According to a recent report, Faculty and students at the Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan, in association with National Instruments India, have developed the Intellectual Property (IP) for a Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) -based Transmitter. This broadcasting system, developed by the international DRM consortium, has been proposed as a high-quality digital replacement for analogous broadcasting in AM and FM/VHF bands. It offers listeners a wide range of programming, with enhanced audio performance and multimedia services, like broadcasting text, slide shows of still and animated images, electronic newspapers, and weather and traffic information. The technology makes it possible for rural and remote parts of India to access both local and international transmissions.

National Instruments India and IIT Rajasthan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to record their intention of starting and running a Center of Excellence on Communication and Physical Layer Technologies at IITR. As part of this MoU, a National Instruments Advanced Communication Laboratory was established at IITR in November 2010. This Laboratory aims to enable research and project development in the areas of wireless communication and physical layer technologies, and undertake research projects and industrial consultancy. Software and hardware subsystems provided in the Lab enable rapid prototyping, and development of embedded systems for various applications. Besides facilitating several courses at IITR, the Lab offers multiple workshops and short courses with the aim of making cutting-edge research and educational tools available to a wide student population in the state of Rajasthan and beyond.

Prof. Prem Kalra, Director, IITR stated that the Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan represents a unique culture of engineering and science education and research. Through Centres of Excellence with their innovative curriculum design, interdisciplinary research and thought leadership, IITR aims to create leaders who are entrepreneurial and well-rounded. Their aim is to make the fruits of technology available to the “Last Person”, the poorest people of the country.  

Jayaram Pillai, Managing Director, National Instruments India mentioned that they have a long tradition of developing innovative products through in-house expertise and partnership with universities all around the world. Their research and development center in Bangalore works on cutting-edge topics in the area of image processing, graphical system design software and communication signal processing.