India’s Mindgrove Unveils Secure RISC-V MCU

The technology company, Mindgrove Technology Pvt. Ltd., based in Chennai, India, has announced that it is now offering design-in support for its Indian customers. Founded in 2021, the company's primary focus is on designing cost and power-effective microprocessor technology within India.

The microprocessor chip developed by Mindgrove is RISC-V based, boasting a maximum clock frequency of 700MHz, and is manufactured using a 28nm process. This chip is specifically designed to serve as a secure IoT microcontroller, offering advanced features at a competitive price point. According to the company, the chip is priced approximately 30 percent lower than similar devices available in the market.

While the company has not disclosed the identity of its foundry supplier, it has successfully completed a multiproject wafer (MPW) tape-out. This achievement enables Mindgrove to provide samples of the chip to interested customers, with plans to release reference boards for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the near future.

The Secure IoT microcontroller from Mindgrove incorporates various security algorithms implemented as hardware accelerators, along with features such as secure boot and on-chip one-time programmable memory. This versatile chip is designed to support bare metal code as well as any microcontroller, offering flexibility for a wide range of applications.

Mindgrove anticipates that the introduction of their chip will empower Indian OEMs to integrate a locally developed System on Chip (SoC) into their products. The potential applications for the Secure IoT microcontroller are diverse, spanning industries such as wearables, smartwatches, utility meters, smart locks, home appliances, and electric vehicle battery management systems, among others.