A research center at the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) has announced its competition of Vietnam’s first-ever analog integrated circuit.

According to a statement by the Integrated Circuit Design, Research and Education Center (ICDREC) at a press conference on Wednesday, the TH7150 chip was part of a project implemented by the VNU-HCM and the Ministry of Science and Technology under the sponsorship of Singapore’s Synopsys Inc. and the US’s Analog Devices Inc. since 2009.

ICDREC Deputy Director and head of the research team Ngo Duc Hoang said the TH7150 is a power management solution chip, and has advantages including low voltage supply and over-temperature protection.

The chip provides an important, innovative power management solution for electronic devices, said Hoang.

“However, the chip needs to undergo further research and has yet to be produced for commercial purposes,” Hoang said.

A successful TH1750 would, in the near future, help Vietnam produce the analog chips by itself and rid the country of the need to import the products, he said.

The analog IC market is growing quickly in Vietnam, at some 10 percent annually, but the design and research of the technology at Vietnamese universities and institutes is scarce.