TranSwitch: Engines for Global Connectivity Date:   Monday , February 15, 2010 Walking down a busy Delhi market in the dusky warmth of an evening, a technology developer Prosit Mukherjee came across several visuals - a bunch of people discussing about the frequent calls and messages from bosses and clients, a crowd of young boys gathered at a STD/PCO line to make simple phone calls, a couple trying to share their love messages, kids crouching over the gaming zone consoles – everything reaffirming the ever encompassing need for powerful yet innovative little scrappy device called the ‘chip’, which empowers distant communication to our day to day lifestyle. Stimulated by the myriad functionalities of this ‘little device’ to empower a technology powered life, Prosit and his three highly motivated colleagues, Pushkal Yadav, Santanu Bhattacharya & Kumar Shakti Singh, all from C-DOT, came up with the idea of India Technology Center of TranSwitch, a provider of semiconductor solutions for the converging data, video, and voice supporting wire-line and wireless networks. Founded in 1988 by Dr. Santanu Das and two of his associates, the Shelton, CT-headquartered TranSwitch has emerged as one of the leading suppliers of silicon solutions to telecom, datacom, cable television, and wireless markets. In 1995, the US based company went public and by that time, based on his experience on the Indian Telecom market while working in C-DOT, Prosit was quick to recognize the need in the Indian semiconductor design market and founded the India Technology Center of TranSwitch in 1996. Today, he is also the Corporate Vice President of the company and is responsible for Delhi and Bangalore design Centers. “My formative years have been in ITI R&D and in C-DOT where I was involved for more than 10 years of development of Digital Multiplexers for Indian telecom Network. I also had opportunity to work on number of VLSI chips while trying to develop SONET/SDH systems in C-DOT. I believe, C-DOT had been a great experience especially working with such a wonderful bunch of people and I owe a lot to that place” recollects Prosit. Implementing global communication standards in its VLSI solutions, the India Technology Center of TranSwitch has come a long way with more than 10 VLSI chip designs over the last decade for the global market. “Based on the global market intelligence and customer needs, we specify, design and implement the complete Si products in India unlike many design centers here,” asserts Prosit.. Catering to the myriad telecom market, from core network based on TDM technology to CPE devices driven by services over IP, the product line has attracted a lot of interest from the marketplace, and today the company has more than 100 award winning designs or different boards or subsystems around the world. “Evolving network standards sometimes demand modifying a function via software instruction. TranSwitch devices are inherently flexible - almost all incorporating embedded programmable microcontrollers as well as DSP Processors to rapidly meet customers’ new requirements,” explains Prosit. The amount of high quality Software that goes with the Chips is a key differentiator while the Company focuses towards Home & Media Gateway and xPON products for the next generation Broadband Access Networks. As a part of its market strategy to bring in business benefits to its customers, TranSwitch helps them to ‘design in’ its chips in an efficient way. “Having been in the business of accelerating the market potential of our customers, we provide them not only the microchips, but also other essential elements like Software drivers, Embedded Firmware & Application software as needed, which has become so integral part of the overall solution for any SoC,” says the confident Prosit. What makes TranSwitch different from other players in the semiconductor space is its ability to have foresight and be ahead of the curve. The Company aims to leverage the collaborative approach to engage with its customers to participate, add value, and help them be successful. Describing some of the key differentiators of the centre, Prosit explains, “Through our collaborative engagement and partnership model, we develop semiconductor products for top OEM brands and work with them on a long term basis We now have a major focus onto the access segment of the converged wire-line and wireless network, where our Knowledge of DSP based VoIP processors and Packet Switching Technology provide us with an edge.” Having an enviable product portfolio, Prosit boasts, “Today, we have our footprints in the strategic systems of some of the major tier-1 customers all over the world.” However, it has never been a rosy expedition for the centre to achieve this convincing position in the semiconductor market. He recollects, “The execution of innovative ideas to win the mindsets of consumers requires a great deal of expertise and hard work, and it is also a very involved process,” and adds “one finally needs to wear the skin of our customers and take the onus upon ourselves.” Reflecting the customer-centric approach, TranSwitch has chalked out a well-mapped plan for its future. The centre plans to tap more and more customers in the Indian as well as Global market and give them the best of services improving the technologies, which will complement its growth. With a focused team of 120 employees in Delhi and Bangalore, Prosit aims towards the next big change in the Broadband Network market. “The digital revolution we see around us is not the end, we are still standing at the doorsill of creating a digital globe” concludes Prosit who strongly believes on the oft-quoted lines of Rabindranath Tagore – “Age considers; youth ventures.”