Return to Singapore 1995

Cyrix's CPU processor R\u0026D project settled in Shanghai in a very low-key manner, and no press conferences or publicity activities were held.

Even the R\u0026D center company registered in Shanghai was transferred from a subsidiary in Singapore.

Earlier this year, Cyrix launched a new generation of M1 processors developed by itself. The biggest selling point of the M1 CPU processor is that its integer performance is better than Intel's Pentium processor.

However, when the world's most popular 3D game "Quake" was released, the actual product effect of Cyrix's M1 processor lost to AMD and Intel.

This made Cyrix's CPU products almost lose credibility in the eyes of many game enthusiasts. As a result, the company soon lost the procurement contract of large PC computer OEM manufacturers.

After receiving a huge investment of US$100 million from Li Xiaofan's Yifan No. 2 Venture Capital Fund, Cyrix is ​​stepping up the development of its second self-developed product, the M2 processor.

Jerry Rogers and Tom Brightman confidently told Li Xiaofan that the design performance of their company's current M2 chip will be comparable to Intel's Pentium 2-CPU processor, and in the future it will at least beat AMD's K6 processor.

In fact, the M2-CPU processor developed by Cyrix in the previous life, after multimedia testing, their CPU processor's floating-point capability and integer computing performance are both behind the latest CPU processor products of Intel and AMD.

However, for Li Xiaofan and Academician Ni, even so, the performance of the M2-CPU processor developed by Cyrix is ​​very close to the most advanced processors of Intel and AMD. If there is an opportunity to participate in the development of the M2-CPU processor, it will be a very rare and precious learning opportunity for Lianhai Microelectronics Design Center and the entire mainland's semiconductor industry.

Therefore, when Li Xiaofan's Yifan No. 2 Venture Capital Fund invested in Cyrix, there was an additional condition, which was to recommend the parallel use of the Apollo EDA software developed by Singapore Apollo Systems Pte. Ltd. when developing the M2-CPU processor.

This Singapore Apollo Systems Pte Ltd is a joint venture company established by Avant! Pioneer Company of the United States and Yifan System Software Pte Ltd of Singapore under the name of Li Xiaofan. It specializes in EDA system research and development with a total investment of US$30 million.

The intellectual property rights of the third-generation Apollo EDA program originally developed secretly by the core Chinese team of Avant! Pioneer Company were all injected into this Singapore Apollo Systems Pte Ltd.

This Singapore Apollo Systems Pte Ltd is controlled by Yifan System Software Pte Ltd of Singapore, which invested US$21 million and holds 70% of the shares. In fact, Li Xiaofan helped Lao Xu and the core team of Avant! Pioneer Company to hold many shares in it.

Then, Singapore Apollo Systems Pte Ltd and Beijing Panda Systems Co., Ltd. jointly established a foreign-invested enterprise called Shanghai Apollo Systems Co., Ltd. in Shanghai to engage in EDA system research and development.

This allowed the teams of Beijing Panda Company and Lianhai Microelectronics Design Center to participate in the cooperative development of the third-generation Apollo EDA program.

And because the Apollo EDA software is used in the development of the M2-CPU processor, the teams of Beijing Panda Company and Lianhai Microelectronics Design Center indirectly participated in part of the development of the M2-CPU processor.

…

Before, Li Xiaofan persuaded Lao Xu not to submit evidence to the court, such as Costello, the boss of Cadence, and his team and employees maliciously selling Pioneer shares in the stock market, and obtaining insider information before the prosecutor searched Avant! Pioneer to short sell Avant! Pioneer shares in advance to make profits.

After Lao Xu returned to the United States, he first negotiated with Costello privately.

When Costello saw the evidence provided by Lao Xu, he was also surprised.

Because according to the US Securities Act, insider trading can constitute securities fraud, with a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine of up to $5 million. In addition, the US Insider Trading Sanctions Act, which was promulgated in 1984, further stipulates that in addition to confiscating illegal gains, the US Securities and Exchange Commission will impose an additional 3 times penalty on insiders! That is to say, once it is verified that the insider has engaged in illegal trading, the CSRC will impose a four-fold economic penalty.

What worries Costello most is that this lawsuit has implicated innocent teams and colleagues because of his momentary impulse, and they have become cannon fodder and victims...

So, when the two men face reality calmly, things will be much easier.

Lao Xu proposed to Costello that if he does not submit these evidences to the court, the exchange condition is: Cadence and Deputy Attorney Julius Finkelstein will give up filing criminal lawsuits in the future, and strive for an out-of-court settlement between the two companies.

After weighing the pros and cons, Costello temporarily agreed to the first condition, and the second condition can be negotiated through lawyers...

However, even if the out-of-court mediation is successful in the future, the original sins of Avant! Pioneer and the evidence of "copying homework" cannot be erased. For the main founding team of Avant! Pioneer, it is like a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads forever.

One day, the two companies will start quarreling again, and it is hard to say when they will "settle accounts later".

Therefore, it is the best choice to start a new EDA project in a third place outside the United States, slowly cash out and whitewash through this new project, and then hold a huge amount of wealth and retire to enjoy life.

…

In late November, Li Xiaofan finally had time to accompany Tang Xinyi to France for vacation to visit her third sister Tang Lina.

This is the first time Li Xiaofan has come to Paris after his rebirth.

Autumn is the most beautiful season in Paris. The city is like an oil painting, with yellow, orange, and bright red filling the eyes.

When accompanying Tang Xinyi to the Seine River in autumn, looking at the familiar Seine River on both sides of the many classical buildings and characteristic scenery, Li Xiaofan was in a special mood.

The afterglow of the setting sun falls on the surface of the Seine River, and a retro marble church stands on the bank. The Seine River naturally divides Paris into the left bank and the right bank. The left bank is the cultural sky, and the right bank is the colorful world...

The Seine River in autumn still flows quietly through the city of Paris, nourishing this romantic city.

Standing on the bank of the Seine River, Li Xiaofan feels not only the classical architecture and unique beauty, but also a heavy cultural atmosphere and romantic style...

In his previous life, Li Xiaofan came to Paris on a business trip for the first time. He and several colleagues came to Paris, France under the leadership of Dai Junling to participate in the product and business training of a French semiconductor testing company. This kind of training arranged in Paris is actually a disguised "welfare".

Li Xiaofan remembered that it was also autumn. After the training, several of their colleagues came to the Seine River to play under the leadership of Dai Junling...

"My dear, is Paris beautiful in autumn?" Tang Xinyi's question was intended to recall Li Xiaofan's memories.