New Signals Signalchip's latest chips designed for 4G-LTE and 5G-NR modems have given India an entry into an elite club of few countries

Bengaluru-based Himamshu Khasnis had been instrumental in making Texas Instruments (TI) the world's top vendor for DSL modem chips - a medium through which internet transmission is done via a cable.

From 1997-2007, Himamshu defined the architecture for several chip designs and set new chipset definitions for multiple generations of DSL at TI. He says, "I realised that about 45 percent of the worldwide chips had been built in Bengaluru, but the intellectual property and the subsequent revenue remained with the USA."

Himamshu founded Signalchip in 2010, banking entirely on his experience and personal savings. He says, "Signalchip was founded to build differentiated semiconductor products; to design innovative chips to enable high speed wireless communication standards like 4G-LTE/3G-WCDMA and 5G-NR." It was Sridhar Vembu of Zoho who believed in the company's vision and decided to invest in it.

The company's latest chips designed for 4G-LTE and 5G-NR modems have given India an entry into an elite club of few countries. Today, the Zoho-backed firm employs 40 people and is eyeing both domestic and global markets.

Himamshu says, "With India having more than 1.1 billion mobile phones in use, one of the highest in the world, our chips would enable densification of the network." The company would be rolling out its 4G/5G chips to various OEMs, ODMs and operators across the world at a cost significantly lesser than the other eight countries.

Signalchip's innovation has given "Make in India' a huge fillip and has put India on the global semiconductor map.