Chinese processors - from design to production
We continue the series “Designed and Made in China”.
Everyone has long understood that it is no longer possible to consider China a supplier of cheap trash and consumer goods. China is actively developing high-tech industries, investing heavily in scientific research, including fundamental research, developing astronautics, robotics, etc. etc.
But before that they had to go a very long way. In this article I would like to talk about the development of one of the most complex industries - the production of microprocessors (CPU) in the PRC and its development.
')
For a start - a small excursion into history.
After the victory of the Communist revolution in the PRC, the winners got one big hole. According to the proportions of exports, one can judge what kind of a hole China was in 1949 (the material is taken from this course work "The policy of import substitution in China in 1949-1978, the author is）
The table shows not only what is obvious, but the prevailing superiority of the export of raw raw materials over the export of high technology products.
Not by chance, the time interval of this course work ends exactly in 1978. It was in December 1978 at the third session of the 11th convocation of the CPC Central Committee that was adopted as the main vector of Deng Xiaoping’s policy, which went down in history as 开放 （Policy of Reform and Openness). In principle, the rapid economic growth of China began from that time on. But this is already written enough.
And my post is not about that.
In March 1986, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China ( 中华人民共和国 技术 技术 部 ) adopted the program 863. You can read more about it here . In short, the goal of this program was to reduce China’s dependence on the import of high technology products, including processors, as much as possible. In principle, the program is on a par with its importance 四大 工程 （four great projects of our time):
1) 南水北调 - Turn of the southern rivers to the north (water supply of arid northern regions by the Yellow River and Yangtze waters)
2) 西电东送 - Electricity of the West - East (construction of 20 hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of 50 GW in the western water-saturated regions and its transfer to the eastern industrial regions)
3) 西气东输 - West gas flows east (mass development of gas fields in Xinjiang, Gansu and gas delivery to the east)
4) 青藏 铁路 - High-mountain railway Qinhai - Lhasa.
But enough has been written about them.
Anyway, the first significant result of this program was the processor 龙芯 一号 （Dragon Core-1). The company itself ( 龙芯 Loongson) was established in 1986 and before that was engaged in various computer-related developments, the meaning of which is hidden from the understanding of any person who does not think with hieroglyphs. For example, in 1989 they released a device for a desktop publishing system, which was called 汉 卡 （literally, a hieroglyphic card). This is a board for a computer whose memory contained hieroglyphs. But the story of its creation is too curious to tell in brief. In this they had to compete with Lenovo, which released the first "hieroglyphic card" in 1985.
That was the first 1985 卡 卡 from Lenovo.
So, processors. At the end of the 20th century, the production of microprocessors was recognized as a priority (here we need a more detailed story about 中国科学院 知识 工程 1998 - Intellectual Innovation Project 1998, but again, this is not the topic). The first processor 龙芯 一 2001 was released in April 2001, on August 19, Linux was first launched on it, and on October 10, it was certified and certified by the Academy of Sciences of the PRC. Architecture - MIPS32, clock frequency - from 200 to 266 MHz:
Loongson 1A - the first swallow of Chinese processor.
A large number of modifications of this processor has been released (1A, 1B, 1C). 1D was released on March 19, 2014, this is a full-fledged SoC (system on a chip), on the basis of which microcomputers are made and they cost ridiculous money. For example, a microcomputer based on Loongson 1B with a SIM card slot (omit the detailed characteristics, in short - they are modest) is sold on taobao for 10 yuan (about 100 rubles at the current rate.
There are hundreds of such offers on taobao.
The second generation began to produce in 2003. It was in the process of evolution that the transition from 180 Nm of production technology to 90 Nm occurred and the transition to 64-bit architecture. The clock frequency increased to 1.2 GHz. Enthusiasts, patriots, and just people began to assemble desktop computers based on these processors. It's funny that even in the Chinese racially correct operating system Rays, this processor is recognized as 未知 CPU 型号 - an unknown processor model. The review shows that people started Media Player, samba, OpenOffice, etc. on this processor. Desktop computers and processors of this series are freely sold at more than reasonable prices, and, in principle, are already full-fledged desktop computers (I hate the word desktop), fully developed and produced in China.
At about the same time, the company was founded 中 科 梦兰 (Chinese research company "Orchid of Dreams"). She began to produce computers under the brand name 逸 珑 (Rushing Wind), on the international market represented as Lemote . She began to produce desktop computers and laptops under the brand "100% domestic." So, one of their first 8089 series devices was widely distributed on the domestic market, the 8089D model (900Mhz, 1 GB RAM 、 8 GB SSD) was even presented to Stallman. But now these copies are quite rare, some prices go up to 15,000 yuan, but in their time they were a hit - judge for yourself, while a similar laptop was sold for 2520 yuan (about 12,000 rubles)
团购 - group purchases - a popular method to get something to explore later. Deposit your couple of hundred yuan and use.
In September 2009, the third generation of processors was launched. Over time, when the model index reached the letter B (and this happened in April 2014), the processor became six-core, produced using a 32-nm process technology, and had a clock speed from 1.2 GHz to 1.5 GHz. The latest processor 龙芯 3B1500:
1) Clock frequency 1.2-1.5 GHz
2) Caches:
a) Level 1 - 64 Kb
b) 2 levels - 128 Kb
c) 3 levels - up to 8 MB
3) power consumption - up to 40 W
Other detailed features can be found on the manufacturer's website .
Now the line of computers 逸 珑 includes both desktop computers and laptops, and all-in-one computers and servers. The product range can be found at the link . The characteristics, of course, are not impressive, but, considering that in early 2015, the Chinese government completely excluded such companies as Cisco, Apple, etc. from the list of public procurement, and that the order of such products is available only by calling and agreeing (when I called, I was promised shipment within 6 months), and the fact that the description says “Primary use in government and military institutions” in bold type, you can be sure that the company will develop by leaps and bounds.
The official website of Loongson
Computer manufacturer Lemote
Loongson enthusiast site
I apologize in advance for the fact that many of the topics are described in passing (I cannot cover everything), for the abundance of hieroglyphs (not everything lends itself to an accessible translation) and for possible errors.
I hope it was interesting.
Everyone has long understood that it is no longer possible to consider China a supplier of cheap trash and consumer goods. China is actively developing high-tech industries, investing heavily in scientific research, including fundamental research, developing astronautics, robotics, etc. etc.
But before that they had to go a very long way. In this article I would like to talk about the development of one of the most complex industries - the production of microprocessors (CPU) in the PRC and its development.
')
For a start - a small excursion into history.
After the victory of the Communist revolution in the PRC, the winners got one big hole. According to the proportions of exports, one can judge what kind of a hole China was in 1949 (the material is taken from this course work "The policy of import substitution in China in 1949-1978, the author is）
The table shows not only what is obvious, but the prevailing superiority of the export of raw raw materials over the export of high technology products.
Not by chance, the time interval of this course work ends exactly in 1978. It was in December 1978 at the third session of the 11th convocation of the CPC Central Committee that was adopted as the main vector of Deng Xiaoping’s policy, which went down in history as 开放 （Policy of Reform and Openness). In principle, the rapid economic growth of China began from that time on. But this is already written enough.
And my post is not about that.
In March 1986, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China ( 中华人民共和国 技术 技术 部 ) adopted the program 863. You can read more about it here . In short, the goal of this program was to reduce China’s dependence on the import of high technology products, including processors, as much as possible. In principle, the program is on a par with its importance 四大 工程 （four great projects of our time):
1) 南水北调 - Turn of the southern rivers to the north (water supply of arid northern regions by the Yellow River and Yangtze waters)
2) 西电东送 - Electricity of the West - East (construction of 20 hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of 50 GW in the western water-saturated regions and its transfer to the eastern industrial regions)
3) 西气东输 - West gas flows east (mass development of gas fields in Xinjiang, Gansu and gas delivery to the east)
4) 青藏 铁路 - High-mountain railway Qinhai - Lhasa.
But enough has been written about them.
Anyway, the first significant result of this program was the processor 龙芯 一号 （Dragon Core-1). The company itself ( 龙芯 Loongson) was established in 1986 and before that was engaged in various computer-related developments, the meaning of which is hidden from the understanding of any person who does not think with hieroglyphs. For example, in 1989 they released a device for a desktop publishing system, which was called 汉 卡 （literally, a hieroglyphic card). This is a board for a computer whose memory contained hieroglyphs. But the story of its creation is too curious to tell in brief. In this they had to compete with Lenovo, which released the first "hieroglyphic card" in 1985.
That was the first 1985 卡 卡 from Lenovo.
So, processors. At the end of the 20th century, the production of microprocessors was recognized as a priority (here we need a more detailed story about 中国科学院 知识 工程 1998 - Intellectual Innovation Project 1998, but again, this is not the topic). The first processor 龙芯 一 2001 was released in April 2001, on August 19, Linux was first launched on it, and on October 10, it was certified and certified by the Academy of Sciences of the PRC. Architecture - MIPS32, clock frequency - from 200 to 266 MHz:
Loongson 1A - the first swallow of Chinese processor.
A large number of modifications of this processor has been released (1A, 1B, 1C). 1D was released on March 19, 2014, this is a full-fledged SoC (system on a chip), on the basis of which microcomputers are made and they cost ridiculous money. For example, a microcomputer based on Loongson 1B with a SIM card slot (omit the detailed characteristics, in short - they are modest) is sold on taobao for 10 yuan (about 100 rubles at the current rate.
There are hundreds of such offers on taobao.
The second generation began to produce in 2003. It was in the process of evolution that the transition from 180 Nm of production technology to 90 Nm occurred and the transition to 64-bit architecture. The clock frequency increased to 1.2 GHz. Enthusiasts, patriots, and just people began to assemble desktop computers based on these processors. It's funny that even in the Chinese racially correct operating system Rays, this processor is recognized as 未知 CPU 型号 - an unknown processor model. The review shows that people started Media Player, samba, OpenOffice, etc. on this processor. Desktop computers and processors of this series are freely sold at more than reasonable prices, and, in principle, are already full-fledged desktop computers (I hate the word desktop), fully developed and produced in China.
At about the same time, the company was founded 中 科 梦兰 (Chinese research company "Orchid of Dreams"). She began to produce computers under the brand name 逸 珑 (Rushing Wind), on the international market represented as Lemote . She began to produce desktop computers and laptops under the brand "100% domestic." So, one of their first 8089 series devices was widely distributed on the domestic market, the 8089D model (900Mhz, 1 GB RAM 、 8 GB SSD) was even presented to Stallman. But now these copies are quite rare, some prices go up to 15,000 yuan, but in their time they were a hit - judge for yourself, while a similar laptop was sold for 2520 yuan (about 12,000 rubles)
团购 - group purchases - a popular method to get something to explore later. Deposit your couple of hundred yuan and use.
In September 2009, the third generation of processors was launched. Over time, when the model index reached the letter B (and this happened in April 2014), the processor became six-core, produced using a 32-nm process technology, and had a clock speed from 1.2 GHz to 1.5 GHz. The latest processor 龙芯 3B1500:
1) Clock frequency 1.2-1.5 GHz
2) Caches:
a) Level 1 - 64 Kb
b) 2 levels - 128 Kb
c) 3 levels - up to 8 MB
3) power consumption - up to 40 W
Other detailed features can be found on the manufacturer's website .
Now the line of computers 逸 珑 includes both desktop computers and laptops, and all-in-one computers and servers. The product range can be found at the link . The characteristics, of course, are not impressive, but, considering that in early 2015, the Chinese government completely excluded such companies as Cisco, Apple, etc. from the list of public procurement, and that the order of such products is available only by calling and agreeing (when I called, I was promised shipment within 6 months), and the fact that the description says “Primary use in government and military institutions” in bold type, you can be sure that the company will develop by leaps and bounds.
The official website of Loongson
Computer manufacturer Lemote
Loongson enthusiast site
I apologize in advance for the fact that many of the topics are described in passing (I cannot cover everything), for the abundance of hieroglyphs (not everything lends itself to an accessible translation) and for possible errors.
I hope it was interesting.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/377317/
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