NIT Raipur to set up advanced semiconductor chip research centre on campus

National Institute of Technology Raipur has signed a memorandum of understanding with a Bengaluru-based firm to set up an advanced chip research and development centre on its campus in Chhattisgarh's capital, an institute official said on Sunday.

The POSIT system-based general purpose-graphics processing unit (GPGPU) advanced chip research and development centre will be named ViBram Silicon Hub and assistant professor of NIT Raipur Dr Sonal Yadav will head it, a public relations officer of the institute said.

POSIT number system is an alternative to Floating Point number system and claims to deliver better performance and accuracy for high-performance applications, specifically those that involve significant mathematical computations, the official said.

GPGPU advanced chips are used in smartphones, laptops, desktops, servers, and many other digital devices. These chips are also used in tsunami detection and satellite launch applications, he said.

The agreement was inked between NIT Raipur Director Dr N V Ramana Rao and Dr Vijay Holimath, chief executive officer of VividSparks from Bengaluru, on March 20, the official said.

He said that GPGPUs are responsible for computing heavy mathematical operations for gaming, video processing, Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning, High Performance Computing and many other applications.

According to Dr Yadav and Dr Holimath, the initiative will not only address India's computational needs but also allow the centre to export its research works and products to other countries, besides creating job opportunities.