I've done whatever I want

Chapter 3: Milestone 0: Chip Definition

Xin Tong has made a deep and long-term plan to get involved in the chip industry.

With its own distribution company and a group of engineering and technical personnel who are well versed in MCU applications, their definition of products will be very precise.

With the construction of BGA production lines, the two packaging and testing factories in Suzhou already have the ability to package and test MCU chips.

If a breakthrough can be made in MCU chip design, the company's chip industry chain will be improved. The IDM model is very advantageous in terms of efficiency and cost, and the company will definitely take off.

In the past three years, he has devoted himself to studying at Tsinghua University, hoping to use his knowledge and connections to build the foundation of Jinshi Technology's chip design team.

The joining of Tian Tianle means that the chip design work of Jinshi Technology has officially begun, and the company has also entered the countdown to take off.

"Lele, let's talk about chip design work!" The next day, Xin Tong invited Tian Tianle to the conference room.

"Ok!"

"I used to do MCU chip packaging and testing at Mingyueguang packaging and testing factory, and also did MCU chip sales at Kilby Semiconductor. I have a certain understanding of MCU chips. After three years of studying at Tsinghua University, I also have a good understanding of chip design. With a deeper understanding, now is the time to design our own chips," Xin Tong said.

"Brother Xin, when we choose products, we must first realize that designing an MCU chip is not easy. MCU chips involve digital circuits and analog circuits. The design resources are invested heavily, and it is difficult to generate benefits in the short term. According to I understand that there are many chip design companies in China who want to do it. They spent three to five years and invested tens of millions and billions of dollars, but they all failed! A chip design company like ours that started from scratch can be successful in two years. If the production conversion is successfully completed within the year, it will be regarded as a great success!" Tian Tianle has received a private design order in this area and has a good understanding of this industry.

"Lele, I can wait for two years. Now the company's profits are good. Orders for Wuji and Ruoshui Semiconductor have been full after introducing BGA packaging. After Jinshi Technology won the agency rights of Infineon and Renesas, sales increased linearly. Before After a while, Goodix Technology's mobile phone touch chip was launched, and as an agent we made a lot of money, and our company can afford tens of millions of dollars!" Xin Tong said with confidence.

Isn't it just money?How old is it?
Tian Tianle was stunned for a moment. The Xin Tong in front of him was completely different from the Xin Tong who studied at Tsinghua University. He was domineering and domineering. When he was studying, he really didn't expect that he was a billionaire.

He used to be low-key, too low-key!
"Boss Xin, let me calculate the timeline for you." Tian Tianle said.

"Tell me about it!" Xin Tong said with a smile.

"Brother Xin, before starting the project, we need to do market research, competitive product analysis, and define our chip functions. During this process, we can also start building our chip design team. I think this will take at least three months. "

"Lele, we can get it in two months. After all, our sales team is very familiar with the market and we are very confident in product definition!" Xin Tong said.

“Then let’s count it as two months!”

"Ok!"

"After the product is defined and the project team is established, we can start designing the chip solution. At the same time, we can also start designing analog circuits and digital circuits. The chip design process requires EDA simulation verification and FPGA-based physical prototypes. Verification, this process will take at least nine months," Tian Tianle said.

Xin Tong smiled slightly.

"After the chip circuit is designed, the back-end layout and routing design and physical verification of the chip need to be carried out. This work will take at least three months."

Xin Tong nodded in agreement.

"Next we can submit the GDS file to the wafer fab for Tape Out. Calculated according to the market's two-day mask speed, it will take us at least two months." Tian Tianle counted with his fingers.

"Now the fabs are all bosses, we can't control their time, let's just give it two months!" Xin Tong said.

“It also takes a month to encapsulate this piece!”

"A month? Our Suzhou factory can win it in a week!" Xin Tong said.

"By the way, we have our own factory, which is indeed a huge advantage!" Tian Tianle nodded.

"Yes!"

"The samples have come out. We need to organize firmware and hardware engineers to verify the SV system and EV hardware. The MCU is very complex, and it will take three months to run these verifications." "In our startup, time is money, and we must do it within two months. Yue gives a conclusion!" Xin Tong said.

"After the sample verification is passed, we need to do reliability testing and small batch production verification, which also takes three months."

Xin Tong nodded. Reliability testing is a time defined by the JEDEC standard. Compliance is the first priority. He can't rush it even if he wants to.

"Brother Xin, the premise of all this is that the tape-out can be successful at one time. If there are changes in the ECO design, the project will be delayed for at least half a year!" Tian Tianle said.

"Just two years!" Xin Tong nodded.

"For industrial grade MCU, I am confident that the first version will be successful!" Tian Tianle said.

Xin Tong nodded, it was a good deal to poach his old classmate Tian Tianle.

"Okay, wait a minute, I'll call Zhu Tao over, and we'll discuss the product definition together." After Xin Tong finished speaking, he dialed Zhu Tao's number.

After a while, Zhu Tao walked in.

"Mr. Zhu, let's discuss the product definition of our MCU together!" Xin Tong said.

"Ok!"

"There are many types of MCU chips. We have to choose a breakthrough. From the perspective of market application, what type of MCU chip do you think we should make?" Xin Tong asked.

"Jinshi Technology has been acting as an agent for Kilby's K100 chip. This 32-bit MCU chip is used in large quantities and we are very familiar with the relevant customers. I suggest developing a 32-bit MCU first to benchmark Kilby's K100 chip and XT Semiconductor's XTM32 chip." Zhu Tao said, pushing the gold glasses frame with his hand.

"Okay! K100 and XTM32 are both classic MCU chips in the industry. We will make 32-bit MCU chips." Xin Tong nodded.

"If we decide to make this chip, please get me five chips from the market. I will do a competitive product analysis and look at the die size of the competing products. If it is convenient, you can take me to the client site. To test the performance of the chip, I want to know the performance indicators of competing products," Tian Tianle said.

"Mr. Tian, ​​aren't the performance indicators written on the Datasheet?" Zhu Tao was full of confusion.

"The data sheets of these international manufacturers provide a lot of margin. It is difficult for us to understand the true capabilities of their chips just by looking at the data sheets. On-site testing is the best way!" Tian Tianle said.

"Oh!" Zhu Tao thought thoughtfully.

"Mr. Zhu, you have to shoulder the responsibility for product definition. We must benchmark against major international manufacturers!" Xin Tong said.

"I have worked hard with the FAE team in the past two months to complete the product requirements specification PRS!" Zhu Tao nodded.

"Lele, the MCU project is a team project. Thank you for helping to build our chip design team in the recent period." Xin Tong said.

"no problem!"

"Give Xiaoyu your recruitment needs and let Xiaoyu help you recruit!" Xin Tong said.

"Okay!" Tian Tianle nodded.

"It is now July 2012, and I hope that in July 7, our first MCU will be available!" Xin Tong is full of confidence in the future.

"I wrote this time point into the project plan, and then did a WPS decomposition with the project team members!" Tian Tianle said.

(End of this chapter)