The VLSI Design Conference 2023 got off to a phenomenal start today with motivating speeches from industry leaders and discussions about the newest advancements in VLSI, embedded technologies and opportunities for innovation.
The 5-day conference being held in Hyderabad from 8th to 12th January themed “Semiconductors driving disruptive innovations in Global Digitalization,” promises to be a thought-provoking event for attendees.
The event is designed to bring together key stakeholders and was well represented by engineers, students and faculty, industry professionals, academia, researchers, bureaucrats, and government organizations.
Addressing the attendees on the inaugural session Shri. Rajeev Chandrasekhar said “The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has a program called the “Future Design Program” which is investing USD 200 million in startups that design products, IP, tools or devices for the next generation of applications in India. To support this innovation ecosystem, the government is extending PLI scheme for IT Server and IT hardware. The IT PLI will also offer additional incentives for manufacturers that incorporate Indian-designed IP into their products. Further, the government is also focused on Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) program for next generation Microprocessors to achieve commercial silicon & design wins. We are putting Government capital to work actively, catalyzing the Indian semiconductor ecosystem and working with industry and the global diaspora to achieve India’s ambition as a semiconductor nation at a torrid pace.”
Shri. Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of Information Technology, Industry and Commerce for the government of Telangana mentioned in his address , “The state is at the forefront of the startup revolution and has already created a wave of opportunities for innovation and startups across the technology sector and VLSI field with leading semiconductor companies having their base, and rapidly expanding in Hyderabad.”
Among the esteemed dignitaries on the dais were Shri. Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of Information Technology, Industry and Commerce for the government of Telangana; Mr. Victor Peng, President of AMD; Dr. Satya Gupta, President of the VLSI Society of India; Mr. Shashi Reddy, Vice President of Qualcomm; Ms. Jaya Jagadish, Country Head and Senior Vice President of AMD India; and Mr. Venkata Simhadri, MD and CEO of MosChip.
In his address, Dr. Satya Gupta, the President of VLSI Society of India highlighted the role of VLSI in developing and accelerating the pace of the sector in India and how it shaped the growth of startups. With scaling reaching its fundamental limits, he said it is time to look at addressing technological challenges at higher levels of abstraction in CMOS-based design and at the same time look beyond Silicon for further performance enhancement.
The semiconductor industry is poised for monumental growth with the Government of India having earmarked USD 10 billion for India Semiconductor Mission, creating an environment that encourages growth to create a vibrant semiconductor ecosystem and steer India into the future.
The Ministers also highlighted Government’s partnerships with the industry by reiterating commitment and a keen interest to work with the stakeholders to realize its efforts toward actualizing new milestones.
Mr. Shashi Reddy, Vice President of Qualcomm gave vote thanks at the end of the inaugural session, thanking the chief guest, conference committee and dignitaries and the attendees for their contribution and participation.
Keynote address trends, and the way forward for the VLSI, Embedded Industry
Following the inaugural, the industry leaders participated in keynote speeches and panel discussions, providing valuable insights and perspectives on the latest advancements, challenges, and trends in the field of VLSI and embedded technology.
Victor Peng, President of AMD, in his keynote discussed the importance of heterogeneous, high-performance, and adaptive computing in a digital world characterized by massive growth in data and the need to turn insights into intelligence using pervasive AI.
Assaf Touboul, VP of Technology at Qualcomm, provided an overview of key use cases being tackled by 5G and the role of semiconductors and AI/ML in improving the technology.
Dr. Prith Banerjee, CTO of Ansys, talked about the role of simulation in driving product innovation in the semiconductor and electronics industries. The conference also featured tracks on technical topics, user design, and industry forum talks focused on 5G.
Purdue’s Prof Koushik Roy spoke on “Rethinking Computing with Neuro-inspired Learning: Algorithms, Circuits, and Devices.” Deep learning has helped computers match or surpass human performance in vision, voice, and NLP. Implementing neural algorithms in typical “von-Neumann” architectures is much more expensive than in the biological brain.
Venkat Mattela, CEO of Ceramorphic, discussed AI-era semiconductor challenges and prospects and how AI and ML has spurred semiconductor growth as microprocessors did decades ago.
Following the keynote were 4 tracks, 2 tracks on technical, 1 track on the User Design Track, and 1 on ” “5G: Opportunities and Challenges”
Startups and Investor Connect and other highlights of VLSID 2023
The “Startups Investor Connect” will be the key highlight of the conference on the 12th of January 2023, where emerging startups in the VLSI and embedded sector will get an opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors.
Participating startups included Anew Design Automation, Lightspeed Photonics, Vasbeam, Cyrrup, Advanced System In Package Technologies and more. Leading investors will be in attendance to hear pitches and consider potential investments. An award ceremony will be held to recognize the best startup at the conference.
The exhibition at the conference featured notable VLSI companies and innovative technology startups, highlighting the current capabilities in the sector and exciting opportunities for innovation. The 5-day conference will conclude on the 12th of January 2023 with keynote speeches, exhibits, startup pitching and product launches.
