The project is a step towards making India technologically independent in the growing semiconductor industry. This microcontroller is intended for use in low-power IoT-based applications such as environment (temperature, humidity, air-quality) monitoring systems.
Some of the major design efforts in this project are:
- Generating a small-footprint and low-power RISC-V core using the open-source PULPino platform developed at ETH Zurich.
- Verification of the core with IoT application C-programs.
- Implementing the PULPino core on Xilinx’s Artix-7 FPGA development board to emulate the microcontroller and test the intended applications in real-time.
- Creating and verifying a GDS-II of the core for 180nm CMOS technology.
- A 10-bit, 100 kHz Successive Approximation Resistor (SAR) ADC for interfacing sensors to the microcontroller.
- Temperature-independent voltage and current reference for biasing internal circuits.
- Temperature-compensated Ring-Oscillator for generating an internal clock signal.
