Date:06/03/2011 URL:
http://www.thehindu.com/2011/03/06/stories/2011030661261000.htm
National
VLSI - where small is beautiful
Vasudha Venugopal
IIT-Madras scouts for tie-ups to enhance reach of projects
CHENNAI: To enhance the reach of various VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)
projects developed by its students and faculty, the IIT-Madras is in talks
with many hospitals, educational institutes, research organisations and
governments for tie-ups.
An interesting project in the pipeline is the ongoing research with Sankara
Nethralaya. Under it, professors and students of the IIT-Madras are applying
machine-learning techniques to interpret disorders including glaucoma and
diabetic retinopathy. "With proper image processing techniques, we are looking
at interpreting data from pictures and help in providing timely intervention
through proper diagnosis," says Kamakoti Veezhinathan, professor, Department
of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT-Madras.
Other interesting projects include monitoring of the structural health of
bridges, intelligent sensory devices, weather forecasting and radar processing
applications. Prof. Kamakoti says that since VLSI research is largely
consumer-driven, there is a lot of dependence on feedback from industry. "We
want
to add a dimension to research by rendering solutions to real-world problems.
To improvise on our design ideas, it is necessary that we don't stick to
academics alone, and start giving shape to our applications."
Seventy students and over 50 faculty members from different backgrounds of
engineering are part of this centre of excellence at the IIT-Madras that will
showcase and facilitate research on innovative projects in embedded systems and
VLSI design.
Since many VLSI problems have non-deterministic solutions, it depends on
heuristics for sub-optimal solutions.
A concern, says Prof. Kamakoti, is that while a lot of electronic devices are
made in India, the chips are built in foreign countries, with specifications
set by international foundries. "There is no guarantee that these systems
perform the required functions. It is extremely important that we start looking
at strengthening our indigenous manufacturing capabilities and develop our own
state-of-the-art hardware designs."
Renuka E,
Section Officer,
ICT Centre for Visually Challlenged,
CHMK Library,
University ofCalicut,
Malappuram Dist.,
Kerala.
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