BUET  tapes out 100 pc open-source 32-bit RISC-V processor “Pragati v1”

Dept. of EEE, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) has achieved a historic milestone by completing the tape-out of Pragati v1, a 100% open-source 32-bit RISC-V processor.

The achievement marks Bangladesh’s entry into the era of indigenous semiconductor chip design and represents a significant step toward building a national semiconductor ecosystem.

a souvenir of the fabricated chip was presented to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of BUET, Prof. Dr. Abdul Hasib Chowdhury. The event was attended by the project’s supervisor Prof. ABM Harun-ur Rashid, Head of the Department of EEE Prof. Mominuzzaman, CEO of Neural Semiconductor Limited Md. Shakhawat Hossain, Director of iTest Inc Syed Munir, Engineering Lead of iTest Bangladesh Md Mashur Shalehin, along with members of the development research team.

The project was led by Prof. ABM Harun-ur Rashid and carried out by undergraduate students Khalid Hossain and Sheikh Tariful Islam, with technical support from Neural Semiconductor Limited. The processor is designed as a System-on-Chip (SoC) for smart household appliances, including air conditioners, smart refrigerators and various Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Built on the open-standard RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture (ISA), Pragati v1 was developed entirely using open-source Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and the IHP SG13G2 130 nm open-source Process Design Kit (PDK). The chip was fabricated free of charge by IHP – Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics, Germany, under its open-source fabrication program and has now arrived at BUET.