Will it take more time for semiconductor product manufacturing from India?

This is a continuation from my previous post on Dexcel. Here, I quizzed Ravi Gujral on the IP re-use, whether India possesses an ecosystem suitable for product development, and the importance of domain expertise.

Does India have product development ecosystem?
First, the all-important issue of whether India has an ecosystem that supports product development!

Well, this is a tricky one! Several folks, including yours truly, feel that India does not yet possess an ecosystem that can support the development of product companies locally! Here, Dexcel's views are worth an eyeball!

Gujral said: "So far, India has had the reputation of being an outsourcing hub for embedded software. Now, this trend is changing and many companies are focusing of innovation and product development from India. The Indian design houses are moving beyond simple labor-cost arbitrage and becoming significant contributors to product innovation space. Many multinational companies are doing their new design and product development from their India design center.

"The Indian domestic market is driving the product innovation like in the space of mobile segment. Having said that, there are many challenges in creating an ecosystem to develop product companies like process maturity, technical in-depth know how, domain expertise and availability of qualified resources."

Gujral expressed his gratitude toward the government of India and associations such as the India Semiconductor Association (ISA), both of whom are working toward creating the ecosystem for product development.

"I am quite positive that things will change pretty soon, but it will take more time for semiconductor product manufacturing from India," he quipped.

What are the benefits of IP re-use?
On IP re-use, Gujral listed its clear benefits. "Today's modular IPs have the potential to not only address complex functionality, configurability, and performance, but also provide a solution that allows for rapid and constant change of the design requirements. IPs have become the heavily sought after component in designs due to their re-usability, possibilities of customization and easy availability."

Hardware solutions are now implemented in programmable devices rather than using a host of ASICs. Every company would like to add some customization or special feature to distinguish their product from the competition. This can be achieved to some extent by the firmware and to a large extend by using IPs on programmable hardware such as FPGAs.

He added: "Everyone is benefited because of the one-time effort of IP development and its customization/implementation to specific applications. System-on-chip (SoC), ASSP (application specific standard products), are the most benefited candidates by IP. Design houses can also deliver solutions faster and cost effectively due to the design of only the "toppings" and not re-inventing the entire requirement."

Every company has limited resources and must focus those on their core competences to maximize the added value of those resources. IP re-use helps companies to launch product faster in the market as the time to market is critical for new product.

Importance of strong domain expertise
Given Dexcel's background, it is obvious to find out up to what extent do customers expect strong domain expertise.

Gujral said: "Yes, customers always expect us to be well versed with the domains we work in. The end solutions are mostly complex, multi-domain products/systems and hence the design sub-contractors are engaged for the sub-system domain in which they are the experts."

Competing in the embedded designs domain isn't easy, and to carve its niche, Dexcel possesses both the hardware and software skill sets under one roof, supplemented with in-house CAD, mechanical housing and other related expertise to churn-out a complete product or solution. The company keeps a complete control on the project and hence, could deliver the products of quality and performance beyond customer expectations.

The company's association with technology partners is another strong point in delivering the latest technology solutions due to early access programs of the partners.

Gujral added: "Since we are under NDAs with most of the companies whose product we design, we may not be in the position to divulge the information. Largely, I would say that our successes have come in the areas of networking, imaging and semiconductor characterization platform creation technologies."

Now, UK seeks semicon ties with India!

Just a couple of days ago, I had touched upon the growing global interest in the Indian semiconductor industry. Well, late last evening, I was present at the release of an important study that seeks collaborations between semicon firms from India and the UK! Talk about interest!!

The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and the UK Trade & Investment and Science & Innovation Network has launched a study titled "Scope for collaboration between India and the UK in semiconductor driven industry 2008". The report was launched by Richard Hyde, head - British Trade Office, Bangalore and ISA chairman Jaswinder Ahuja.

Given India's growing presence in the global semicon industry, the study comes at the right time. UK and Indian semiconductor firms can collaborate to boost India's IP creation and build next-generation products. There are potential synergies between the two nations in areas such as design, applications and devices.

Indian semicon firms specialize in VLSI, hardware/board-level design and embedded systems in wireless communications, computing and networking. In turn, the UK's strength lies in IP creation and complete product development.

Richard Hyde remarked that there was lot of compatibility between the UK and Indian semiconductor companies. The study also laid the foundation for the forthcoming Semi Conclave, scheduled for September 15-16 in Bangalore, to be followed by similar events in Hyderabad and New Delhi. "It will bring together the industry and the academia, along with a visiting delegation from the UK." This event will be jointly organized by ISA, UKTI and SIN.

V. Ravichandar, CMD, Feedback Consulting said the first challenge while preparing the study was to find high-quality data. The ISA in India and the NMI in the UK had such data.

He added: "Firms that exist in India and the UK are essentially design firms. They become complementary as you collaborate." He highlighted IP creation and product development as the strength of the UK firms, and computing, networking and communications as the strength of the Indian semiconductor firms.

The best fit -- Indian universities and UK universities -- can be leveraged in the short run. Commenting on clusters, while these were built around places such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and New Delhi in India, the UK has clusters in South-East England -- in hardware design, Scotland, East England -- software engineering, and a balance mix of companies in the South-West of England. India can provide skills in VLSI and EDA, as well as the large talent pool.

The next best fit lies in collaboration between the UK companies and the talent pool in India, which could go a long way in bringing down the research costs. Another fit could be between the companies in the UK and India, or the UK universities and Indian companies. However, the Indian companies might not be able to bring in the kind of funding required for high-end R&D as they are not mature enough.

Another fit could well be sharing of best practices, such as those brought by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and EUROPRACTICE.

"The Indian government also needs to come forward beyond the semicon policy." Ravichandar added. "There is scope for 30-40 percent reduction in R&D expenses, should collaborations happen between semicon firms from the UK and India."

Poornima Shenoy, president, ISA, added that the ISA had initiated a Country Series, focusing on specific geographies of relevance to the industry. The report with UKTI is the first in this series.