Chapter 1048 IEEE Top Meeting

Los Angeles.

The International IC Design and Technology Conference was held as scheduled.

As the top conference in the field of IC design under IEEE, this is not only an academic conference for industry scholars, but also a stage for major chip manufacturers to show off their skills.

For industries like this that involve specific application fields, the boundary between academia and industry is actually not very clear.

Many scholars themselves are engineers on temporary positions in companies, and many senior engineers in companies themselves are reviewers of journals. Some big cows are also named editors in a journal under IEEE while serving as technical directors. These are not what a rare thing.

Professor Michael Mayberry standing on the stage is a typical example.

While serving as the dean of Intel Semiconductor Research Institute, he also serves as Intel's chief technology officer (CTO).

At this moment, standing on the stage, he was showing Intel's latest consumer-grade processor chips, next-generation core graphics cards, and a series of technologies to all the scholars, engineers, and business representatives present.

Among the many dazzling achievements, the most noticeable one is undoubtedly the new micro-architecture "Silver Light" announced based on the 7nm process technology.

Almost as soon as this content was first presented on the PPT, the listed parameters and conceptual diagrams immediately became the focus of attention!

According to Intel's description, this set of "Silver Light" architecture, which will be launched this year, that is, in the second half of 2022, will be based on the "Sunny-Cove" architecture that Intel launched in 19 years. Take it up a notch! And the supporting new chip will also be greatly different from the past in terms of integration and technology.

Standing on the stage, Michael Maybury emphasized with excitement and affirmation that this is a leap in technological innovation, and Intel will redefine the future of chip technology... Although everyone is bragging like this every time, Mayberry His speech indeed made many people look surprised, even astonished.

As we all know, the 7nm process is almost close to the process limit of major manufacturers. Although it is not impossible to achieve 5nm, it is not so cost-effective in terms of cost.

And when it reaches 5nm, it will face theoretical bottlenecks, including the limitations of the material itself and the quantum mechanical effects that cannot be ignored. It is already very difficult to work hard on the chip manufacturing process to improve the performance of the chip.

It is precisely because of this that, in addition to looking for alternative materials, major chip manufacturers are now beginning to work hard in places other than the process, to squeeze the potential of silicon-based chips as much as possible.

The "Sunny-Cove" architecture, which was released by Intel in the second half of 2019 and caused a lot of topics in the industry, is undoubtedly one of them.

The "Sunny-Cove" architecture based on 10nm process technology directly improves the performance of Intel's Core and Xeon series chips by 66%!

No one is surprised that Intel can achieve 7nm manufacturing process, but it can make such a major breakthrough in the "Sunny-Cove" architecture, which is no different from the level of "black technology" in the eyes of many people in the industry.

Obviously, this academic conference has completely become a show-off conference for a company called Intel.

Sitting under the stage, Qualcomm's chief engineer, Derek Wakov, crossed his legs and watched the CTOs of his friends on the stage showing off their crazy skills. A hint of envy appeared on his face.

"Intel's black technology...the last time I heard Mayberry say that they are preparing a big news to subvert the traditional architecture design, I thought it was bragging, but I didn't expect them to actually come up with it."

Sitting next to him, Koch, the vice president of Qualcomm who was also sent to attend this academic conference, looked at the person on the stage and narrowed his eyes enviously.

"...I'm afraid Intel's stock will fly into the sky tomorrow."

Although the relationship between Qualcomm and Intel is not so good, he doesn't mind increasing his holdings in advance in his own name if he can make money.

At the same time, Mayberry on the stage was already speaking dryly, and took a drink from the cup handed by the staff midway.

For a full half an hour, he spent 20 minutes telling Intel's partners or potential partners - or "showing off" the new architecture named Silver Light, and the released chips.

Even though it was full of tedious boasting and grandiose rhetoric, no one in the entire meeting deserted.

The nature of this Mr. Mayberry was well known to all.

He may brag, but he must not talk.

The 30-minute moment finally passed, and after a round of applause, Michael Maybury strode off the podium.

This academic event of the chip industry continues, but it is obvious that the focus of the audience has been completely taken away by Intel.

Returning to Maybury who was sitting under the stage, listening to the faint voices of discussions and exclamations coming from the side, he couldn't help but have a few traces of unconcealable pride written on his face.

He enjoys this feeling very much.

That's why I came here to do this report myself.

Otherwise, this kind of report meeting is not impossible even if it is thrown to the people below.

The speakers on the stage have changed several times. Whether it is Qualcomm, Samsung or Apple, the results presented at this conference all look bleak in front of their "silver light".

Especially the Qualcomm technician who came on stage, when he talked about Qualcomm's update of the ARM-V9 instruction set, his face was devastated, which made him even more secretly happy.

As the reporter from Qualcomm walked off the stage, a Chinese man wearing glasses walked onto the stage.

That thin and tall appearance, coupled with a decent but not much aura suit, makes people look less like a professor or a high-ranking engineer, and more like an intern or student , Assistant and the like.

Mayberry, who was about to read the jokes of his friends and businessmen side by side, couldn't help but see a trace of contempt flashing in his eyes when he saw the speaker on stage.

Neither the Warwick Hisilicon logo nor the reserved expression on the speaker's face could give him the slightest sense that the next speech was worth his time to listen to.

What's more, if an intern is sent to such a place to give a report, what can he say?

It's just that he doesn't want to come up and lose this person himself.

At this time, Intel CEO Robert Swan, who was sitting next to him and had not spoken, suddenly said

"I heard that they have recently become dissatisfied with IC design, and are upgrading their industries in line with Huaguo's policies."

This, of course, refers to the reporter from Warwick HiSilicon on the stage.

The contempt in Mayberry's eyes did not change, and his eyebrows were slightly raised.

"Oh? Just rely on the 'high-tech' enterprises of those Chinese people?"

Robert Swan said in a deep voice: "It's better not to underestimate them too much. After all, it's like nuclear fusion. We have only touched a little bit of the door. They have already repaired the inter-regional power grid to the gate of our factory in Southeast Asia. .”

Can nuclear fusion and chips be a thing for a while?

Mayberry curled her lips disapprovingly, obviously not taking Swann's words to heart.

At this moment, the reporter who was suspected to be an intern standing on the stage finally spoke.

Perhaps it was because he appeared on such an occasion for the first time, his expression was a little stiff, he took several deep breaths before he calmed down, and then made a simple opening remark at a steady pace.

Several bigwigs sitting in the front row unanimously cast kind and encouraging looks at the young man, including Robert Swan and Maybury.

For harmless opponents, their attitudes are often sympathetic and tolerant. Even if they can't hide the contempt behind their eyes, at least on the surface he is still a humble scholar.

Such is the manner of an adult.

No matter how annoying the rambunctious brats are, they usually hide their boredom in their hearts and look at them with caring eyes instead.

"This project is a joint project between us... our Warwick HiSilicon and Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. It has lasted for almost two years. In fact, their research team should have reported it, but due to concerns about the location of the report and other aspects, they Give us this opportunity."

The voice that was not very confident made many people in the audience lose interest in hearing it.

Although the name of Jinling Institute for Advanced Study attracted the attention of many people, almost everyone had the same disapproval on their faces when they thought that it was only an intern who was sent to the stage to report.

Seems to have noticed this too.

Seeing that the bigwigs in the front row had already focused their attention on other places, and even began to whisper and laugh, the reporter standing on the stage suddenly became a little anxious, so he sped up his speech and went straight to the topic .

"The specific details will be explained in detail in the PPT."

"This project is about the carbon-based chips we're working on..."

This sentence is only halfway through.

Suddenly, the reporter standing on the stage was surprised to find that the venue, which was still a little restless before, began to be silent like death at some point.

Moreover, the silence is a little scary...