Chapter 10: Journey to Jiangyin Factory

Xi Xiaoding shrugged: "I have heard that one should understand more about Verilog HDL, not as extraordinary as you."

As soon as he got off the car, Su Yuanshan saw Qin Weimin standing at the exit. Judging by his appearance, it seemed that he had been waiting for quite some time.

Su Yuanshan and Tian Yaoming both had a good laugh at the same time—after all, they had both made a fool of themselves in the same profession, no wonder Qin Weimin was so happy

Throughout the entire company, Xi Xiaoding's expertise in models and data is indeed unparalleled.

Moreover, the main reason for the slowdown is the encoding chip on the launch platform. Since it needs to be compatible with the host and it is not feasible to dismantle the launch platform's host for research, progress was once very slow. Even now, not to mention Su Yuanshan's uncertainty, all the professors in the microcontroller research group at the Institute of Electrical Science are also unsure whether Su Yuanshan's replacement design is effective. However, from the simulation on EDA, it appears to be effective. Furthermore, even now, not to mention Su Yuanshan's uncertainty, all the professors in the microcontroller research group at the Institute of Electrical Science are also unsure whether Su Yuanshan's replacement design is effective. However, from the simulation on EDA, it appears to be effective

After exchanging greetings, Qin Weimin smiled and said, "If you don't come any longer, I suppose I will have to return to the provincial capital."

"There is still time," Su Yuanshan said with a smile, shaking his head. "Moreover, Senior Brother has overthought this. I can tell you right now that we will not 'sell' a single share of our current Yuanxin."

It is precisely for this reason that the country of Neon, eager to extricate itself from its predicament, will intensify its investment and cooperation domestically, while also hosting a visit from the Emperor next year

This action must be swift. As long as we can bring the X86 giant Intel into our camp, Yuanxin EDA will be able to dominate the industry. Moreover, due to the private nature of our company, there will be significantly fewer troubles in the west. If we wait until your father enters the capital... it is likely that the nature of the company will no longer be the same

From now on, the subsidiaries are of no consequence; they can be managed however one wishes. However, you are correct that we still need to move forward this year, although our goal may not necessarily be to take down Intel

Su Yuanshan removed his hands from the keyboard and turned around with a smile: "If you listen to his nonsense, you've already lost. How much does Senior Brother Xi know about VHDL?"

Xi Xiaoding was taken aback: "What is that?"

After Xi Xiaoding finished speaking, he fixed his gaze on Su Yuanshan, waiting for him to express his stance

After Xiao Ding finished verifying the data, Su Yuanshan returned to his position.

Eight individuals, all accounted for, completed the design of three entirely new chips and two PCBs in less than a month

Do you think you are here to take away his brother's job

Xi Xiaoding smiled and, without declining, sat down on the chair

Every month, my uncle's pager business generates a stable profit of 200,000 yuan, which seems quite strong. However, after paying salaries and various management fees, rent, and so on, there is not much left. As a result, Yuanxin is now hesitant to hire anyone and can only wait until graduation season to take action.

When Qin Weimin saw the driver in the car, his face immediately darkened

... ...

Then you go first, you are excellent in this area of modeling. Su Yuanshan saved the project first and then stood up to make way.

Even though Su Yuanshan was already busy to the point of losing his seventeen-year-old hair, by the time all the designs for the chips and PCBs were completed, it was still mid-June

Unbeknownst to them, the three approached the factory, at which point a jeep roared past them and then sped towards the main gate

The green sleeper train arrived in Jinling after two days and two nights, and then I took a large bus for five hours, reaching the Jiangyin bus station only at three o'clock in the afternoon

"What happened to you two?" Tian Yaoming noticed that both of them looked unwell—wasn't it just a car that was driven a bit too fast?

Do you know if there is a distributor conference in the west this year

Su Yuanshan smiled slightly: "Take down the friend in the east"

Old Jiang was merely a production section chief... and the factory director who made the decision for us to come here went to the capital for further studies. The person in charge of the factory was Deputy Director Pan Dajun... As for Deputy Director Pan's attitude towards us... well, I don't know how to describe it. Later, I learned that his brother is the agent and after-sales service provider for Protel here, and his brother is responsible for maintaining Protel in their factory.

Xi Xiaoding shook his head: "I am not in a hurry; you can help me run it once when you are resting. This is a semi-finished thermal management simulation tool, which originally required data support. However, thanks to your idea, the open interface allows users to input data for calibration themselves."

Xi Xiaoding held two floppy disks in his hands, tapping them in his palm, and asked with a smile

As he walked, Qin Weimin laughed and said, "In fact, when we first arrived, we received quite a few disdainful looks."

However, participating in the exhibition is of utmost importance; this opportunity seems to have been created specifically for us. I can assure you that as soon as our Yuanxin EDA makes its debut, all EDA companies focusing on PCB design will be eliminated, while those like Cadence, which concentrate on chip design, will struggle for a while longer due to their relationships with chip manufacturers

At the exhibition in 1991, Apple opened by announcing 12 new products in one go, followed by the 1280 high-definition television and monitors, and then the toothpaste factory squeezed out the 66M 486... This left the domestic scholars and officials who attended the event in awe, and the report upon their return stated that this exhibition was "of global significance"

At this time, Jiangyin was merely a county town, far less prosperous than it would be in later years. The station was filled with minibuses and motorcycles, and the drivers were continuously waving to passengers getting off the vehicles to solicit customers

... ...

Such speed is worthy of great commendation in any enterprise, yet he still finds it slow

Hearing Su Yuanshan admit to making a trivial mistake, Tian Yaoming, who was beside him, found it difficult to say anything, merely letting out a sigh and shaking his head.

In Su Yuanshan's plan, the next target is the MPEG-1 decoding chip

Xi Xiaoding nodded slightly: "I know you want to take Yuanxin EDA to your father in the capital for national certification, in order to obtain... promotion qualifications. However, I calculated that there might not be enough time. It will take us until around August or September to complete several versions of testing here, and by the time we finish the final compilation and start the production, it is estimated to be around that time."

While waiting for the copy, Xi Xiaoding turned his chair and looked back at Su Yuanshan: "I have an idea"

Su Yuanshan was taken aback: "You speak."

Along the way, factories are adjacent to each other on all sides, already forming the initial scale of an electronic city

"It is mainly my issue." Su Yuanshan smiled and said, "I made a basic mistake by forgetting that one small change could affect the entire system when I designed it initially. I have redesigned a main control and display driver IC; otherwise, we could have completed it a few days earlier."

Senior Brother Tian

Deputy Factory Director Pan's younger brother is involved with Protel

Su Yuanshan shook his head with a smile: "Are you planning to wait to use the workstation?"

They are holding a production meeting, and a layout was created using Protel for a client who manufactures tape recorders. However, as soon as the client arrived at the factory, there was an issue with the layout. Qin Weimin seemed somewhat gleeful about the misfortune.

In order to finalize the interface, Qin Weimin stayed here with his team for nearly a month, only completing the final tests three days ago. While everyone else was eager to return, Qin Weimin, upon hearing that Su Yuanshan was coming, gritted his teeth and waited for another three days

beta version, but it's fine even as the final version, basically no bugs now. By the way, where is Brother Jiang?

Carrying simple luggage and holding two hard drives, Su Yuanshan and Tian Yaoming boarded the train to Jinling

In fact, compared to the exhibitions in the second half of the year, the more important task now is to make a profit

"Isn't that so? At that time, we only brought debugging versions, and since it was originally confidential, we just ignored him. Later, it calmed down until the factory director returned." Qin Weimin nudged Su Yuanshan, "What version did you bring this time?"

Currently, MPEG-1 has not yet been adopted by the International Organization for Standardization, but this does not prevent a visionary company like Sgob from being the first to develop decoding chips, thereby reaping billions in the subsequent VCD market solely through chip sales

Over the past few months of interaction, he has come to understand how impressive Su Yuanshan is, and he also knows that Su Yuanshan is generally neither modest nor exaggerated—just like him, he speaks plainly about what is.

The 1 million that has been kept in the account is intended for the expenses of the trial production. As for establishing a pager factory, it can only be done through a strategy of leveraging resources without investment, pursuing a route of technological cooperation

As for the television exhibition in 1992, the greatest impact on the domestic front was undoubtedly the encounter between C-Cube and Jiang Wanmeng, which marked the beginning of a decade-long drama for VCDs

The World Distributors Conference held in Las Vegas in October 1991 and the International Broadcast and Television Technology Exhibition held in the same location in April 1992—Su Yuanshan can recall these events solely from memory

Su Yuanshan inquired, "Isn't there Senior Brother Jiang Qingchuan? Why haven't I heard you mention him?"

Su Yuanshan kept his lips pressed together, listening attentively. It was only when he heard the last sentence that he finally understood why Xi Xiaoding was in such a hurry; he was afraid that Yuanxin would be "public-private partnership"ed.

Xi Xiaoding was stunned for a long time and exclaimed: "Damn! You are ruthless!"

Of course, the western market is certainly to be occupied. However, we will take the upper route, providing educational institutions with free usage and accompanying teaching materials; even anti-dumping laws cannot restrain me

Verilog HDL and VHDL are currently the most commonly used hardware description languages, and only those involved in integrated circuit design would typically use them, so it is quite normal for Xi Xiaoding not to be familiar with them

I have acquaintances at Teradyne and Cyrix. Even if we currently lack funds, we can establish a local sales company by collaborating with companies like Teradyne and Cyrix, which inherently require EDA services, while also employing local staff or our international students for after-sales service

I heard that you completed two MOS chips in just two days

In the past few years, the United States has wielded the notorious Section 301, forcing Japan to sign the Semiconductor Trade Agreement in 1986, the year after it became the world's largest semiconductor producer, thereby appropriating Japan's intellectual property and patents without compensation. However, Japan's solid foundation did not show any significant signs of fatigue, and this year, 1991, the United States once again pressured Japan to sign a second semiconductor agreement

The station is not far from the Jiangyin factory, and since the weather is not hot today, the three of them walked along the road to get there

Hearing the sound of the car, Su Yuanshan's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively moved to the side

Senior brother

Understood. Su Yuanshan nodded