Indian chip designer, SmartPlay, partners with all the world's semiconductor biggies

24th February 2015
Indian chip designer, SmartPlay, partners with all the world's semiconductor biggies

In the spirit of 'Make in India'... launching a series of profiles of Indian IT innovators
Bangalore,  February 24, 2015: Think of the  world's Top 20 semiconductor  manufacturers. Chances are, 8 out of 10 names in the list,  entrust some of their Design Verification, Design Implementation and Physical Design tasks to an  Indian company which in  a short spell of  seven years has become the no.2 VLSI design house in the country. 
SmartPlay Technologies has partnered with AMD, ARM Cypress, Intel, Synopsys, STM,  Qualcom to name just a few.
The company is also the preferred design partner for Intel Custom Foundry. SmartPlay  has delivered numerous projects for them such as test chip development platform; verification and layout of Analog IPs along with the participation in various customer tape-outs on Intel Custom Foundry’s 22nm and 14nm platforms. Design services offered by SmartPlay have  helped reduce time-to-market for customers of Intel Custom Foundry.
Says SmartPlay's founder-Chairman, Pradeep Vajram: “The increasing complexity, interface, and functionality of Systems on a Chip ( SOCs have brought about many challenges in building highly-integrated systems. SmartPlay’s design services are aimed at enabling companies to reduce time-to-market, increase efficiency and perform better and faster."
He was speaking to IndiaTechOnline, on the sidelines of the recently held  Vision Summit of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA)here.
Vajram is something of a chip industry veteran: Prior to SmartPlay, he  was the VP of Engineering at Qualcomm, heading the India semiconductor division (Bangalore)  and helping set up Qualcomm's India Design Centre in Bangalore. He has  also held managerial and engineering positions with LSI Logic Corporation, Milpitas,  California. 
Starting SmartPlay in 2008 with a team of less than 60, he had built the company to  a 1100-plus entity,  with design centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad, G. Noida, Chennai, San Jose - CA, San Diego - CA, Austin - TX & Singapore, making SmartPlay one of the fastest growing technology services company in the world.
Today the company has recognized strengths  in graphics, mobile, multimedia and processor technologies. But  his global footprint notwithstanding, Vajram remains committed to  the  national objective of Make in India.
"Right policies, incentives, infrastructure and encouragement from Government will act as a catalyst for ‘Make-in-India’, drive. This will transform import driven Indian electronic industry to an indigenous manufacturing hub, leading to reduction in import bill and making India a self-sustained economy," he says
In a media environment where chip biggies are constantly in the news,  we are happy to turn the spotlight on a home grown  Indian enterprise, which by the very nature of its work has to hide its light under a bushel -- but which is present under the hood where ever semiconductors are used.