The designs of BITS Pilani

India is seen emerging as a centre for designing, developing and fabricating high-class semiconductor chips, and BITS Pilani is getting ready for that day, says SHIPRA ARORA

BIRLA Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani ranks among the best engineering institutes in India as far as the talent pool is concerned. Now the institute has also found pride of place among the best in terms of technology infrastructure; it is not only on par with the IITs, but also institutes across the US and Europe. BITS has set up a broadband gigabit network called Neuron as part of BITSConnect, a global movement of BITS Pilani alumni, faculty and students. In a fine example of industry-institute cooperation, BITSConnect has commissioned a $50 million VLSI Lab initiative; the project aims to conduct semiconductor research and development.

VLSI project

The project for the VLSI design lab—called Oysters Lab (OLAB)—is underway, making it the first campus-based VLSI design facility in India. OLAB is a distributed VLSI lab that will connect all BITS campuses (Pilani, Goa and Dubai) with an industrial centre at Bangalore. Around 2,000 sq ft of space has been allocated for the lab at the Pilani campus. The Bangalore Extension Centre is intended to facilitate industry collaboration.

The lab, which is a collaborative effort between stakeholders like BITS, BITS Alumni Association and industry, will boast of some of the best-in-class Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools. These tools will support Full Design Flow, RTL to GDS, embedded design and board design. It will also house a powerful and scalable compute farm that will be accessible over the Neuron network. A large scalable NAS storage will be accessible over the network. With such advanced computing infrastructure and EDA equipment to provide very large scale integration and embedded design, the lab will rank among the best in the country.

OLAB objectives

The Oysters Lab at BITS will embark on pioneering semiconductor R&D work in the country, and a key objective will be to create intellectual property in the area of VLSI and embedded design. Says Dr S Venkateswaran, vice chancellor, BITS, “OLAB will usher in silicon technology research and a chip development revolution in India.” This quite effectively sums up the thinking behind the VLSI design lab. Rajendra Khare, managing director, Broadcom India points out that the focus areas for research at the lab will be aligned with the research activities at BITS. The institute is presently conducting research in the areas of networking, intelligent transport systems, biochemistry and MEMS, and OLAB will bolster it.

Vinod Agarwal, chairman and chief strategist, LogicVision, feels that there is growing opportunity in the area of semiconductor research with the emergence of a large number of applications which require the designing of complex chips. These include applications in the areas of telecom, wireless (such as mobile phones) and gaming, as well as digital products like TVs, set-top boxes, etc. The aim of this lab will be to develop chips that are meant for Indian applications.

Industry collaboration

Apart from the high commercial value of the project, the high point of the initiative is the strong industry collaboration it has received. This will give a push to promoting India as an R&D destination. Some of the industry participants in the project include OpenSilicon, Broadcom, LogicVision, Magma, Mentor Graphics and Sun Microsystems.

The lab will work closely with industry to draw experts. It is believed that someone will be appointed from the industry itself to spearhead the lab. With this, industry will be able to conduct sponsored research at Pilani. It has also been projected as an extension of BITS Pilani, a virtual university that will promote active industry collaboration with a special focus on flexible education for working industry professionals. Initiatives and collaborations on such a large scale are very common among universities abroad but are very rare in India.

The backbone making it possible

The OLAB initiative comes close on the heels of the setting up of a broadband network. The first project undertaken as part of the BITSConnect movement, Neuron provides the essential infrastructure not for only running the lab but also providing high-end connectivity across the institute’s different campuses. Neuron is a gigabit backbone providing broadband access, IP telephony, streaming media and video conferencing facilities in student rooms, hostels, staff quarters and guest houses; it also provides 802.11b wireless access in the campus. The network connects all BITS campuses across Pilani, Goa and Dubai, making it one of the most technologically-advanced networked campuses globally. As part of the project, Cisco has deployed over 240 IP phones. The 3-tier network architecture consists of core, distribution and access layers. Long Range Ethernet and wireless access is available at select areas like the hostel, cafeteria and library. This whole project has been implemented by Wipro.

Impact

The network will have a positive impact on both teaching and research work at BITS. “This fresh infrastructure will enable the BITS Distance Learning Programme Division (DLPD) to offer media-rich content to over 7,500 students. We can now look forward to a successful expansion of the virtual university concept allowing students, faculty and organisations to collaborate with no geographical and time-zone constraints,” says Venkateswaran.

Apart from the distributed VLSI lab, the institute’s virtual university will ride on this network. BITS’ research in the areas of IPv6, and its Multimedia Operating System and Ubiquitous Computing Research initiatives, will also get a fillip with this new development. On the learning front, the institute will have complete online courseware along with hybrid delivery of on-campus education. Neuron enables students to have 24/7 unrestricted access to the Param supercomputer, in addition to the server and application farms running advanced tools like CAD, VLSI, etc. It also allows live video streaming of remote lectures to students’ rooms, interactive real-time multicasting of lectures, as well as advanced education and presentation systems on top of this infrastructure. In terms of distance learning, the initiatives enable BITS to bring more courses and a larger number of students under the ambit of distance education. Though not finalised as yet, the infrastructure might also be leveraged by nearby schools and villages.

OLAB advantage

Best in class EDA tools supporting full design flow, embedded design and board design Powerful computing farm which is scalable and accessible over the Neuron network Commercial value of over $50 million Focuses on the research areas of networking, ITS, biochemistry and MEMS Strong industry collaboration and Bangalore extension counter for staying close to the industry Experts drawn from all over the industry Sponsored research

Neuron: Impact on teaching

Complete online courseware—hybrid delivery of on-campus education Students have 24/7 unrestricted access to the Param supercomputer, in addition to various server and application farms running advanced educational tools Live video streaming of remote lecture rooms Interactive real-time multicasting of lectures Enables advanced education and presentation systems on top of this infrastructure

shipra@expresscomputeronline.com