The Hindu Business Line : Driven by design

Dr Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra, Managing Director of Texas Instruments India, dwells on how the semiconductor scene is shaping up. Excerpts from a chat with eWorld:

What are TI’s new initiatives in the design-scape?

Texas Instruments was the first multinational to commence its operations in India (in 1985). Over the last two decades, TI India product teams have developed several innovative products for our customers worldwide.

These include digital signal processors, ultra-low power microcontrollers, analogue and radio-frequency (RF) designs and embedded systems/software. TI India engineers work with engineers around the TI globe in many of these product developments.

Today, there is hardly a chip produced by Texas Instruments that is not touched by our India R&D teams in some way.

We have over 50 application partners in India, who are working closely with TI to develop differentiated solutions for customers worldwide. We are also working closely with companies providing design and test services, EDA (electronic design automation) tools and applications, and with universities.

According to a recent ISA-F&S report (August 2007), the total available market (TAM) in India will grow at 36 per cent CAGR from 2006 to reach $3.18 billion in 2009. This is a significant opportunity.

What are the changes coming up with design timelines getting compressed?

Rapid time-to-market of a product, coupled with the need for increased differentiation, is becoming increasingly important. From a chip design perspective, TI designers work on innovations in design and test cycle time to reduce the time, from customer specification to ramping it, to production.

Several engineers from TI India, and around the TI world, are involved in this activity.

Another key aspect of supporting customers in getting their products early to market is to provide the right sales and application support.

Texas Instruments has an efficient structure to support its customers with rapid access to samples and evaluation modules, in addition to providing detailed technical design and application documents, conducting product events, etc.

TI also delivers the needed product training and support through the ‘elab Design Centre’ by way of application knowledge, latest design considerations, technology trends and do’s and don’ts.

All these factors go together in supporting the customer as time to market becomes increasingly critical.

Are you able to get the right talent to meet this challenging task?

Absolutely. TI India employs many of the best design engineers in the country. We have strong relationships with over 600 Universities in India — including the IITs and the Indian Institute of Science. Through a summer intern programme, we provide B.Tech/M.Tech students early exposure to semiconductor design.

How do you see Indian designers making a difference to the semiconductor industry in general and TI perspective in particular?

Indian design engineers are innovative, have strong analytical skills, and are grounded on a strong science and engineering foundation.

They also work with their global counterparts with a strong sense of teaming.

Indian design engineers working with local and multinational OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are leading the electronics industry in India.

They are driving system innovation in areas such as industrial electronics, consumer products, wireless solutions, medical electronic products, automotive solutions, etc.

TI is partnering with them in providing semiconductor solutions that differentiate their solutions for a diverse set of applications.

Convergence seems to be a big driver for innovation in the Indian semiconductor industry. What is in store from a consumer perspective?

The Indian consumer is inherently an “aspirer” — one who is focused on products and services of differentiated value.

While the current numbers may show a large consumption of low-cost basic products, masked within this is the rapid growth of value-added product and services. We will thus increasingly see more feature-rich solutions that are cost-effective for the consumers.

From a semiconductor perspective, this trend will give rise to increased innovation in products that are centred around our customer’s need to increasingly differentiate their solutions.

vrishi@thehindu.co.in