Cypress setting up a PSoC lab at an engineering college in Bangalore

Microcontroller-embedded programmable analog and mixed signal IC called Programmable System-on-Chip (PSoC) is creating it's own market in India by entering through engineering institutes/colleges.

Cypress Semiconductor, the maker of PSoC, is partnering with engineering colleges in India to establish laboratory facility for learning and doing electronic engineering projects based on PSoC. PSoC offers advantages of a FPGA and ASIC but in a different manner through embedded software. The embedded systems developers can configure their hardware by executing instructions stored in flash memory. Unlike FPGA it's not VHDL code based. Electronics engineering students may find some typical advantages in using PSoC over FPGA or standard microcontroller in designing their embedded system project.

Cypress in partnership with Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology (NMIT) of Bangalore is building a PSoC programmable system-on-chip laboratory in the department of Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE) of NMIT.

As part of the signed agreement by both parties, Cypress will provide hands-on training to the faculty and students of NMIT, Bangalore, in addition to free hardware kits and software tools. NMIT, Bangalore will provide the facilities for the laboratory.

Cypress said this Laboratory would expose the embedded design students to the PSoC platform and also this lab will be used for training the local engineering community.

A two-semester course on PSoC is also being planned at NMIT. The course material will be developed by the faculty of NMIT in collaboration with Cypress. The course will include both theory and practical lab. The emphasis will be on allowing the students to use PSoC in innovative applications and in their academic projects. The course will also provide the academic community an opportunity to engage in more industrial projects.

The other Indian engineering institute where such lab is planned to set up is Anna University, Chennai.