King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

Sun, the purchasing manager at Yangcheng Daily, pulled Zhao Xiaobo aside and whispered, "Manager Zhao, your cards are great! We'd like to use them too! But..."

He rubbed his hands together. "The price... 1880... that's a bit difficult. My budget... isn't enough..."

Zhao Xiaobo was taken aback: "Sun Ke, didn't we agree on the budget before..."

Sun Ke lowered his voice: "At this price, I have to go through the formal procurement process, which is troublesome and time-consuming."

"I can see that working in sales isn't easy... so..."

Section Chief Sun's eyes flickered. "I know a friend who has a batch of 'Hong Kong Water' graphics accelerator cards. Their performance is decent."

"The key point is... the price is only half that of your [Pangu Card]! It's practically brand new, a 'disassembled' product!"

"If... your company, Tiangong, could help me with 'private labeling' and changing the packaging... the price difference... is negotiable!"

Smuggling of counterfeit goods!

Whitewashing through OEM!

A tremendous temptation, accompanied by a strong, pungent smell, rushed towards us!

This is not just a kickback, but a dangerous path that skirts the edge of the law!

Once you get involved, Tiangong's reputation will be completely tarnished, and it may even leave you with fatal evidence!

Zhao Xiaobo instantly felt a surge of heat rush to his head!

He recalled his brothers in the construction sheds of Huilongguan, sweating profusely, relentlessly working on quality, board by board…

I recalled Chen Jianghe's resolute statement, "Tiangong doesn't touch dirty things"...

"Sun Ke! I appreciate your kind offer!"

Zhao Xiaobo's voice turned cold, "Tiangong [Pangu Card], we don't change our name or identity! Every single one of them is produced by us!"

"We make our living through technology, honestly and fairly! We can't do OEM/ODM!"

"Hmph! You don't know what's good for you!" Section Chief Sun turned and left!

The offer was rejected, and the order from Yangcheng Daily also fell through.

Standing on the bustling streets of Guangzhou, Zhao Xiaobo felt little regret.

Instead, it brought an unprecedented sense of exhilaration and clarity.

Technology is our shield, and righteousness is our armor!

The road ahead may be difficult, but the path of Tiangong must be walked with integrity!

When news of the setbacks in the southern market reached Huilongguan, Chen Jianghe not only did not blame Zhao Xiaobo, but also praised his decision in an internal notice.

At this moment, Chen Jianghe knew clearly that the real key to breaking the deadlock must come from more hardcore technological innovation!

Moreover, the chain that Lin Jianye has used to control the high-end bare board market must be completely broken!

The key breakthrough lies in the bus drive control unit, which is the core component of the Pangu Card and also the one most reliant on imported chips!

[Zhongka] relies on general-purpose logic chips, which are inexpensive but unstable.

Tiangong achieved stability by relying on expensive dedicated driver ICs.

However, this part of the cost is high and subject to external control, making it difficult for Tiangong to lower its prices in the face of the price war of [Zhongka].

"We must develop our own alternatives!"

At the technical discussion meeting, Chen Jianghe made the final decision: "The core technology is a low-power, high-drive-capability, and highly interference-resistant bus transceiver chip!"

"We use CPLDs for integrated solutions, embedding the driver logic to replace discrete components!"

This is a bold attempt!

Replacing standard ICs with programmable devices is a first in the field of civilian Chinese character cards.

Zhou Yuguang immediately responded, "That's a great idea! It can reduce costs and improve integration!"

"The challenges lie in low-power design and physical layer optimization of driving capabilities; I'll focus on the architecture!"

Professor Li Mingyuan of Tsinghua University provided crucial support: "I had previously contacted Shanghai No. 5 Component Factory, which had introduced a 3-micron CMOS process line and was looking for collaborative projects."

"We can take the designed logic and have it fabricated for trial production!"

"Although the risks are high and the process is lengthy, once successful, it will completely eliminate our dependence on imported components!"

Independent chip manufacturing!

This move is extremely risky!

Chip fabrication is expensive and has a high failure rate.

But if successful, the resulting strategic advantages and cost reductions will be revolutionary!

This will become the most powerful weapon to pierce through supply chain blockades and technological barriers!

The research and development team immediately got to work.

Chen Jianghe was responsible for defining the physical characteristics of the driving logic and the core parameters of current/voltage/impedance.

Zhou Yuguang led Tsinghua graduate students Zhang Wei, He Fan, Zhan Yiling, and Zhao Lin to design the architecture.

Li Mingyuan was responsible for coordinating process parameters and design rules with the Fifth Component Factory of Shanghai City.

Countless days and nights of deduction, simulation, debate, and revision...

Just when bus driver chip design was hitting a bottleneck in balancing low power consumption and driving capability…

A sudden piece of news caught Chen Jianghe off guard.

After working continuously at high intensity, Zhou Yuguang was rushed to the hospital due to high fever and excessive fatigue!

After examination, it was determined that a week of hospitalization for rest and observation is required!

The backbone of the R&D team collapsed instantly!

Chen Jianghe rushed to the hospital in a great hurry.

Zhou Yuguang, lying in his hospital bed, had a sallow complexion, but he stubbornly picked up a notebook filled with formulas and struggled to sit up.

"Xiao Chen... I have a new idea about the transient response of that feedback loop..."

"Zhou, please put chip development on hold! Your health is more important!" Chen Jianghe pressed him down.

"It can't be released!"

Zhou Yuguang's eyes were urgent. "Lin Jianye is pressing us relentlessly! This is exactly what we've been waiting for! We have to grit our teeth and get through this!"

He started coughing violently.

Looking at this selfless veteran technician, Chen Jianghe felt a mix of emotions.

He knew that this was not the time for sentimentality; someone had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of overcoming the core challenges!

Taking Zhou Yuguang's notebook, Chen Jianghe led Zhang Wei, He Fan, Zhan Yiling, and Zhao Lin from the Tsinghua group into the labyrinth of technology.

They re-examined Zhou's ideas and worked through the night on logical simulations.

When using the Tsinghua minicomputer, the key improvement point marked by Zhou Yuguang with an arrow was finally captured—

Dynamically self-adjusting feedback bias loop!

Modify the code! Re-simulate!

When the oscilloscope screen clearly displays the significantly optimized transient response curve and static power consumption curve of the improved architecture…

The entire research and development lab erupted in long-suppressed cheers!

Overcoming the difficulties!

Architecture finalized!

The final design data sheet (GDS) was delivered to Shanghai Components Plant No. 5!

Next, the development of the bus driver chip entered a long tape-out waiting period, which would take about three months.

But the frontline market cannot be shut down!

The split version of the Pangu III has been shipped steadily thanks to its technical reputation.

Under Xiao Wang's strict supervision, the yield rate steadily increased to 67%.

However, production capacity remains a bottleneck, and Huaxin's bare board supply is still not smooth.

Just then, a young man in a leather jacket, looking energetic, arrived at the Tiangong Huilongguan factory with samples and business cards.

My name is Liang Yongning.

The visitor introduced himself as the head of a small electronics factory called Yaohua in the south.

"Director Chen! I've heard so much about you!"

Liang Yongning's eyes were sharp, revealing the shrewdness of a southerner. "I want to collaborate with Tian Factory! We're developing an educational entertainment machine for students and families!"

"The core focus is learning programming and playing games! This requires high-performance, low-cost graphics processing capabilities!"

"Your Pangu Card's graphics acceleration technology is exactly what we've been dreaming of!"

"An educational entertainment machine?" Chen Jianghe asked with interest.