A team of students from the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Dharwad (IIIT Dharwad) has designed an advanced silicon chip named 'Siddharoodha-1', named after the renowned philosopher and social reformer Siddharoodha Swami. This achievement marks a significant step towards India's semiconductor self-reliance.
Developed by third- and fourth-year students, the chip is being viewed as an important milestone, showcasing the growing capabilities of Indian academic institutions in the global semiconductor ecosystem.
What is Siddharoodha-1?
The Siddharoodha-1 is a GPIO (General Purpose Input/Output) expander chip designed to enhance the functionality of microcontrollers and single-board computers. It enables systems to connect with a larger number of sensors, actuators, and peripheral devices, thereby improving interfacing capacity and allowing multiple devices to function simultaneously.
Collaborations and Fabrication
IIIT Dharwad is among only six Indian institutions selected as part of a global semiconductor initiative involving 55 institutions worldwide. The institute collaborated with leading chip design software company Synopsys and global fabrication firm GlobalFoundries for the project. The chip was taped out at GlobalFoundries' facility in Germany, marking a crucial stage in chip development before fabrication.
Key Features
Assistant professor Jagadish DN said the chip is based on the open-source RISC-V processor architecture. One of its key features is scalability, as multiple Siddharoodha-1 chips can be interconnected to significantly increase input and output capacity. This makes it suitable for industrial automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, and smart device applications.
Project Timeline and Team
The project was undertaken between May and September 2025 as a special tape-out initiative. The student team, led by final-year BTech electronics student Shivashankar B, worked extensively on design validation, debugging, interface optimisation, and performance enhancement under the guidance of industry experts Anand Baria and Santosh Devanalikkar.
Aligned with National Missions
IIIT Dharwad director SR Mahadeva Prasanna said such initiatives align with the goals of the India Semiconductor Mission, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and Viksit Bharat, while helping reduce dependence on imported chips.
This achievement of IIIT Dharwad students in designing and developing the GPIO chip, which has numerous applications in industry, is a rare example of a complete, ready-for-fabrication design of semiconductor chips in the Indian technical campus scenario. The collaboration with Synopsys and GlobalFoundries for further development and physical production of the chip prototype underscores the growing capability of Indian institutions in semiconductor design.
