I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

Jingu Xiqing Science and Technology Development Zone.

This is one of the foundries of Huaxin International, and it is also the first foundry to complete the upgrade of the 28nm high-yield production line.

Wang Minjiang, the general manager and chief engineer of the branch here, led us to the storage location of the final products. The large room was filled with the unique smell of PCB boards.

There were several dark shelves in the warehouse. The worker took out the tray from one of the shelves and handed it to Wang Minjiang.

"Mr. Wang, this is your official version of Y1611A, the '梼杌A1000' chip. It took less than 20 hours to put it here after being packaged. Take a look."

Wang Minjiang pried out a processor about 6cm square and placed it under the light for careful observation.

The front side of the chip is completely covered by a nickel-plated copper top cover, and the back side has 3900 pure gold contacts, also known as gold fingers.

Huanghe Semiconductor's first batch of chips is still based on the X32115, which is deeply optimized and improved on the desktop side. It is a new generation of "梼杌" processors designed with the "Taishan" architecture. The internal code names are Y1611A, Y1611B, and Y1611C.

Y is the English letter that begins with Yellow River, 16 represents the year, the third number is ranked according to the series name of that year, and the fourth number is the order of version iterations.

For example, the Y1601, 0, was used for Great Wall Computer to show off its face, which is the code name of the "Qiongqi" series.

A, B, and C respectively represent performance levels. A is the workstation level for the consumer market, B is the enthusiast level, and C is the economical level. There may be other letters in the future, and the numbers following them are the specific distinctions between the various levels of CPUs.

Y1611A is the flagship CPU released for the desktop market, but after its release, it will be called TPU, where T is the English initials of ternary.

Because it is very different from the ternary architecture and the traditional architecture, the functional division is also very different.

The original computer was mainly composed of three parts: processor, memory, and hard disk. The screen output was hard-coded by the CPU. Later, in order to enhance the graphics computing power, an independent graphics card-GPU was introduced.

The ternary architecture directly performs two tasks. The same architecture and design ideas can provide considerable computing power support for a variety of scenarios.

The core area of ​​the Yaoshu A1000 is nearly 120% larger than the mainstream CPUs on the market today, and the rated power consumption is not low, reaching as much as 350W. Although it is indeed very high, because it does not require a graphics card, it is actually matched with normal CPUs. Computers with independent graphics can actually save more power than computers with independent graphics.

The A1000 has 6 cores and 18 threads, and is designed to compete with Intel's flagship i7 6950X. It also has powerful graphics computing capabilities and can be close to the level of the GTX1080ti in pure graphics computing.

If you want to achieve the ultimate performance in both aspects at the same time, you need to use the automatic overclocking program equipped with the A1000. Overclocking releases about 600W of power, and can reach a maximum of 800W under good cooling conditions.

It’s high, but it’s really useful, and it’s even stronger when paired with XOS and professional software than in traditional projects. It also has AI hardware support that mainstream manufacturers haven’t even touched on yet. This is a major plus point.

The main purpose of the A1000 is to use it as a consumer display to show off its muscles, and to sell it to enthusiast users and workstation crowds. Of course, the latter are included.

Now the domestic ternary ecosystem has just begun to be cultivated. Huawei will release the world's first ternary mobile phone mate10 in a few days. At the same time, Huanghe Semiconductor will officially promote the XOS system program editor to domestic enterprises.

The Science and Technology and Industry Committee of basic office software and social and daily life software has organized all translations, but huge entertainment software, especially games, is very difficult. The Science and Technology and Industry Committee plans to use one year to vigorously promote the domestic software industry to enter the ternary development system .

For this reason, the higher authorities have even made up their minds to prepare to promulgate software-related bills in the new year, vigorously support the ternary system, and at the same time resist foreign pressure.

This is not the business of Huanghe Semiconductor alone, but the work of the entire domestic semiconductor software and hardware industry chain.

Therefore, Wang Minjiang has no worries about the hardware. Xinyuan Company has already produced the X32045, which is more advanced than the system X32035. The X32055 is also under design, and each generation is getting stronger. Huanghe Semiconductor only needs to squeeze in more regularly, and the X32035 will be enough for ten years. .

Putting the TPU in his hand back, Wang Minjiang said:

"We are not worried about hardware. Can the cost of solid-state drives be reduced?"

"this……"

The chief engineer of Huaxin was a little embarrassed, but he still told the truth.

"Binary NAND flash memory is 2.8 yuan per GB, and ternary flash memory is 8.9 yuan per GB. At least we have nothing to do."

Wang Minjiang:......

One of the existing weaknesses of ternary computers: storage.

It is now the end of 2016, and the mainstream storage media in the market is still mechanical hard drives, while solid-state hard drives are expensive and have limited capacity.

Whether it is a traditional mechanical hard drive or a solid-state drive, ternary computer reads must be translated, which will greatly increase latency and reduce read/write speeds.

NAND flash solid-state drives are okay. After all, they are already fast. There will be a slight performance loss after the transfer, but they are still fast and the loss is acceptable. Mechanical hard drives are too uncomfortable. The delay is as high as heaven, and the already low read and write speeds are even worse. Discount.

The dedicated ternary particle solid-state drive is suitable for computers with fast response, fast reading and writing, and long lifespan, but the price is naturally more exaggerated.

In the era of cars and machines, if you can use ternary memory or solid-state hard drives, you don't care about the cost of hundreds or thousands of dollars, but this is not the case on the consumer side.

The storage space of mainstream computers is more than 500G, which means spending more than 1,000 to buy a hard drive? I'm afraid most people won't be able to accept it, but the experience of mechanical hard drives is indeed a bit impatient.

Unless NAND flash memory technology advances or ternary memory particles are mass-produced in seven or eight years, it will be possible to drive down the price of storage equipment.

Wang Minjiang has no way to do this. The cost of chips in Xinyuan's business is very low, and there has been no relevant research.

Just when he was at a loss what to do, the chief engineer of Huaxin said something unintentionally:

"Mr. Wang, don't be so anxious. Nothing is perfect, and current silicon wafers are not suitable for ternary processing."

Wang Minjiang:!

"What do you mean? You are looking for other technical routes."

The chief engineer nodded:

"It is too wasteful to use two binary components to simulate a ternary field effect transistor. From this point of view, there is no way to compromise. In order to adapt to the existing system, we must find a substrate that natively supports three states as a matrix that natively supports ternary." chip material.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has been studying it for a long time. Their current favorite is silicon carbide. Both elements are relatively common and it is easier to obtain high-purity elements. They also meet the requirements of having three states.

We and Modu Microelectronics are all involved. Silicon carbide manufacturing chips need to restructure the industry line. Currently, they plan to complete this road within five years. In a few days, they should bring you in to work together. . "

After the chief engineer finished speaking, he found that Wang Minjiang's eyes were very strange, and the expression on his face was that he was struggling to say something but stopped. Finally, he patted the chief engineer on the shoulder and said solemnly:

"Your innovative spirit is very good. Huanghe Semiconductor will definitely support it fully. Silicon carbide is good, so let's do this."

The chief engineer of Huaxin was a little confused: "Actually, it's not bad, because in the past few years, high-power semiconductors such as silicon carbide IGBTs have been developed, so I naturally thought of it. Most of them are existing ideas."

Wang Minjiang: "That's right. Since silicon carbide chips already have a foundation, I suggest starting from this. The progress should be much faster."