rajput Class), submarines and aircraft (LCA & Sukhoi). “Our capabilities in the navigation systems are now being explored by world leaders who are keen to join hands for collaboration. The roles have been reversed and we are in pursuit of developing Navigation On Chip (a dream of A P J Abdul Kalam), which aims at miniaturization of systems, making them reliable and cost-effective,” sources said.

The preliminary development of a single chip NGC (Navigation, Guidance and Control) has already taken birth with System on Chip (SOC), SATNAV on Chip close to realisation. This will enable a low cost, low volume, low power and highly reliable system available for majority of the tactical and micro-air vehicles. "The energy requirements of the vehicle(s) will drop drastically and India will become a world leader in the critical area of navigation," sources said.

 

[ramu]

Makes me proud. Sometimes very difficult to believe if we are capable of all this when we falter or basics.

India is also leaving its mark in the micro-chip industry.

Indian chip firm hits rare milestone

BANGALORE, India — An announcement last week by locally based Cosmic Circuits that it has shipped 12 million ICs so far didn't garner a lot of attention internationally, but made waves here because it marks the first time an Indian chip company has attained such numbers.

Cosmic’s two main areas of focus are sensor ASIC (analog companion chips for sensor applications) and PMASIC (custom power management solutions for portable electronics).

"I cannot think of any other Indian semiconductor product company that has shipped so many ICs," said Ganesh Ramamoorthy, a research director at Gartner Inc.

According to Ramamoorthy, Cosmic's success is rare in India because it requires understanding what the market wants, developing a product that addresses a market need, and addressing a niche market need. Cosmic's MEMS-based ICs, which are comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, help OEMs and chip vendors reduce system cost, he said.

Cosmic ‘s CEO Ganapathy Subramaniam, a former Texas Instruments engineer, expects the company to ship another 4 million ICs in the next four months.

"In our case, three out of five ICs we have in production are used in tablets, cell phones and MP4 players," Subramaniam said. "Once the products get qualified, it is natural to expect volumes go high as the markets for these are big. Our solutions in all cases are differentiated and solves a specific problem and so, their adoption rate is high."

Ittiam Systems, an embedded media processing systems company, also based here, is another of the few Indian companies that have had success with its IPs.

"Cosmic would definitely be one of the few Indian companies to have shipped this volume of ICs since it is shipping the finished product (IC) and not many Indian companies are engaged in this business model of delivering the chip," said Srini Rajam, Ittiam's chairman and CEO.

Ittiam embeds its IP (RTL and software) in its customers’ products (both DSP and end- equipment). It has a run rate of around 20 million units per year of its customer product shipments. The cumulative volume of units shipped by its customers with Ittiam’s IP embedded has crossed 50 million units.

But in a country better known for providing software services, a company that develops IP does not get easy acceptance in the global market. "Customers worldwide are fully bought in with India’s services industry model and had certain assumptions based on that experience," said Subramaniam. "In the initial years, it took lot of efforts to convince customers that serious IP work can be done from India. It was a big challenge though many start-ups in the U.S. and Europe have big engineering teams in India and yet did not believe that IP can be created by an Indian company."

Subramaniam said it's time for the Indian government to come with policies to help product companies from India in electronic system design and manufacturing. "It is very important to act without any further delay," he said.

Gartner’s Ramamoorthy believes that what is missing (in India) is a product idea.

"What’s missing is the willingness to take risk that comes with a product business while balancing it with practical business acumen," Ramamoorthy said. "What's missing is a lack of understanding of the implications of emerging technologies and an ability to transform them into products that appeal to the system vendors [from the cost point of view] and to the end-consumers [from the point of view of being able to provide new added features and functionalities]," Ramamoorthy said.

Cosmic Circuits entered the Silicon 60, EE Times' list of emerging startup companies at version 12.0 in 2011. The latest edition of the Silicon 60 is version 12.5, which is the subject of a detailed technology and employment digital edition which can be accessed via http://e.ubmelectronics.com/Silicon60/index.html

Source : http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4233580/Indian-chip-firm-hits-rare-milestone