Black technology starts from the steel suit

Chapter 196 Tape-out and Test Work

Time passed quickly. While Wang Feng was waiting and fishing at the university, the research progress of anton3 was like a rocket, advancing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and there was a small report almost every week.

It has to be said that compared with the combat method of a large-scale group army like Haisi, the efficiency of David Xiao's small-unit combat mode is still lower, and the speed is even more varied. Before this, he had never thought about doing a research Work can actually be done like a war.

Especially large-scale battles with so many people. To be honest, David Xiao only saw them in the trading rooms of fund companies and investment banks when Wall Street was making big moves.

It's not that he doesn't have that much money to form a regular army for scientific research. Although he spends a lot of money, he still has the capital.It's just that the second-generation supercomputer is already strong enough, and he doesn't have such an urgent need.Only today he finally encountered a problem that Anton2 could not solve.

And I don't know when, the atmosphere of the whole society in their country began to change, from the original pursuit of big action and big scenes to the current pursuit of small-scale operations, special operations... strive to achieve their goals with the smallest movements.

I can't remember the exact time, but in short, they now have a kind of confidence and faith-like pursuit of ossicle operations and special operations.

"What are you thinking about, so engrossed in thinking?" Wang Feng looked curiously at David Xiao who was in a daze, and asked incomprehensibly.

"Wang, do you know? I think it's unbelievable. Your scientific research capabilities are so strong. I know that now I'm starting to worry about my motherland."

"It's okay, it's generally the third in the world."

"Do you know that this kind of project completion speed visible to the naked eye is really fascinating. I decided to expand my team after I go back this time. Although it is definitely not as good as your current scale, these dozens of people People can no longer satisfy me."

"You really should expand it. When the good news comes, I think you may be very busy in the future. But I think you will be very happy. By that time, they will definitely cry Come to recognize your work, and then see if there is a possibility to join the team."

"Really? Then I will borrow your good words. By the way, I also wish that our filming will go smoothly this time." David Xiao said with a smile.

"Screen filming! Even at our price, you will inevitably feel extremely nervous." Wang Feng couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Although he may not care about the money, the time and energy invested in it are. Extremely amazing.

After all, the core of the third-generation supercomputer is, on the one hand, David Shaw's unique large-scale parallel computing technology, and on the other hand, its dedicated independent computing core.

Tape-out is an essential process to test whether the designed chip can be used normally. If it fails, it means that all the work during this period of time has been wasted, and you have to start all over again.

Well, in fact, he is really concerned about the tape-out cost this time. After all, this thing is not cheap. In fact, there is nothing cheap in the high-tech field, especially the semiconductor industry.

Tape-out is regarded as a kind of jargon, which means that the design drawings are turned into real usable chips through the semiconductor assembly line for later testing.

But generally speaking, the semiconductor design department does not have the ability to make chips.So it is necessary to find a reliable foundry company to make the chips you designed, which is commonly known as foundry.

The price of tape-out is very expensive. Taking the non-mainstream 45nm as an example, as far as the price given by SMIC is concerned, the price of tape-out once is 12 yuan per square millimeter, which is still a relatively mature 45nm. craft.

Yes, the unit is square millimeters, 1mm×1mm, so small that it is almost difficult to distinguish with the naked eye, it costs 12.

Many consumers think that the black semiconductor chips in mobile phones are worthless at all. They are all made of silicon anyway, which is not found on earth.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with doing so.Because the chip itself is indeed inexpensive, and its materials are also very easy to obtain.But the problem is that his design cost and manufacturing cost are extremely astonishing, and it can't even be described as amazing, but scary.

In order to hurry, Wang Feng's investment in the past three months can be described as amazing.It is almost impossible for David Shaw, a super rich man, to spend so much money in just three months.

In fact, this is quite normal. After all, the cycle he originally planned was much longer than this time. During this period, as long as the capital in his hands can flow, it can continuously bring him wealth.In this case, his payment pressure will be much less.

It's really hard to calculate how much resources Wang Feng invested in this project.After all, in addition to stylish, there are many resources that cannot be measured by money.For example, the design team of HiSilicon, or a big cow like Academician Li of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

But even just judging from the funds he invested, it is extremely amazing.With the money he burned, he could buy several courtyard houses in Houhai, and they were all excellent ones.

This is only the design cost. The tape-out cost of outdated 45nm process chips is so staggering, let alone go down, it is almost not ahead of an era, and the cost seems to double.

As for the most advanced seven-nanometer and five-nanometer production lines in the industry, the unit cost of tape-out is in the millions, but if it fails once, it will cost about 10 billion yuan, and the price may be even higher.

After all, this is still for Taipower and Samsung Electronics with relatively mature technology. If it is a company with less mature technology such as SMIC, the cost will only be high but not low.

And the process used by their chips is seven nanometers. The chip SMIC of this process has not been played, and the most advanced one they have played so far is 14 nanometers.So even if they have bought a new toy, they still don't have a clue in their hearts.

Although I have already made enough preparations, if the engineer doesn't play around, if there is something wrong with the first tape-out... I can probably imagine the mood of the foggy grass and the feeling of heartache. of.

"Wang, are you sure you want to choose a local company instead of Samsung and Teclast, which have more mature technology?" David Xiao thought it would be better to remind him again, after all, this is really not a small amount of money.

"It's been confirmed, and for the first time, they will give us a discount. So, if you are worried about the cost, you don't have to." Wang Feng pretended to be very calm.

"Even if there is a discount, the discount is not much, after all, the cost is there." David Xiao still did not give up: "The money they discounted can't make up for the risk we took in it."

"You have to know that it's the first time to play with a production line of this kind of process, even if you have made sufficient preparations and hired a lot of mature technicians, the probability of getting lost is still very high."

"You have to know that you are doing tape-out for the first time, so it is very normal to not know what is inside. And this is the third time I have done this, you must believe me, a company with mature technology and confident technicians can A great comfort to you."

This is the third time that David Shaw has released a film, so he can be regarded as an old man in this industry.But even so, he was still very, very nervous.The first time, I was still very young, so I didn't know enough.

But when he really saw the black gold flowing on the production line, he really realized what it meant: it was not a dream at all, but a throne piled up with piles of dollars!
In the field of chemistry, he is not considered the best scientist. In the computer field, there are many people who are better than him in massively parallel computing, but why haven't they achieved such results?

Is it because they are incapable?

No, it's not that they don't have the ability to realize their dreams, they just don't have the financial resources to realize their dreams.To put it simply: they are not as rich as David Shaw!

"No, why are you so nervous?" Wang Feng felt that when it came to the issue of money, David Xiao seemed to be a different person: "You don't need to pay for that money, the tape-out fee this time I’m the one in charge, okay?”

"It's not a matter of who's in charge, you know?"

"As a senior practitioner in the fund industry, I can't bear your waste of money. Your allocation of assets is so bad that it makes people speechless, you know?"

"And your risk sensitivity is appallingly low..."

"Friend, you have changed!"

David Shaw: ? ? ?

"Is the plane ready?" Wang Feng asked. Private jets are not so convenient, and they have to go through a series of procedures before using them, which is quite troublesome. The most troublesome part should be applying for the route.

But this is not a problem for him.

"It's ready and ready to take off at any time." Li Youmin said, "It's just that this foreign friend has not yet applied for his flight route, and it will take a little time."

"See if you can give me a reminder. It's best to give me an answer before noon." Wang Feng said, "If it doesn't work, I can help you buy a plane ticket."

"It will be more difficult to apply for a private jet route, especially during this period of time when there are many problems. How about booking a first-class cabin for you?"

"Ok, ok, no problem." David Xiao didn't care why he couldn't apply for his route, but this guy could.

After all, no matter where he is, there will always be a privileged area, just like it is easy for him to apply for a flight route in China...

As for taking the other party's plane... This is not very realistic. He knows that the other party does not take off from the international airport, and the plane is not maintained there, but is maintained at the military airport, so it is not convenient for him to be in his capacity.

Pudong, Zhangjiang Hi-tech.

Wang Feng came to the largest semiconductor factory in China with David Xiao in the car.

SMIC can be called the most important weapon of the country. It is not a place where you can go in and have a look. They wait outside the door for the people inside to pick them up, but the other party will not let him wait for too long.

In addition to Wang Feng and David Xiao, two laymen, Xiao Qiming, a veteran who has been working in this industry for decades, was in the same company. In order to borrow him, Wang Feng also spent a lot of effort.

Looking at the huge white factory building, he said with emotion: "This is the temple in our hearts for those of us who are engaged in semiconductors. In the field of display, there are thirteen foreign giants blocking the way in raw materials, and there are more than a dozen in panel manufacturing equipment. A big mountain, adding up to more than 30 giant companies, dominates the entire display industry."

"In the field of semiconductors, there are more than 100 mountains standing in front of us. From the most sophisticated lithography machines, to silicon wafers and abrasives, the world is dominated by giants!"

"Professor Wang, thanks to your help this time, we finally have a seven-nanometer production line in China, so we won't be stuck by outsiders all the time. This time, we really want to speak to you for our domestic semiconductor people. Thank you!"

"It's about helping each other. Besides, we are all on our own, so there's no need to be so alien." Wang Feng said with a smile.People who engage in semiconductors in China have a dream, when will the localization of the semiconductor field be realized.How should I put it, I can only say that the ideal is very full, but the reality is very skinny.They still have a long way to go before the localization of the semiconductor industry.

This is not a problem that can be solved by buying a few lithography machines and placing a few more orders.

Wang Feng can only say that it is a little bit of his own meager strength.

"Thank you for your kindness. Professor Wang, if you have any use in the future, if you come to my place, just like this time, I will come over without saying a word." Xiao Qiming shook Wang Feng's hand tightly. Not being in the industry, he could not imagine the significance of EUV lithography machines to the domestic semiconductor industry.

"That's for sure. Professional things should be left to professional people."

Two people are looking forward to the future of the domestic semiconductor industry (in fact, the other party said, and then Wang Feng listened)
Not long after, the boss of SMIC came out to greet him in person, startling the guard at the gate.In fact, he had planned to come out a long time ago, but unfortunately, there was a little problem on the production line just now, which frightened him a lot: the order has already been received, and the tape-out is about to start, if something goes wrong at this time The problem... that's not the business of these companies!

It also involves many other departments and enterprises, including banks and insurance industries.
When doing business to this extent, any business behavior is not limited to business behavior.Take this time's tape-out as an example. If it were purely a matter of business, they would not be able to get this order no matter what.Compared with those giants, they are almost at a disadvantage in all aspects.But even so, it is still not the turn of outsiders to handle these billions of orders.

There are indeed many reasons for this, and the interest relationship is also very complicated, but the most important thing is the issue of trust.It is certain that outsiders are not as trustworthy as their own in any case.

(End of this chapter)