Intel launches programs for Indian embedded-design houses

BENGALURU, India -- Intel Corp. today launched two programs aimed at leveraging its embedded-architecture portfolio. One intends to aid Indian design houses in launching products for the domestic market; the other aims to help them build products for the global market. Called the "India Design House Program," it is similar to a third-party alliance network, and will cash in on the increasingly larger role that design houses here play in platform definition and design for customers locally and overseas.

The program is said to be the first of its kind and has been launched initially in India, because of the numbers of design houses here. Depending on how it unfolds, it may well be replicated in other countries, said Joe Jensen, general manager, embedded markets division, at Intel Corp.

Intel will help Indian firms develop platforms in the embedded segment, hoping these firms will be better able to meet the unique needs of emerging markets, including Intel's own. Form factor, modularity and other details of products for the emerging market will be met through reference designs being built by the design houses under the program.

The first solution to be unveiled will be reference designs for point-of-sale terminals. Intel sees the Indian retail market being the biggest market segment domestically for products using its embedded solutions. Versions of the device will be on shown here at the first-ever, three-day Indian Embedded Systems Conference, beginning Thursday, October 4.

In addition to point of sale terminals, infotainment devices are among the other products that will be developed under the program, while reference designs for medical-imaging products and communications-infrastructure products using Intel embedded solutions will be developed by Indian design houses for overseas customers. "Local design houses have become key to OEMs with respect to system architecture, and it is this that the program will seek to address," Jensen said.

Intel, which is celebrating its 30th year of providing embedded solutions, started its Indian R&D center a decade ago. Yet it ramped up R&D specifically for its embedded and communications groups in Bengaluru in 2000, beginning with software development for network processors. It is now into platform-enabling, with end-to-end capabilities that include market development, said Sanat Rao, marketing director, emerging markets division, Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd.

Intel is clearly targeting the relatively big base that the Indian embedded software industry represents. Employing 60,000 engineers, India's embedded software-development revenues have been estimated at $2.53 billion in 2005 by Frost & Sullivan, and are expected to grow at 30 percent until 2015.

Source : EETIMES