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Context: Chennai-based fabless semiconductor startup Aheesa Digital Innovations, supported under MeitY’s Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, has achieved first-pass silicon success for its indigenous broadband networking System-on-Chip (SoC) named ‘VIHAAN’.
What is VIHAAN?
India’s first domestically designed broadband networking System-on-Chip (SoC).
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designed by | Aheesa Digital Innovations, Chennai, Tamil Nadu |
| Architecture | Open-standard RISC-V |
| Processor | Indigenous VEGA processor, developed by C-DAC |
| Government backing | Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme — India Semiconductor Mission / MeitY |
| Purpose | High-throughput, secure and sovereign semiconductor solutions for optical fibre and broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) |
Aim: deliver high-performance, domestically designed telecom silicon for Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) deployments and broadband routers across Indian households and businesses, reducing reliance on imported foreign networking chips.
Key Terms
- System-on-Chip (SoC) — a single chip that carries the processor, memory controller, networking and security functions together, instead of separate components on a board
- Fabless — a company that designs chips but does not own a fabrication plant; manufacturing is outsourced to a foundry
- First-pass silicon success — the chip worked on its very first fabrication attempt, without needing a redesign
- RISC-V — an open-standard instruction set architecture, free to use, unlike proprietary architectures such as ARM or x86
- CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) — the router or modem installed in a home or office
