Chapter 8 Microcontroller
Behind the workstation area, Su Xinghe stood with Zhang Ke and Xi Xiaoding. Including Su Yuanshan, the others had moved their chairs to the open space and were sitting in a loose circle.
Today, Xi Xiaoding's pale face was unusually flushed. As the chief engineer and technical director, he had coordinated all module assignments, handled final inspections, and cleaned up everyone's mistakes.
Although the code quality varied from group to group, they had still managed to piece together Yuanxin's EDA.
Xi Xiaoding looked around, his smile slowly spreading. "We're all technical people here, so no need for fancy words."
"Thank you all for your cooperation and hard work these past few months. And thank you to Yuanxin, for giving me the chance to work alongside such an outstanding team and to witness the birth of a top-tier industry software."
"Today's alpha version doesn't mean we're finished. We still have to fix bugs, optimize code, improve tools, and test compatibility with various wafer foundries' PDKs."
"As the technical director, I should probably point out some flaws from the previous phase... but let's save that for our next battle."
The room erupted in laughter. Everyone knew that Xi Xiaoding was normally quite strict. Several Tsinghua and Peking University graduates had initially been a bit arrogant, but after being scolded by Xi Xiaoding and ambushed by the seemingly harmless Su Yuanshan, they had fully accepted the reality and worked hard.
"I'm done speaking. Oh right—Tang Wenjie, your girlfriend's here."
Everyone turned around, just in time to see Yang Yiwen standing by the door, a bright smile on her face. Instantly, a series of whistles broke out across the room.
Tang Wenjie, grinning like an idiot, dashed over to hug his girlfriend proudly.
"Ahem... let me say a few words too," Zhang Ke cleared his throat. The room immediately quieted.
Everyone knew he was the second boss, the money man, so they gave him face.
"I don't understand technology," Zhang Ke said, "but I know hard work when I see it. So..." He glanced at Su Xinghe and raised a finger toward the ceiling. "Professor Su, how about we celebrate at the 32nd floor revolving restaurant?"
Su Xinghe smiled and nodded. "Good idea."
"Alright then! Six-thirty tonight at the revolving restaurant. Don't be late!"
The programmers burst into thunderous applause.
The 32nd-floor restaurant was legendary—just dining there cost the equivalent of an ordinary university graduate's monthly salary. Even though Yuanxin's programmers earned much better wages, it was still a luxury none dared afford.
That evening, Su Yuanshan supported his slightly tipsy father as they walked slowly through the campus.
They didn't rush upstairs, instead strolling among the trees, letting the cool breeze sober them up.
"What's your next move?" Su Xinghe asked as they reached a bench and sat down.
This EDA tool, and even the entire company, had been mostly driven by his son's ambition and genius. Su Xinghe was both proud and somewhat overwhelmed.
Su Yuanshan brushed the dust off the bench and sat down beside him, smiling. "Are you asking about me or about the company?"
"The company."
"Split the current personnel into three groups," Su Yuanshan said without hesitation. "One group continues improving the EDA, led by Xi Xiaoding. One group works on developing a microcontroller, led by you."
Su Xinghe straightened, his drunkenness clearing. He stared at his son. "Develop our own microcontroller architecture?"
Su Yuanshan nodded. "Yes. Start with an 8-bit design."
Su Xinghe stared at his son's determined face for a long moment, then slowly nodded. "It's possible. Microcontrollers are simpler than full x86 processors. Plus, no single standard has dominated yet. But I'll need help. Just my students won't be enough. We'll need to form a joint research group with the university."
"No problem," Su Yuanshan agreed. "As long as you're the group leader, you'll get the credit."
"And besides," he added seriously, "we still have time."
At that moment, microcontrollers had just started gaining ground in China. Intel's 8051 family hadn't yet become the absolute standard. It was a perfect window of opportunity.
Su Xinghe sighed deeply. "Microcontrollers we can handle. But x86? That's another story. We're too far behind. It's not just about effort; it's about access to cutting-edge knowledge. And those Western companies guard their secrets like dragons guard gold."
He hesitated, then said, "I asked Qin Weimin about his plans. He's torn. He wants to stay at Yuanxin but also wants to study abroad."
Su Yuanshan smiled and said, "Let him stay and work on the microcontroller project. Once you're a PhD advisor, let him pursue his doctorate under you."
Su Xinghe looked at his son with deep emotion.
He knew himself very well. He could guide master's students no problem, but training a PhD candidate properly in such a fast-evolving field? It would be extremely difficult.
But Su Yuanshan's faith in him reignited something in Su Xinghe's heart.
"No," Su Yuanshan said firmly. "Technology can be learned. Research can be accumulated. It's hard, but it's not impossible. With Yuanxin and the 908 Project gaining steam, if we push ourselves to chase after the West, even if we don't catch up completely, we'll close the gap."
"And if you and Qin Weimin manage to create an original microcontroller architecture, even if it's small, it'll be a historic achievement."
Su Xinghe remained silent for a long time before finally nodding. "Alright. I'll call him tomorrow. We'll stay and fight."
"And the third group?" Su Xinghe asked.
Su Yuanshan's smile grew wider. "The third group will be led by Senior Brother Tian Yaoming. I'll assist him. Together, we'll develop two custom decoding chips for pagers."
The plan was to design decoding chips for pagers and matching encoder chips for the paging stations. These would support the soon-to-be-standardized Chinese pager codes.
Tian Yaoming, a PhD candidate in electronic communication engineering, was more than qualified for the job.
Three teams, three projects.
The future of Yuanxin was starting to take shape.
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