What is the Vikram 3201 Microprocessor Chip? India’s Leap in Aatmanirbhar Bharat

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister for Electronics and IT, presented the Vikram 32-bit microprocessor at SEMICON India 2025, marking a significant achievement in India's SEMICONductor development. The processor and test chips from four government-approved projects were given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, signaling a significant milestone in India's drive toward semiconductor independence.

What is Vikram 3201 Chip?

Jointly developed by the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Vikram 3201 is the first 32-bit processor manufactured in India that is suitable for use in the harsh conditions of launch vehicles. Because of its ability to tolerate temperatures ranging from -55°C to +125°C, the chip guarantees dependability in navigation and control operations while in space.

Features of India’s First Semiconductor Chip

From the VIKRAM1601 microprocessor, which has been powering ISRO's launch vehicles since 2009, the Vikram 3201 is a logical advancement. The new processor has a 32-bit general-purpose architecture, whereas the previous chip was a 16-bit design. It has built-in 1553B bus interfaces, supports 64-bit floating-point operations, and is compatible with the Ada programming language.

The device, which was made with SCL's 180nm CMOS technology, shows how India is becoming more capable of producing space-grade microelectronics all by itself.

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Indian Initiatives in Semiconductor Technology

The initial production batches of Vikram 3201 and Kalpana 3201, another processor, were formally given to ISRO Chairman Dr. V. Narayanan on March 5 by MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan. Along with the SCL design teams, Dr. Unnikrishnan Nair, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, attended the ceremony in New Delhi.

The Vikram 3201 has demonstrated its capabilities in orbit already. During the PSLV-C60 mission, its first lot was successfully confirmed by powering the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module's (POEM-4) Mission Management Computer. The processor was one of four locally created gadgets that were sent over with the goal of reducing the size of launch vehicle avionics.

As previously indicated, the 32-bit SPARC V8 RISC CPU Kalpana 3201 was also released alongside the Vikram 3201. It highlights India's expanding semiconductor ecosystem and is made to work with open-source toolkits.

Aatmanirbhar Bharat in Space Chip Technology

ISRO has developed all of the software tools needed to support Vikram 3201 in-house, including simulators, linkers, compilers, assemblers, and integrated development environments. To provide flexibility, a compiler for the C language is also being developed. This in-house ecosystem represents a major advancement for Atmanirbharata in key semiconductor technology and is the first of its kind in India.

With this accomplishment, India has solidified its place among countries that can create highly dependable processors for use in space applications, a significant advancement that could have long-term advantages for both advanced technology and national security.

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