Indian Army Launches First Made-In-India 4G Base Station by Signaltron

By siliconindia  |  Monday, 01 July 2024, 08:46:25 AM IST

Indian Army Launches First Made-In-India 4G Base Station by Signaltron
The Indian Army has inducted its first-ever indigenous chip-based 4G mobile base station, procured from Bangalore-based firm Signaltron via the government e-marketplace portal. According to a top company official, Signaltron's founder Himamshu Khasnis informed that the chip used in the Sahyadri LTE base stations was developed by Signalchip.
In 2010, Khasnis and his team founded Signalchip, a fabless semiconductor company, to develop chips for 4G and 5G networks. "Signaltron has built the entire system indigenously using India's first chips for 4G and 5G networks developed by Signalchip. This is the first time an Indian system running on an Indian chip for complex communication technology has been inducted into the army. Using indigenous chips gives a high degree of control on the security of the system in its operation", Khasnis said.
He mentioned that the Indian Army had placed a bid on GeM (Government e-Marketplace) for the supply of a 4G LTE NIB (Network In a Box) solution last year. "Signaltron proposed the Sahyadri NIB solution and came out successful in stringent technical trials. Subsequently, Signaltron also won the competitive bid to supply the equipment. Weighing just 7 kgs, Sahyadri Network In a Box (NIB) systems provide high-quality secure wireless communication for audio, video and data applications", Khasnis said.
He mentioned that the Sahyadri NIB can operate in both standalone and cellular modes, and can seamlessly interoperate with legacy analogue and IP telephony systems. Most base stations deployed in India are not manufactured domestically, and even those that are made in India typically lack indigenous chips, which are the most strategic and crucial components of modern electronic devices and equipment.
Signaltron has provided 20 units to the military, and the positioning of the base stations depends on their strategic needs, Khasnis explained. "We have supplied 20 units to the army. The Army takes its own call on when and where to deploy base station. Since they are light and mobile units, it gives them the flexibility to change the location as per their requirement", he added.
Currently, India lacks a fabrication facility for modern semiconductor chips. Signalchip has designed the chip in-house and owns the entire technology delivered by the chips. Following a model similar to leading semiconductor companies such as Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Mediatek, Signalchip outsources the fabrication of its chips to third-party wafer fabs.
Khasnis mentioned that the Indian base station market is projected to reach approximately USD 24 billion by 2029. "With the use of indigenous systems, there could be significant savings to forex and also boost GDP. There are sizeable market volumes available in India and worldwide. Modernization targets of different sectors like defense, railways, etc., are excellent opportunities for Indigenous solutions", he said.
Khasnis stated that the global Captive Network-Private Network (CNPN) 4G/5G market is projected to surpass USD 30 billion by 2030. This growth will create significant opportunities for locally produced chip-based base stations, thereby achieving economies of scale.

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