Chennai, Mar 16 (UNI) In a first of its kind in India in the area of high reliability
microprocessors and onboard computers for navigation, guidance and control
of launch vehicles, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the
Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) Chandigarh handed over the the first production
lots of the 32-bit microprocessors for space applications, VIKRAM3201 and
KALPANA3201.
They were handed over to Dr. V. Narayanan, Secretary, Department of Space
and Chairman, ISRO by S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, in a function organised
at New Delhi by the SCL on March 5, 2025.
In an update today, ISRO said these microprocessors were designed and
developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in collaboration
with SCL.
VSSC Director Dr. Unnikrishnan Nair also participated in the function along with the
design teams.
Dr. Kamaljeet Singh, Director-General of SCL/MeitY and his team provided a brief
overview of the activities undertaken for the realization, packaging and qualification
of these processors for launch vehicle applications.
VIKRAM3201 is the first fully “Make-in-India” 32-bit microprocessor that is qualified
for use in the harsh environmental conditions of launch vehicles.
The processor was fabricated at the 180nm CMOS semiconductor fab of SCL.
This processor is an advanced version of the indigenously designed 16-bit
VIKRAM1601 microprocessor which has been flying in the Avionics system
of ISRO’s launch vehicles since 2009.
A “Make-in-India” version of the VIKRAM1601 processor was subsequently
inducted in 2016 after the 180nm semiconductor fab was established at SCL.
VIKRAM3201 and the VIKRAM1601 has a custom Instruction Set Architecture,
with floating-point computation capability and high-level language support for
the Ada language.
All the software tools such as the Ada compiler, assembler, linker, simulator
along with Integrated Development Environment (IDE) are developed in-house
by ISRO.
A C language compiler is also under development for providing more flexibility
to users in other domains.
"This is the first of its kind in India and has enabled Atmanirbharata in the area
of high reliability microprocessors and onboard computers for navigation, guidance
and control of launch vehicles", it said.
The initial lot of VIKRAM3201 devices was successfully validated in space in the
Mission Management Computer of the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module
(POEM-4) in the PSLV-C60 mission.
KALPANA3201 is a 32-bit SPARC V8 RISC microprocessor and is based on
the IEEE 1754 Instruction Set Architecture.
The microprocessor has been designed to be compatible with open-source
software toolsets along with in-house developed simulator & IDE and has been
tested with flight software.
Four other devices that were jointly developed with SCL were also handed over
towards significant miniaturisation of the launch vehicle Avionics system.
This includes two versions of a Reconfigurable Data Acquisition System (RDAS)
integrating multiple indigenously designed 24-bit Sigma-Delta Analog to Digital
Converters on a single chip along with a Relay driver Integrated Circuit and a
Multi-Channel Low Drop-out Regulator Integrated Circuit for high reliability
applications.
An MoU was also signed between SCL and VSSC for the development and
elivery of miniaturized unsteady pressure sensors for measuring dynamic
pressure in wind tunnels, ISRO said.
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