Founded in Bengaluru in 1997, ICON Design Automation has spent a quarter-century building the mission-critical RF & Microwave systems that India's defence and space programmes depend on — entirely with indigenous IP.
ICON Design Automation Private Limited is a premier design engineering company specialising in RF & Microwave solutions, EDA Tools, and Semiconductor Fabrication. We are headquartered in Bengaluru — India's technology capital — and operate at the intersection of deep-tech research and mission-critical defence engineering.
From our first DRDO contract in 1997 to the landmark Transfer of Technology with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) in 2024, every milestone in our journey reflects a singular commitment: to prove that world-class MMIC design can be done in India, by Indians, for India.
Our teams span RF circuit designers, EM simulation engineers, system architects, and MIL/Space qualification specialists — all working under one roof to deliver end-to-end solutions from specification to qualified, flight-proven hardware.
Six principles that guide every design decision, every customer engagement, and every line of code we write.
Every product we design carries 100% indigenous IP. We do not licence foreign designs — we build new ones. This is not a policy position; it is our founding philosophy.
Defence and space systems leave no room for compromise. Our design culture is built around first-pass success, rigorous simulation, and exhaustive qualification testing at every stage.
Our relationships with ISRO, DRDO, and the Armed Forces span decades. We invest in understanding each customer's programme roadmap, not just their current purchase order.
From GaAs to GaN and InP — we stay at the frontier of RF semiconductor technology so our customers don't have to source critical components from abroad.
We follow MIL-STD-883, ISRO STTL, and ESA PSS qualification standards as a baseline — not as a checklist. Quality is built into the design flow, not bolted on at the end.
Co-located design, simulation, and test teams ensure prototypes reach customers in weeks, not quarters — without ever sacrificing reliability or qualification integrity.
Decades of expertise spanning aerospace engineering, defence electronics, MMIC systems, and global RF technology partnerships.
Mr. Ramachandra Swaminathan is a visionary technologist and entrepreneur with over four decades of experience in aerospace, semiconductor, and defence technologies. Beginning his career as a Rocket Scientist at VSSC-ISRO, he later founded D’gipro Group, a pioneering EDA and VLSI training organisation that helped shape India’s semiconductor talent ecosystem.
Mrs. Varalakshmi Ramachandra is a graduate of Bangalore University with over two decades of experience in Human Resources, Administration, and Finance. She has played a key role in strengthening organisational operations, financial management, and people development across technology-driven businesses.
Mr. Basavaraju Noolvi leads Sales for Products, EDA Tools, and Turnkey Solutions at ICON Design Automation Pvt. Ltd. Since joining ICON in 2000, he has expanded the RF and Microwave EDA business while building strategic partnerships with leading global technology providers.
Six reasons India's most demanding defence and space programmes rely on ICON year after year.
All MMIC designs are conceived, simulated, and taped-out in-house. No foreign licence fees. No export-control complications. Full IP ownership transferred on ToT programmes.
From initial spec to qualified hardware: design, simulation, tape-out, assembly, test, and MIL/Space qualification, all under one roof in Bengaluru.
Over 3 decades of continuous work with India's premier defence and space agencies. Products have flown on PSLV, GSLV, and SSLV missions.
Broad process knowledge covering all major III-V semiconductor platforms — enabling optimal technology selection for every application and frequency band.
As authorised partners for Cadence, Dassault Systèmes, Modelithics and Sonnet, we design with the same tools used by the world's best foundries and system integrators.
Co-located teams mean rapid design iteration and direct access to India's deepest talent pool in RF & semiconductor engineering — no time zone delays.
ICON's design and qualification processes comply with the most demanding standards in defence and space electronics.
ICON has supported over a decade of ISRO missions — supplying space-qualified MMIC products for PSLV, GSLV, and SSLV launch vehicles, as well as GEO and LEO communication satellite payloads. Our 2024 Transfer of Technology agreement with NSIL marks a new chapter in supporting India's commercial space ambitions.
Customers in this sector include ISRO (VSSC, SAC, ISTRAC, URSC), NSIL, and private new-space companies building on the liberalised IN-SPACe framework.
ICON has been a supplier to India's major radar programmes for over two decades — providing T/R MMICs, LNA chains, and phase shifter assemblies for airborne, naval, and ground-based AESA radar systems developed by DRDO, HAL, and BEL. Our X-Band and S-Band products have featured in multiple fielded platforms.
Key customers include DRDO DARE, DRDO LRDE, HAL, BEL, and Tata Advanced Systems Limited.
India's electronic warfare landscape is rapidly modernising, and ICON has been at the centre of this transformation. We supply wideband LNAs, GaN power amplifiers, and phase shifter arrays to EW system integrators developing jamming, ELINT, and DRFM-based self-protection systems for the Indian Air Force, Army, and Navy.
Key customers include DRDO DARE, ECIL, and private-sector EW system integrators under DRDO ToT programmes.
ICON's EDA business serves India's top research institutions, defence PSUs, and private RF design houses. From IIT labs pioneering 5G mmWave research to BEL's MMIC design centre deploying Cadence Microwave Office — ICON provides the tools, training, and ongoing support that India's RF engineering community depends on.
EDA customers include IITs (Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Kanpur), NITs, DRDO labs (DLRL, LRDE, SAG), BEL, HAL, Wipro, and a growing ecosystem of private defence design companies.
Whether you need indigenous MMIC design, systems integration, or EDA software — our team is ready to help.
