US chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has partnered with Indian 4G and 5G equipment manufacturers like VVDN and C-DoT to provide telecommunications solutions in India, a collaboration made possible by AMD’s acquisition of programmable logic chip maker Xilinx.
All About AMD Partnering with Indian Telecom
According to Gilles Garcia, Senior Director Business Lead of the Data Centre Communications Group at AMD, the company is introducing cutting-edge and energy-efficient technologies in India to power radios, servers, and compute requirements at data centers, edge computing, and radio access networks (RAN).
The chip company has approximately 10,000 employees in India focused on research and development, validation, software development, and chip architecture design, recently announced a $400 million investment in India over the next five years to enhance its chip design and software development capabilities.
Garcia noted that the chip giant has received positive feedback, with most major local vendors of 4G and 5G equipment and server makers using their technology. Despite being a fabless company without its own chip manufacturing capabilities, AMD indirectly contributes to India’s transformation into an electronics manufacturing hub by assisting local vendors like VVDN in producing servers and radio equipment. Although AMD’s lack of manufacturing facilities prevents direct involvement in the “Made in India” manufacturing aspect, its collaboration with the local ecosystem encourages the use of local manufacturing.
At the India Mobile Congress 2023, AMD showcased various designs utilizing their radio devices and a locally manufactured server powered by AMD central processing units. Additionally, the company introduced its AI engine, as a result of its acquisition of Xilinx, a US-based chip maker proficient in 5G processing. This engine will serve as the foundation for 6G networks.
The upcoming 6G telecommunications technology will focus heavily on artificial intelligence, aiming to enhance spectrum efficiency, massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology, and beam-forming capabilities using AI. Garcia emphasized that 6G’s primary benefits will be related to monetization and user experience. The company is collaborating with IIT Madras on 6G technology, where the 6G lab is utilizing AI chips for research into the next-generation telecommunication network.
