The semiconductor industry is at the heart of India’s technological transformation, with growing domestic production and government-backed initiatives shaping its future. In this exclusive interview, Jayraj Nair, Global Field CTO Hi-Tech and Regional CTO APAC at Ansys, shares insights on India’s semiconductor ambitions, key challenges, and the role of cutting-edge simulation tools in accelerating innovation. He discusses Ansys’ contributions to industry-academia collaboration, startup enablement, and strategic partnerships, highlighting how these efforts align with India’s vision for a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem.

1.            Semiconductor chips are critical to a wide range of industries, from consumer electronics to defense systems. How do you view their role in shaping the future of technology and innovation in India, particularly with the increasing demand for domestic production?

India is looking forward to increasing domestic production of semiconductor chips, taking into account various issues associated with the supply chain. We are a net importer today, while the semiconductor industry is projected to grow to 271.9 billion US dollars by 2032, with a CAGR of 26%.

The estimates suggest that the global semiconductor market will grow to 1 trillion US dollars by 2030, and the Indian government is making strategic moves to secure strategic autonomy and a more significant market segment share in this vital sector. For example, the Semicon India Programme enables the growth of locally manufactured semiconductors and displays in India.

In association with Taiwan-based Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC), Tata Electronics is setting up a commercial semiconductor fabrication facility, India’s first FAB. The 10 billion investment will focus on manufacturing semiconductors for automotive and AI scenarios.

The government has also introduced subsidy programs covering up to 50 percent of project expenses for constructing semiconductor and display fabs, adding local and foreign investors. Semiconductors are crucial to national security, powering sophisticated military equipment and encrypted communications. India plans to enhance its domestic manufacturing capacity to reduce import dependency and guarantee a constant supply of chips for military applications.

2.            India’s semiconductor consumption has been growing rapidly. What are the biggest challenges the country faces in building a robust domestic semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, and how is Ansys helping to address these challenges?

Key obstacles include steep up-front investment, estimated to be around $5-$7 billion to establish a single chip fabrication plant. The talent shortage is another aspect, as there are not many electronics engineers with experience in device physics and process technology readily available in the market.

Most of the early movers in India are training engineers in collaboration with their partners. The government is also collaborating with businesses and universities to advance curriculum and skills training to further this goal.

As part of the Indian government’s Chips to Startup (C2S) program, Ansys makes its simulation tools available to the participating institutes and start-ups to foster creativity and attempt to address the skill shortages required to support India’s semiconductor aspirations.

3.            The global semiconductor chip shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted industries worldwide. How has this shaped India’s approach to becoming self-reliant in semiconductor production, and how is Ansys contributing to this shift?

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a global semiconductor shortage that impacted various industries, particularly automotive, electronics, and communications. It caused production cuts and job losses for nearly three years.

The semiconductor manufacturing industry is very concentrated, with major manufacturers in Taiwan, China, South Korea, and the USA. Most countries are now focused on developing strategic autonomy. In India, we are making a concerted effort to reduce that dependence. Ansys aids these initiatives by providing advanced simulation tools for enhancing productivity, reducing latency, and increasing chip reliability. These tools allow industry leaders and start-ups to comply with workflows in the High-Tech industry.

4.            Can you elaborate on the significance of the “India Semiconductor Mission” and its impact on the domestic semiconductor ecosystem, particularly in advancing India’s manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure?

The India Semiconductor Mission, or ISM, is part of the Digital India Corporation’s Program and focuses on creating a strong semiconductor and display ecosystem. The Indian government launched the Semiconductor India Program with a nearly $9 billion budget in December 2021. By targeting cost-effective technology starting from 28nm process nodes, India can cater to high-demand sectors. This move will help enhance domestic sales and can lead to an export surge. It aligns well with the goals of 2047 Viksit Bharat.

5.            Initiatives like AatmaNirbhar Bharat and programs such as C2S and DLI aim to reduce India’s import dependency. How do you view the role of these initiatives in accelerating India’s semiconductor industry, and how is Ansys complementing these government efforts?

Initiatives like AatmaNirbhar Bharat and programs such as Chips to Startup (C2S) and the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme are pivotal in advancing India’s semiconductor industry by fostering self-reliance.

Ansys supports these initiatives by offering advanced simulation tools under the C2S and DLI programs. This collaboration helps bridge the skills gap in the semiconductor sector. It aligns with India’s broader objectives of achieving technological self-sufficiency and emerging as a global leader in the semiconductor market. It also enables net new job creation in research and development, manufacturing, and testing, thereby contributing to India’s goal of securing a larger share of the global Hi-Tech market.

6.            Could you share more about the Ansys Academic Program and how it is enabling universities to contribute to semiconductor and electronics research?

Thousands of universities worldwide utilize engineering simulation software through the Ansys Academic Program to teach students physics principles and assist researchers in solving complex engineering challenges.

Significant research is conducted on campuses, and it’s crucial for the next generation of engineers to graduate with hands-on experience in simulation software. To make simulation more accessible, we prioritize strategic engagements with key researchers, educators, and students globally.

Ansys collaborates with professors and institutions to develop curriculum materials, integrate them into core courses, and produce textbooks and teaching guides.

In India, Ansys has partnered with MeiTY’s C2S program to provide access to industry-standard tools like RedHawk-SC, Totem, PowerArtist, RaptorX, and VeloceRF to participating institutes. Ansys has also conducted several enablement sessions with the ChipIN centre to enhance researchers learning journeys.

As a global advisor to India’s national R&D and workforce programs in integrated systems packaging, Ansys supports the industry-academia consortium, which includes several prestigious institutes, in establishing Industry Co-development Centres.

7.            How does Ansys assist startups in achieving their innovation, time-to-market, cost, and performance goals, particularly in such a competitive sector?

Unlike big businesses that can afford to design chips with multiple iterations, startups generally have tiny budgets and are expected to deliver functional advanced chips/IPs from the start. To help overcome these challenges, Ansys offers innovative solutions like our patented Sigma Technology for power integrity sign-off. This AI-driven tool enhances analysis coverage, catching issues like simultaneous switching noise early in the placement stage through a shift-left approach, reducing design cycles significantly.

Ansys’ Startup Program provides new ventures with affordable access to powerful simulation bundles, including tools such as RedHawk-SC, which is fully cloud-compatible for companies without an on-premise computing environment. Startups also use our simulation tools alongside our Ansys Learning Hub for training.

8.            How does simulation address the demands of creating reliable and efficient semiconductor designs, especially in the context of next-gen products?

We have 3D IC’s with multi-die architectures that essentially requires multi-physics and multi-domain expertise. With several hundred billion transistors packed in heterogenous configuration as chiplets with memory and interconnects, we must consider systems integrity in new ways. These chips are getting tightly integrated and are more bespoke, workload, and application-specific.

Traditional IR and EM reliability simulations aren’t enough, and we need to account for multi-physics simulations, including mechanical and thermal effects. Tools such as Redhawk-SC allow distributed operation on thousands of CPU cores, which will help us maintain high performance and scalability. It’s the new world of Power, Signal, Thermal, Optical, and mechanical integrity. Thermal-related mechanical warpage and stress are a big challenge as these chips and systems become more complex.

9.            What role do partnerships and collaborations with other technology providers play in Ansys’ efforts to accelerate semiconductor design and innovation? Can you share any examples of successful collaborations that have helped your customers achieve their goals?

Ansys has established partnerships with various foundries, allowing our simulation tools to be certified for the latest technology nodes. This cooperation is quite intensive for both Ansys and foundry engineers, but it helps ensure the tools’ readiness when new nodes are commercially released.

One example is the latest standard that TSMC has unveiled for 3D IC design 3Dblox. Ansys collaborated with TSMC and many other EDA vendors to enable our tools to adapt to the new 3DFabric technology, which enhances multi-chip simulations. Moreover, the work we undertook with Synopsys to develop Fusion Flow allows designers and engineers to conduct Ansys simulations within the IC compiler setting efficiently. Another example – NVIDIA has developed a workflow to run flat, full-chip power integrity and reliability signoff analysis using a fully distributed compute and big data solution with Ansys RedHawk-SC. They achieved a turn-around time of well under 24 hours for full-chip flat power signoff analysis on NVIDIA’s largest GPU. Additionally, silicon correlation exercises performed on the Volta chip using RedHawk-SC produced simulated voltage values within 10 percent of silicon measurement results. Such partnerships enable faster product innovation.

10.          How does Ansys plan to expand its support for India’s semiconductor sector, especially with the government’s focus on building a self-reliant ecosystem?

Ansys is involved in the C2S and DLI programs, offering access to tools like PowerArtist, RedHawk-SC, Totem, RaptorX, and VeloceRF for participating institutes and startups.

Participants in the C2S program receive quick-start training through webinars hosted by C-DAC, along with support from Ansys’ application engineering team for tool setup and flow development.

Additionally, Ansys provides grants for semiconductor course development at selected universities, further strengthening collaboration between industry and academia.

11.          How do you see India’s semiconductor industry positioning itself globally, and what potential do you see for India to emerge as a key player in semiconductor manufacturing and innovation?

India has a unique advantage with its vast talent pool. Already, the majority of the global semiconductor design houses have a significant portion of their workforce in India, and each year, thousands of electronics and electrical engineers graduate, providing a strong workforce ready to drive the semiconductor industry forward.

This is India’s moment for a semiconductor revolution, much like the White and Green Revolutions of the past.

With the right policies and a favorable environment, we’re seeing more startups and Indian-based companies like Tata Electronics and L&T Semiconductor Technologies emerging as semiconductor design houses.

The enthusiasm and motivation of bright Indian engineers are now backed up with amazing government support. We are very excited to enable this transformation.

STPOWER Studio 4.0 just became available and now supports three new topologies (1-phase full bridge, 1-phase half-bridge, and 3-phase 3-level T-NPC) to cover significantly more applications. Previously, the online simulation tool only offered a 3-phase 2-level topology for motor drivers and photovoltaic inverters, which are some of the most popular use cases. Thanks to the robustness of the underlying architecture that ST recently updated and brought to the web, we are now able to build on top of the existing platform to make STPOWER Studio more versatile and assist more engineers in designing a more comprehensive range of power stages.

What is STPOWER Studio?

A unique simulator

STPOWER Studio, a component of eDesignSuite, specializes in thermo-electrical simulations. As eDesignSuite transitioned to HTML5 to enhance its user interface, STPOWER Studio benefited from the same underlying architecture, enabling more powerful simulations. It stands out in the industry as one of the few simulators capable of adjusting power losses according to the junction temperature at the moment of the simulation, providing a more accurate representation of real-world usage. Some competitors traditionally use a fixed value for the junction temperature, leading to over- or underestimated losses. Thanks to our dynamic junction temperature, users get more accurate results.

STPOWER Studio can simulate up to hundreds of seconds per step with Steady State off, which gives engineers enough time to see how their power stage would ramp up and stabilize. They can also run simulations with or without heat sinks, which will help them anticipate form factor and heat dissipation requirements. Users simply select the ST family of devices (ACEPACK or SLLIMM) and the component they will use in their design. Under Setting, designers can tweak the gate resistor values and some thermal properties. Finally, under I/O, users can adjust their mission profile by defining various steps with values such as the output power or the current level, among other things.

A design assistant

Let’s take the example of an engineer designing a large motor driver for industrial applications, an inverter for a photovoltaic converter, or an HVAC system. In our example, the motor would use a DC Link voltage of 650 V and an RMS Phase Current of 10 A. For a quick simulation, users can use Steady State ON to analyze performances after reaching a thermal steady state. Then, by choosing Steady State OFF, users can set the duration of the simulation step for a more detailed analysis. Obviously, it will require more computing power on the server and take longer to generate. However, ST reduced rendering times by a factor of 10 over the last releases of STPOWER Studio.

What’s new in STPOWER Studio 4.0?

1-phase full bridge

The new version of STPOWER Studio features three new topologies. The 1-phase full bridge will fit single-phase photovoltaic converters or uninterruptible power supplies. As more residential homes and buildings increasingly rely on renewable energy, the ability to store solar energy in batteries is increasingly in demand. Hence, we wanted to ensure that engineers could more rapidly test their designs and reduce their time to market. Similarly, engineers working on an uninterruptible power supply can very quickly anticipate what their design will look like if they adopt an STPOWER device.

1 phase half bridge

Since STPOWER Studio supports a one-phase full bridge topology, it made sense to offer a one-phase half-bridge. This structure is common in DC-AC conversion for smaller solar inverters or motor drivers. Engineers also combine single-phase half-bridge topologies when designing a one-phase to three-phase converter. In fact, while the current version of the simulator focuses solely on DC-AC systems, we are evaluating the addition of DC-DC applications and will update this blog post with more information as they become available.

3-phase 3-level T-NPC

Finally, the 3-phase 3-level T-NPC (T-type Neutral Point Clamped) is increasingly popular because it improves overall efficiency by reducing switching losses thanks to a mechanism that clamps the input voltage at its halfway point. Consequently, only half of the input voltage is applied to each switch, which reduces switching losses. This creative approach greatly benefits high-power systems, such as photovoltaic inverters, power factor inverters, or motor drivers, while ensuring the overall design remains relatively small.

eDSim is our latest simulation tool for switched-mode power supplies (SMPS) and other power analog circuits. The tool runs on the SIMPLIS/SIMetrix engine, is available to download for free on our website, and is governed by a free-to-use commercial license. In a nutshell, our eDSim models are exempt from node limit count, thus enabling engineers to utilize them without restrictions on the number of nodes or circuit size. We even worked on a workflow that allows users to export a design out of eDesignSuite and into eDSim to help them run more detailed simulations faster. ST is also working on an online version of eDSim to optimize further the experience of designing and simulating a circuit.

Why did we decide to work on this?

The challenges behind designing power circuits

Power circuits are notoriously difficult to design because of their inherent complexity. Engineers must account for a specific load and how the overall circuit responds when there are sudden shifts in the line voltage or the load current due to spikes or low loads. In the case of an SMPS, teams must ensure that cycles are consistent, meaning that no significant fluctuations disrupt voltage regulations. It’s also critical to examine how the circuit performs under regular operations to determine the overall quality of the design. Is the ramp-up, when the input voltage is first applied, smooth, or is there a massive under- or over-shoot, among other issues?

The necessity of running simulations

Until simulations came along, the only way for engineers to test their power circuit was to design a PCB layout, manufacture it, and then physically try it in their lab. The obvious problem is that the process is slow and extremely expensive. Furthermore, because power calculations are often based on differential equations, complex models, and matrix computations1, teams may spot a problem but may not have an obvious solution to it, requiring even costlier trial-and-error operations. Hence, simulators are an essential tool when designing a power circuit. Unfortunately, licenses can be expensive, and knowing what software to use isn’t always obvious. Consequently, we tackled this problem so our partners wouldn’t have to.

Why did we invest so much time and money into eDSim?

10x to 50x faster

In essence, eDSim takes the SIMPLIS/SIMetrix engine and runs it on ST components and models. Why choose this engine? According to our benchmarks, simulating a synchronous step-down converter based on our L6983 would take between 10 minutes and 50 minutes on OrCAD PSpice, but only one minute or less on eDSim, thanks to its SIMPLIS/SIMetrix implementation. OrCAD PSpice takes a general-purpose approach to circuit simulation, which explains why it is very popular in many other instances. On the other hand, SIMPLIS/SIMetrix specializes in the types of calculations that are essential when simulating a power stage, which is why it can be 10 to 50 times faster at modeling a switching circuit.

A useful license for the ST community

ST worked with SIMPLIS Technologies to ensure we could provide professional engineers with one of the most flexible licenses. For instance, working with one of our models doesn’t contribute to the eDSim node count or circuit size limit, regardless of its complexity. A brief overview eDSim will reveal that we have tens of models for SMPS and analog ICs. We are also in the process of extending the coverage with power discrete and other smart power devices in future releases.

How to get started?

eDSim is a testament to our desire to create more accessible solutions and bridge digital divides. By working with SIMPLIS Technologies to offer our utility for free, any engineer can build a power circuit and learn from one of the most powerful simulators in the industry. All it takes is to download eDSim from ST.com. Additionally, to increase accessibility even further, we are happy to announce that we are working on an online version of eDSim and will update this blog post when it becomes available. In the meantime, we published the videos below to show how to get started, and we are also offering an example application built on the L6983.

https://youtu.be/TauP9ten3K8

https://youtu.be/3tkX20qc6z4

When conceiving and implementing cutting-edge solutions that can thrive in harsh automotive environments a designer would need simulation tools that are interactive, user-friendly, and fast, with minimal hardware requirements. Unleashing power with distributing intelligence imposes real-time feedback on system resilience.

In the automotive industry, designers face the difficult task of addressing, mitigating, and preventing several serious issues that can cause damage to critical components such as the engine control module (ECM) or other electronic control units (ECUs). Malfunctions in these systems can lead to accidents or other safety hazards.

To address these hazards, automotive manufacturers use various protective measures such as fuses, circuit breakers, and overvoltage protection devices, as well as proper thermal management to prevent overheating of critical components.

Accurate simulations can play a crucial role in helping to identify potential issues before they occur, allowing engineers to make necessary design changes and modifications to prevent these issues from happening in the first place.

Additionally, simulations can optimize the design of the electrical system to ensure that it can handle maximum currents and voltages that it is likely to encounter, ensuring safer and more reliable automotive systems.

Ensuring Comprehensive Simulations

In the development of next-generation vehicles, engineers face many challenges in power distribution and need to implement a distributed intelligence approach to simultaneously address the main critical factors:

resilience; efficiency; sustainability.

The ability to withstand unforeseen circumstances like accidents, harsh weather, or equipment malfunctions is essential for a vehicle’s resilience. Efficiency plays a critical role in reducing power consumption, emissions, and maintenance expenses while improving overall performance and dependability. Sustainability is a key factor in lessening the impact on the environment and contributing to decarbonization.

To achieve these goals, engineers must use innovative solutions and concepts that are accurately validated through comprehensive simulations. By doing so, they can develop cutting-edge automotive systems that meet the demands of the industry and provide a safer, more reliable, and more sustainable and enjoyable driving experience.

Intelligent switches for power distribution systems are complex devices that require both electrical and thermal simulations to ensure optimal performance.

Electrical simulations are necessary to analyze the electrical behavior of the switch, including its ability to handle high voltage and current levels, its response time, and its ability to detect and isolate faults. Thermal simulations, on the other hand, are necessary to analyze the heat generated by the switch during operation, which can affect its performance and reliability. By combining both electrical and thermal simulations, engineers can optimize the design of the intelligent switch to ensure that it meets the required performance specifications while also maintaining safe operating temperatures. Adopting this approach can enhance the efficiency, reliability, and safety of power distribution systems, while ensuring the implementation of adequate and effective protection mechanisms and diagnostics.

1. Information at a Glance

To ensure the best possible choice, it is essential to conduct simulations in an interactive, user-friendly, and customizable environment that provides a quick understanding of smart switch behavior. The first step in this process is to determine which products may meet the electrical requirements.

STMicroelectronics’ electro-thermal simulator, TwisterSIM, is an ideal tool for this purpose. It is specifically designed for VIPower products, including smart low-side and high-side drivers and H-bridges for motor control. This simulation tool accurately selects the candidate device from a list, providing a basic information overview. Therefore, designers can quickly and easily evaluate the performance of different smart switch options and select the best one for their specific application, as shown in Fig. 1.

The simulator provides a quick and efficient product preselection by offering valuable information about the expected maximum junction temperature (TJMAX) based on various inputs, such as supply voltage, device topology, number of channels, load type and characteristics, source type, ambient temperature, and PCB dissipation area.

This information is crucial for selecting the appropriate on-state resistance (RON) per channel and ensuring that the thermal budget during operating conditions meets the device’s absolute maximum ratings.

2. Diving into Performance

To investigate the electrical and thermal behavior of the driver, the simulator generates a schematic circuit that includes the preselected device and input/output connections to the battery and load, respectively (Fig. 2).

Before starting the simulation, a definition phase is necessary to customize the project parameters. During this phase, designers define the values of the schematic circuit elements and the simulation setup.

The values of the schematic circuit elements are critical in determining the behavior of the circuit and must be carefully chosen to ensure that the circuit meets the desired performance specifications.

The simulation setup defines which operative condition the designer wants to reproduce and analyze by means of simulation. For example, the designer may want to inspect the voltage and current waveforms in the circuit, determine the power dissipation, or evaluate the thermal behavior of the circuit.

By customizing the project parameters and setting the simulation variables, designers can ensure that the simulation accurately reflects the behavior of the circuit and provides the necessary information to optimize the design (Fig. 3).

One of the benefits of using TwisterSIM for simulation is that it can display the simulation results in real-time while the simulation is ongoing. This feature allows designers to monitor the behavior of the circuit as it is being simulated and quickly identify any issues or areas for improvement.

The real-time display of simulation results can help designers to optimize the design more efficiently and effectively. For example, if the simulation results show that the circuit is drawing too much current or that the temperature is rising too quickly, the designer can quickly adjust the circuit parameters and immediately see the impact of those changes on the simulation results.

This feature can save time and resources by allowing designers to quickly identify and address issues during the simulation phase, rather than waiting until after the simulation is complete. By using TwisterSIM to display simulation results in real-time, designers can optimize the design more efficiently and effectively, leading to improved efficiency, reliability, and safety of power distribution systems.

3. Tailoring Results

Engineers can modify simulation parameters, data, and visualization to suit their specific needs, allowing them to make informed decisions and achieve optimal results. The simulator offers a wide range of tools for analyzing and optimizing VIPower circuits, such as thermal mapping, current and voltage waveforms, and power dissipation analysis, as shown in Fig. 4.

Using TwisterSIM, designers can develop a driver design that is not only efficient but also resilient with effective diagnostics and protections. This is achieved by optimizing the design for maximum performance and reliability, reducing the risk of failure from thermal or electrical stress, and incorporating features such as error replication and limit parameter recording. Additionally, this design approach can sustainably contribute to reducing the vehicle’s CO2 footprint by reducing wire harness size and weight.

Critical Scenarios

In harsh automotive ecosystems, it is crucial to consider the thermal protection mechanism, especially in situations where repetitive short-circuit events can lead to thermal shutdown (TSD).

In such cases, the driver endeavors to restart the system with a power limitation safeguard (maximum current flow and thermal hysteresis cycling) and remains in TSD mode until the overtemperature issue has been resolved.

This specific controlis also implemented in TwisterSim and,considering for instance the high-side driver VND9012AJ, a smart power switch in VIPower M0-9 technology, it can be accurately reproduced. Simulation results can then be compared to experimental data, as shown in Fig. 5.

The results of the simulation show that TwisterSIM is a highly effective tool for accurately modeling and simulating the thermal protection mechanism in terms of both the current limitation value and the triggering of thermal shutdown (TSD).

The simulated data for the output current value has an error of less than 2%, while the time occurrence for TSD has an error of approximately 0.8 ms. This demonstrates the high level of accuracy that can be achieved with TwisterSIM in predicting the behavior of the system in real-world conditions.

Conclusions

As the automotive industry moves towards the next generation of vehicles, engineers face the challenge of creating advanced solutions that can unleash the power through distributed intelligence. To achieve this, new designs have to prioritize efficiency and resilience, and comprehensive simulation tools are crucial to ensure both accuracy and effectiveness.

By leveraging the capabilities of TwisterSIM, newVIPower driver designs can be optimized for maximum performance and reliability, while minimizing the risk of failure from thermal or electrical stress, paving the way for decarbonization and sustainability.

References

[1]          “TwisterSIM: Dynamic electro-thermal simulator for VIPower products”, Databrief on https://www.st.com/resource/en/data_brief/twistersim.pdf, Sep. 2023.

[2]          M. Bonarrigo, G. Gambino, F. Scrimizzi, “Intelligent power switches augment vehicle performance and comfort”, Power Electronics News, Oct. 10, 2023.

[3]          A. Brighina, F. Giuffrè, “Interactive analog/digital mixed signal modeling via HDL simulator and foreign VHDL/Verilog C interface”, Electronicsforyou, Electronics & Technology Portal, 2011.

[4]          D.Maksimovic,A. M. Stankovic, V. J. Thottuvelil, G. C. Verghese, “Modeling and simulation of power electronic converters”, Proc. of IEEE, vol. 89, no. 6, Jun. 2001.

Bengaluru: 09 September 2022: MathWorks, the leading developer of mathematical computing software for engineers and scientists, today announced the conclusion of the 11th edition of itsannual conference, MATLAB EXPO. The EXPO, one of India’s premier events for research and engineering communities, was conducted in Bengaluru on September 08, 2022, and witnessed the participation ofover 350 attendees, after a gap of three years.

Latha Chembrakalam, Vice President – Head of Technical Center, Continental Automotive India, delivered the keynote address on the theme of ‘Trends in Mobility.’ Key stakeholders and decision-makersfrom the industry, academia and startup ecosystemsparticipated in the panel discussions conducted by MathWorks on the topics, ‘Building an Entrepreneurial Mindset in the Engineers of Tomorrow’ and ‘The Impact of AI + X in Engineering and Science.’ This year, MathWorksshowcased technology demos from areas including Artificial Intelligence, Communications and Radar systems, Electrification, Robotics and autonomous systems, and Systems and Software engineering to help attendees find solutions to their engineering challenges.

During the event, MathWorks leaders also shed light on key industry trends, including:

•             Rise of AI + X – Embedding AI in machines and systems.

•             The role of rapid prototyping and simulation in helping to accelerate time to market in the electric vehicle market. The importance of skilling to help capture  opportunities in technology areas like AI, electrification.

The EXPO also featured four masterclass sessions, led by MathWorks experts, to provide a platform for engineers to learn more about MATLAB applications and solution capabilities. The discussions covered the following industry topics:

●             Scaling Artificial Intelligence (AI): From Model Development to Operationalization

●             AI-Driven Next Generation Wireless Communication Systems

●             Electric Mobility and Future Grids: Accelerating the Transition Towards Net-Zero Emissions

●             Developing Service-Oriented Architecture and Implementing Using Adaptive AUTOSAR and DDS

Commenting on the EXPO, Sunil Motwani, Country Manager – Sales & Services at MathWorks said “We are glad to have the opportunity to conduct this edition of the MATLAB EXPO inperson, after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The EXPO is a great platform for engineers across industries to get insights into MATLAB, Simulink and other MathWorks products to learn how leading companies are implementing these solutions to continually innovate and grow. In this edition, our focus was to provide an opportunity for engineers, researchers,and academiciansto witness how we engage with our stakeholders in bringing their ideas to life and better understand the potential of our solutions. Through the EXPO, we hope to enable and empowerour customers to address their real-time business challenges and thereby accelerate the pace of innovation.”

Bengaluru, India – March 16, 2021 – MathWorks today introduced Release 2021a of the MATLAB and Simulink product families. Release 2021a (R2021a) offers hundreds of new and updated features and functions in MATLAB® and Simulink®, along with three new products and 12 major updates. New capabilities in MATLAB include dynamic controls in live scripts as well as a new task for adding plots to live scripts without writing any code. Simulink updates enable users to import C code as reusable Simulink libraries and to speed up simulations. R2021a also introduces new products in the areas of satellite communications, radar, and DDS applications. More details are available in the Release 2021a video.

New products introduced in R2021a include:

Satellite Communications Toolbox

As the number of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites increases to serve the high-speed mobility market, Satellite Communications Toolbox is designed to help equipment makers and operators model, simulate, analyze and verify satellite communications systems and links. The new toolbox provides a flexible environment in MATLAB for developing standards-based satellite communications signals, and configurability and extensibility for multi-domain simulation and verification of satellite communication, navigation, and remote sensing systems.

Radar Toolbox

Radar Toolbox includes algorithms and tools for the design, simulation, analysis and testing of multifunction radar systems. As a result, radar system designers and integrators can assess system design trade-offs before radars are built or procured. Starting with R2021a, radar specific capabilities and examples previously found in Phased Array System Toolbox will be found in the new Radar Toolbox.

DDS Blockset

The new Simulink add-on, DDS Blockset, gives system and algorithm engineers developing software for DDS-based embedded systems a full Model-Based Design experience featuring modeling, simulation, verification, and code generation. As a result, engineers find errors much sooner while performing faster design and coding iterations.

In addition to the new products, R2021a includes major updates to Polyspace, Stateflow and other products in the areas of Autonomous Systems, Computational Finance, Control Systems, Image Processing & Computer Vision, RF and Mixed-Signal, and Test & Measurement. R2021a is available immediately worldwide. For information on all new products, enhancements, and bug fixes to the MATLAB and Simulink product families, visit the R2021a Highlights page.

BANGALORE – (15 May 2019) – MathWorks, the leading developer of mathematical computing software for engineers and scientists, successfully concluded the 10th India edition of its annual conference, MATLAB EXPO. The EXPO, one of India’s premier events for research and engineering communities, was hosted in Bangalore, Hyderabad on the 25th, 30th of April respectively and in Pune on 2nd May 2019.
MATLAB EXPO featured presentations and workshops by MathWorks technical professionals and customers on a broad range of topics and applications of MATLAB and Simulink. Engineers from Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India, Mahindra and Mahindra, NXP, Tata Motors, along with startups like Ather Energy, Onward Health etc. presented their success stories about how MATLAB and Simulink are helping them innovate and address today’s most difficult engineering challenges. Mike Agostini, senior manager application engineering at MathWorks presented the keynote address entitled ‘Beyond the “I” in AI’. The EXPO brought together engineers, scientists, and researchers to learn more about MATLAB and Simulink. The exhibition area showcased solutions from MathWorks partners.
Commenting on the event, Sunil Motwani, industry director at MathWorks, said, “We see MATLAB EXPO as a platform where engineers get a glimpse into how leading companies are using MATLAB and Simulink to constantly improve and innovate. This year, participants were very interested in ‘Deep Learning and Autonomous Systems’ and ‘Data Science and Predictive Analytics’ tracks. Customer presentations demonstrated pioneering usage of MATLAB and Simulink to develop complex systems for a range of commercial and defense applications. Through our solutions, we look forward to enabling more customers to showcase their success stories in the coming years.”

Bangalore, 27 March 2018 – MathWorks today announced that MATLAB now offers NVIDIA TensorRT integration through GPU Coder. This helps engineers and scientists develop new AI and deep learning models in MATLAB with the performance and efficiency needed to meet the growing demands of data centers, embedded, and automotive applications.

MATLAB provides a complete workflow to rapidly train, validate, and deploy deep learning models. Engineers can use GPU resources without additional programming so they can focus on their applications rather than performance tuning. The new integration of NVIDIA TensorRT with GPU Coder enables deep learning models developed in MATLAB to run on NVIDIA GPUs with high-throughput and low-latency. Internal benchmarks show that MATLAB-generated CUDA code combined with TensorRT can deploy Alexnet with 5x better performance than TensorFlow and can deploy VGG-16 with 1.25x better performance than TensorFlow for deep learning inference.*

“Rapidly evolving image, speech, sensor, and IoT technologies are driving teams to explore AI solutions with better performance and efficiency. In addition, deep learning models are becoming more complex. All of this puts immense pressure on engineers,” said David Rich, director, MathWorks. “Now, teams training deep learning models using MATLAB and NVIDIA GPUs can deploy real-time inference in any environment from the cloud to the data center to embedded edge devices.”

To learn more about MATLAB for deep learning, visit: mathworks.com/solutions/deep-learning.html

* All benchmarks were run on MATLAB R2018a with GPU Coder, TensorRT 3.0.1, TensorFlow 1.6.0, CUDA 9.0 and cuDNN 7 on an NVIDIA TITAN Xp GPU in a Linux 12 core Intel ® Xeon® E5-1650 v3 PC with 64GB RAM

The objective of this competition is to illustrate insight or learned trends obtained directly from using Discovery Live. For example, the insight could be adding material in one location or another to improve fluid flow around a component, or showing how you converged on a design direction in a short amount of time as a result of the instantaneous feedback from Discovery Live.

Anybody with an interest in simulation, sees a scope for simulation in their respective sector, and feels simulation can make things easy for them, can apply. The top three winners will be awarded prizes worth $18000.

If you can demonstrate insight gained through Discovery Live that would have been difficult or impossible in another engineering tool, if you have an Interesting and innovative use of Discovery Live, if you can Explore a large solution space and multiple design possibilities before converging on an optimal solution, then this competition is for you. Your video must be up to 5 minutes in length. Enter before February 28th, 2018.

For more details visit: http://www.ansys.com/other/discovery-live-competition

Contact: david.horn@ansys.com for additional details.

Bangalore – (20 November 2017) – MathWorks today introduced a 5G Library aimed at supporting wireless design exploration in advance of the release of the initial 3GPP 5G standard specification in March 2018. The 5G Library provides functions and link-level reference designs that help wireless engineers explore the behavior and performance of 3GPP new radio technologies. With the 5G Library, wireless engineers can conduct simulations to evaluate 5G enabling technologies and their impact on overall 5G system design.

The 5G standard will introduce advanced technologies to drive rapid innovation in mobile broadband, machine-to-machine, and connected vehicle applications. The 5G Library helps wireless system engineers explore and incorporate new 5G technologies before the standard is finalized. By using the library’s trusted MATLAB implementations of 5G algorithms and the 38.901 channel model, engineers can quickly evaluate the performance characteristics of new waveforms and coding schemes, and develop receiver algorithms.

“The ability to run simulations in MATLAB enables us to better engage with the various members of our 5G working group, as many of the companies we collaborate with also use MATLAB for simulation and data analysis,” said Lakshmi Iyer, link-level simulation lead at Convida Wireless. “In order to have an informed discussion with another member about a standards contribution, we need to be able to compare our assumptions and our results—and much of that discussion relies on simulations. Our MATLAB simulations with the 5G Library make it possible to move the dialogue forward.”

“Wireless engineers developing products for the new 5G standard face tremendous change and complexity,” said Ken Karnofsky, senior strategist, MathWorks. “The 5G Library lowers the learning curve for new 5G technologies with reliable, customizable, and well-documented software so engineers can create and verify designs that meet the specifications and performance goals of 5G.”

The new 5G library is a free, downloadable add-on for LTE System Toolbox and offers:

·         Channel models including tapped delay line (TDL) and clustered delay line (CDL) channel models as specified in 3GPP TR 38.901

·         New radio waveforms to improve spectral efficiency, including Filtered OFDM (F-OFDM), Windowed OFDM (W-OFDM), and Cyclic Prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM)

·         New coding schemes such as LDPC for data and polar codes for control information, for error correction and improved data rates

·         Link-level simulation reference design, enabling measurement of link throughput

The 5G Library complements a range of MATLAB and Simulink capabilities for 5G technology development, including:

·         Modeling massive MIMO antenna arrays and designing hybrid beamforming architectures

·         Modeling RF system architectures, power amplifiers, and digital compensation to achieve higher data rates at mmWave frequencies

·         Automating FPGA implementation for rapid development of 5G hardware testbeds

The 5G Library is available immediately worldwide. For more information on how wireless engineering teams use MATLAB to reduce development time, from algorithm development through full system simulation and hardware implementation, explore 5G wireless technology development with MATLAB.