Prayagraj: Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad (MNNIT Allahabad), represented the Institute at SEMICON India 2026, held from September 17 to 19, 2026, at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi. During the event, he had the opportunity to meet and interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of an interaction with young chip designers, researchers, and participants. SEMICON India 2026 was organized by the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, in collaboration with SEMI. The theme of this year’s event, “Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem,” focused on the development of an integrated semiconductor ecosystem encompassing chip design, fabrication, packaging, electronic systems, research, innovation, and talent development.
Vinay Kumar participated in the event as a representative of the MNNIT Allahabad research team working under the MeitY-funded Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme. A semiconductor chip developed under the Institute’s C2S project, designated C2S0129, was showcased during the event. The chip represents the first version of a Long Range (LoRa) transmitter operating in the license-free 865–867 MHz frequency band. It has been developed under the consortium project titled “ML Enabled RISC-V based i-LoRa SOC for Forest event monitoring,” using SCL 180 nm technology. The developed transmitter incorporates CMOS-based RF, analog, and mixed-signal building blocks. Its key components include a DAC, LPF, VCO, and mixer, designed to operate at the targeted frequency. The low-power i-LoRa transmitter has an expected communication range of approximately 1 to 2 kilometers.
The project follows a full-custom IC design flow using Cadence Virtuoso, covering schematic development, circuit simulation, layout design, parasitic extraction, DRC/LVS verification, and GDSII generation. The digital-assisted architecture is intended to support programmable and reliable transmitter operation while addressing practical VLSI challenges, including power consumption, circuit linearity, process variations, and the integration of analog/RF and digital control functions.
The project is led by Prof. Rajendra Kumar Nagaria, Principal Investigator, and Dr. Santosh Kumar Gupta, Co-Principal Investigator. The research team comprises Vinay Kumar and Dr. Vikas Tiwari, Senior Research Scholars, and Dr. Priyanka Singh, Junior Research Scholar. The project has a duration of 2023 to 2028 and has received funding of Rs. 96 lakh.
