Rebirth 2010: I add some points to be a boss

Chapter 225 A $39.9 knife, why don't you grab it!

beautiful country.

golden state.

Noyce is a chip design engineer at Pickone Research Institute. He is mainly responsible for optimizing the circuit structure and using EDA software to verify the correctness and functionality of the design.

Commonly known as design verification engineer, it is one level higher than ordinary researcher.

Working 8 hours a day, the annual salary is $6.4!

It seems not bad, but as the favorite of Stanford's electronic engineering department, his dream is to become a senior ASIC designer, or to go further, to be the chief semiconductor engineer of a chip giant.

So after get off work, he will still participate in various professional courses and seminars, maintain the habit of learning and further study, and constantly recharge himself.

Recently, he bought an EDA design software called "Horae" to exercise his abilities in logic design, physical design, layout and routing, and timing analysis.

It integrates three major modules: circuit design, physical design, and simulation verification. The annual price of the personal version is 9999 US dollars, which is the main reason for his heart.

Synopsys and Cadence are usually sold separately. If he wants to buy a complete set of software tools, he will have to invest at least 1.5 to 2.4 dollars. Compared with the total annual income of 6.4 dollars, it is really beyond his means.

What he didn't expect was that the software manufacturer of "Horae" turned out to be a technology company from Huaguo!

"Shit! I must have been fooled!"

Noyce lay helplessly on the bed, wailing sadly, blaming himself for not observing carefully when purchasing.

9999 US dollars, just like that!

"Damn it, I can't just let it go!"

Noyce cursed, then got up suddenly, walked in front of the computer, opened the official website of "Future Technology", and found online customer service.

"You cheated me, I want to return the product, or I will complain to you."

He tapped the keyboard to vent his dissatisfaction.

"Good evening sir, may I help you?

Through inquiries, you have purchased Horae Personal Edition, which functions make you dissatisfied, or do not meet the corresponding design requirements? "

the customer service asked.

Noyster was dumbfounded for a moment. He didn't actually experience the core functions of the software, but subconsciously thought that this product was a pile of code-stuffed garbage.

"Humph!"

He closed the webpage in embarrassment, and prepared to test it carefully, using the most authentic evaluation data to make the other party willing to refund.

Then start Horae, the main interface is an integrated circuit design platform, which is not much different from the Virtuoso he usually uses, which greatly reduces the learning threshold for chip design engineers.

The UI structure of the menu bar and ribbon seems more reasonable?
"It must be an illusion!"

After thinking for a while, Noyce directly applied the design framework of the Snapdragon 810, imported the logic design document written in the hardware description language, and set up layout and wiring constraints, including chip area, module partition, IO layout, etc.

Since Horae "bragged" that he supported the 5nm chip process, he directly adjusted the original 28nm to 10nm.

Then, according to the chip division and constraints, different modules are placed on the chip, and their relative positions are determined, in order to minimize the connection length, reduce power consumption, and maintain a good clock route.

"My God! It's impossible!"

Noyce was shocked. Horae's built-in layout algorithm and optimization tools can be automatically generated under his settings.

Regarding this point, Cadence's Virtuoso can only be semi-automatic, and Intel's Quartus Prime cannot achieve this effect.

Surprised, he completely forgot the passage of time!
As for the idea of ​​returning the goods, it has long been dissipated!

After finishing the layout, he continued to plan the wiring of the chip. Horae's advanced algorithm perfectly considered many factors such as timing constraints, signal integrity, power consumption, and electrical characteristics, and the final path quality was very high.

"Amazing!"

Noyce became more and more excited. He glanced at the time. It was already 02:30 in the morning, and it was time to rest, but he didn't feel sleepy at all. Inspiration kept bursting out in his mind, and Horae's powerful functions supported his conception.

After dealing with the layout and circuit planning of the chip, he immediately clicked on the physical design tool to quickly convert the logical design into an actual physical structure to determine the position, size and interconnection of each component.

"The last step, whether it will be successful or not, is right in front of us."

Noyce took the opportunity to rest for a while, opened a can of coffee, and drank it in a big gulp. Stimulated by the caffeine, he continued to get angry.

Use simulation tools to simulate circuit behavior, including signal transmission, timing relationships, and stability, and then use verification tools to detect potential design errors, logic conflicts, and timing issues.

"I succeeded?!"

Noyce finds it hard to believe that the Snapdragon 810 has been changed to a 10-nanometer process. As long as it integrates CPU, GPU, AI engine, connection performance and camera function chips, the performance can be doubled.

Create an epoch-making mobile phone processor!

He couldn't help being dazed.

The sun outside the window slowly rose, shining brightly on his cheeks.

There was a sudden burst of intense fatigue. After all, I didn't close my eyes all night, and my brain was also working hard.

"No, I have to synchronize the results of this research with the company."

Noyce made up his mind and went into the bathroom to rinse.

As for taking the chip design scheme as his own, he never thought about it. Without the technical framework of Snapdragon 810, he would not be able to succeed at all.

Moreover, no one dared to want this thing, and the design patents were all in the hands of the company. If he dared to sell it, he would have to live behind the iron fence for the rest of his life.

It's better to give it to the company in exchange for high salary and senior position. He is not greedy, as long as he is a senior ASIC design engineer, he is enough to be satisfied.

After a while, he tidied up and drove to the headquarters of Haotong.

"Boss, I designed a 10nm chip, here is the complete technical document."

After rushing to the company, he immediately walked into the office of the chief technical officer, slapped the USB flash drive on the boss's desk, and his face was full of confidence.

"10nm? Are you crazy? I'll give you another chance to reorganize the language."

Foster said with a nonchalant expression and a smile.

"I'm sober now. This chip is optimized and upgraded on the basis of Snapdragon 810, and has passed the simulation and verification tool tests. It can provide higher computing performance and lower energy consumption under the same power consumption. .”

Noyce explained with all seriousness that he wasn't joking.

"Did you know? The company is still breaking through the 14nm process. Could it be that you have surpassed more than 300 researchers in the laboratory and the Intel Group by yourself?"

Foster's tone was bad. In the morning, he didn't like to argue with a paranoid patient.

"It seems to let this group of people relax for a while, and put too much pressure on them, and their brains are starting to go abnormal."

He thought to himself, planning to ask the Human Resources Department to arrange a psychiatrist for Noyce to do a comprehensive examination.

"I use Horae software, this Huaguo EDA product is amazing, it can support high-precision circuit design."

Noyce sighed.

"Huaguo's EDA software? I'm sure now that you need a psychiatrist urgently."

Foster shrugged, with a look of disdain.

"Idiot! How can I have a boss like you!"

Noyce understood that the other party didn't believe what he said at all, and he didn't even think about connecting the USB flash drive. He was so angry that he slammed the door and left.

Regardless of Foster's cursing behind him, he went straight upstairs and went straight to the boss's office.

"Hi sir, do you have an appointment?"

When he came to the door, he was stopped by the enchanting female secretary.

"No, but I want to see President Anmeng now. I broke through the nanometer process and reduced the Snapdragon series to 10nm."

Noyce raised his voice and said loudly, he knew that for today's move, he would either get promoted and raise his salary, or get out of here.

Thinking of the data that had been repeatedly verified to be correct, he was full of confidence and repeated what he had just said.

"Sir, if this continues, I'll have to call security."

The female secretary said helplessly.

If she hadn't realized that Noyce was an employee of Hotong, she would have pressed the alarm button and sent him into the small dark room.

"Crack!"

The door was opened, and a tall, middle-aged white man walked out, with pitifully thin forehead hair, wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses.

Light gray suit, beard, strong build.

"Help me call a technical director of the research institute."

Ammon obviously heard what he was yelling outside the door, and wanted to discern the authenticity of what Noyce said, and he was willing to give this time.

"This excellent chip design engineer, what should I call you?"

An Meng asked with a smile.

"Noyes.

I'm very sorry, it's just that my leader doesn't believe this technical document, so I have no choice but to find you. "

After calming down, Noyce calmed down a lot and replied politely.

"It's okay, I like talking to young people, it makes me feel infinite vitality and creativity, come in and talk first."

An Meng smiled slightly and signaled the secretary to go down and find someone.

There was a lot of movement in this farce, and it didn't take long for Foster to get the news. He was so angry that he vowed to drive the other party out of Hotong.

On the other side, in the CEO's office, there are more than a dozen senior ASIC design engineers sitting around, reviewing the technical documents provided by Noyce.

"no problem!"

"This design is truly genius!"

"Boss, as long as you give us three months, we can create a mobile phone chip processor that is more powerful than Intel!"

"..."

A group of senior engineers gave positive comments.

"What do you want, boy?"

An Meng said with a smile.

In the semiconductor field in 2014, the only companies that achieved 14nm mass production process were Intel, Bay Semiconductor and Sanxing of Korea.

Pickup is one step behind, and has been unable to break through due to the lack of advanced EDA design software and talented designers.

The emergence of Noyce solved these problems together.

"I want to get promoted and raise my salary, and get the honor I deserve. It's best to transfer my stupid boss away."

Neustein said honestly that his friend from Stanford University is now in Intel Group, and his annual salary is as high as 8.5 US dollars, which is 1.3 times his.

Although the salary of an engineer is high, the expenses are equally high. Excluding housing and daily expenses, he also likes to buy various technological equipment and software tools for work and research. Without a high income, it is difficult to support his hobbies and dreams.

"Thank you for your contribution to Pickup. You have completed the work of chief semiconductor engineer. I think only this position can match your talent.

As for Foster, I think soon, he will have a new arrangement. "

An Meng promised.

Are you kidding me?
A dozen senior ASIC design engineers in the room failed to develop a 10nm chip. This technology alone can make Noyce the top talent that Guigu is vying for.

This kind of person, of course, must be firmly tied to the company.

Hearing this, Noyce breathed a sigh of relief. The ending was more perfect than he had imagined. With an annual salary of $12 and the position of chief semiconductor engineer, he reached the pinnacle of his life in an instant.

"Purchase Horae as soon as possible to upgrade the institute's EDA software."

An Meng immediately held a high-level meeting and gave orders.

Noyce is using the personal version of Horae, and its license type can only be used for non-commercial use and personal study and research, not for commercial production.

Only the Enterprise Edition is a license for commercial enterprise users, which can be used for commercial production and product design, and has a more comprehensive and powerful feature suite to support complex design requirements.

"Boss, the other party's price is a bit high!"

The person in charge of the IT support department reminded in a low voice.

"Can't Pickaxe afford it?"

An Meng said displeased.

In the 2014 fiscal year, the operating income of Pickup was 265 billion US dollars, and the net profit was 79.7 billion US dollars. How expensive is EDA software?

"Future Technology provides two charging standards for the enterprise version:
First, calculated by set, a set can only be used on one computer, and the price is 39.9 US dollars;

Second, charge according to the functional module, with the company as the main purchaser, if there are more than 100 sets, a package price of 3000 million US dollars can be given. "

explains the head of the IT support department.

"$39.9? Why didn't he grab it!"

An Meng broke the defense in seconds. The cheapest version of Cadence only costs US$10, and the top-level software package only costs US$20. If purchased by the group, it can reduce tens of thousands of yuan to reach a price of US$15.

Good guy, the future technology has doubled directly!
After cursing a few words, he had no choice but to accept the reality that if HoTong wanted to design a 10nm mobile phone chip, it would be impossible without Horae.

"How many pieces of equipment do we need in our lab?"

An Meng asked.

"300 units are enough."

The head of the IT support department replied.

That is 9000 million U.S. dollars, and this money has to be paid every year. Even An Meng felt a little heartbroken for a while.

"Let's do it, speed up the time, and get ahead of Intel."

An Meng waved his hand and said in a deep voice.

……

The news of the replacement of EDA software across the whole line of Haotong spread like wildfire. At first, it was popular in Guigu, and then it crossed mountains, rivers and seas, and returned to Huaguo.

"The mother of chips, domestic EDA achieves a breakthrough: it supports chips above 5nm for the first time!"

"After the artificial intelligence, the domestic EDA welcomes another breakthrough, beautiful country: our blockade has failed!"

"Future Technology VS Cadence, Ho-Tong completely fell to Huaguo, and sent a big order of 9000 million US dollars!"

While the domestic Internet giants are still vying for taxis, shopping, map navigation and other industries, Future Technology has quietly reached the top and firmly stands at the upstream of the chip manufacturing chain.

Even the information about Hong Jun and others has been picked up, Yan Dacaijun, a top laboratory in China, a low-level researcher who was originally depressed...

These talents from all corners of the country were attracted by the high salary of future technology and completed the feat of the development of the semiconductor industry.

Starting with an annual salary of one million, various three-dimensional benefits (stocks, dividends, five insurances and one housing fund, supplementary provident fund, housing and car subsidies, medical insurance covering immediate family members, travel and study funds...) are dazzling for college students who are about to graduate!
This is really treating them as human beings!

The starting salary kills companies such as Intel, Hotong, and MVIDIA. With such a good salary, who is willing to leave their hometown to work for foreigners?

In just half a month, the Personnel Department of Future Technology received tens of thousands of resumes of college graduates.

"Boss, the people in charge of Apple, Weisoft, Intel, and Sanxing Dahua all want to visit you."

Zhang Nan said with a smile.

The sales situation of Horae has opened up. After Pickone announced the purchase of Horae, other chip design and manufacturing companies also began to study the design functions of Horae.

"Then hold a large-scale press conference, invite all related companies from home and abroad, and let Gao Jingwen host it."

Chen Heyu nodded and ordered to go on.

This is an excellent opportunity. How big is $9000 million? There are hundreds of chip companies in Yazhou, Europe, and North America. Only half of the chips can be purchased, and Horae can be called a success!
(End of this chapter)