We are all reborn, who wants to be the richest man?

Chapter 43: Stab Intel in the eyes

ARM architecture can also be called advanced reduced instruction set, AcornRISC.

It was originally supposed to be researched by Acorn Computer Company in 1983 for its own products. Now, it is about to become the first project that Far East Semiconductor Company needs to overcome.

After years of improvement and development of computers, the instruction set has become larger and larger. The most famous one now is the CISC used by Intel, which is the complex instruction set.

What is an instruction set architecture, and what are the differences between the two architectures?

To put it simply, developing a CPU is like developing a building. Before developing a building, developers need to find designers to design the building.

Designers cannot design randomly and must design according to national regulations, such as the height of the house, the orientation of the house, the size of the windows, the size of the drainage pipes, fire escapes, and a series of other designs.

This complete design solution is the instruction architecture for the CPU.

So what is the difference between these two architectures.

Let’s talk about the complex instruction set first. A complex instruction set means that many operation steps are concentrated into one instruction set, which is very similar to how things were done in ancient times.

We want to do something, but the other party will only tell you an address. After finally finding the service location, the other party tells you that they will not work today. But when you get to work, the other party will ask for various documents. When you get the documents, they will tell you that you need to issue a certificate. This is a complex instruction set.

The simplified instruction set is just the opposite. Before we do something, the other party will tell us what time to go, which address, which floor and number, and what documents we need to bring. This is the streamlined instruction set.

Complex instruction sets are like developing a building. They are complex and cumbersome. They are more grand, but they also consume a lot of building materials, so they are used for large equipment or servers.

The streamlined instruction set is like building a model house, simple and clear. Although there are not many people living there, it has all the necessary facilities, which saves time and effort. Mostly used in small equipment, such as mobile communications and portable equipment.

If it were a previous large computer, Luo Nianzhong would not even consider the RM architecture, because he knew it was completely impossible. However, there is no problem using the RM architecture in personal computers now. Intel's success in personal computers does not mean that complex instruction sets are more practical in this field. It is purely a hero made by the times.

In fact, ARM almost overturned Intel in history, but it was a pity that it was a bit unlucky.

1985年Acorn公司开发出了第一代ARM1。仅仅一年后，ARM2研发成功，仅有30000个晶管体的的ARM2这个32位的处理器，他的性能就比集成了130000个晶管体的英特尔80286强大。

However, the good times did not last long. A few months later, Intel 80386 was officially released.

This Intel's first 32-bit processor made ARM2 no one care about, and also brought this great chip that has gone down in history into decline, and it did not achieve its glory until decades later.

No one took notice of the product, leaving Acorn in a double dilemma of financial and lack of R&D funds.

If Texas Instruments, which later wanted to enter the communications industry, had not convinced Nokia to invest in Acorn to develop ARM7, this great product might have disappeared from the world.

This cooperation has undoubtedly become a symbol of the take-off of the ARM architecture, making ARM-based processors the dominant player in the mobile communications market in the future.

After its success, ARM has not failed to counterattack Intel's home base, the personal computer market. However, at this time, Intel had already built a generous moat after years of development.

The software on the market is all compatible with Intel or developed based on complex instruction sets. If there is no market for streamlined instruction sets, no company will spend money to develop them. With fewer applications, there are no computer manufacturers using ARM processors, which creates a vicious cycle.

Later, Intel also thought about getting involved in the small device market, but it also encountered the same problems as ARM and finally gave up.

But it's different now. There are still nearly four years until the 80286 product is launched, let alone the 80386.

Luo Nianzhong can finally develop ARM to intercept Intel's PC market and lay the foundation for future mobile terminals.

This is Luo Nianzhong's advantage. With an opportunity four years in advance, he can even make a lot of money by investing in many computer companies based on ARM's founding.

In terms of hardware, we have ARM processors with better performance, and in terms of software, we rely on the two powerful tools of database and spreadsheet software. If nothing else, it is relatively simple to change the situation where IBM was the dominant player in personal computers in the 80s.

The most important thing is that the wintel alliance, which affects the entire information technology era, will have its own place, and it will also be the most important one on the poker table. It is estimated that the name will be changed by then.

As for the operating system, Luo Nianzhong had not thought about it, but it was impossible for the beautiful country to let these two powerful tools be in the hands of a foreigner.

It's okay to say that in the early stage, it will definitely be handed over when the market grows. In this field, I can only say that I have no idea to take it one step at a time.

Even the streamlined instruction set architecture that will be successful in the future cannot be in his hands. However, through various cross-shareholdings in various offshore companies, it is no problem to retain control in the end. This is Luo Nianzhong's goal.

I will help you make money, but the company still has the final say. If you are greedy, don't blame me for turning against others. This is Luo Nianzhong's bottom line. Of course, there may be better results.

Tsim Sha Tsui is the temporary headquarters building of Far East Semiconductor. A large number of semiconductor electronics talents that Luo Nianzhong poached from Beautiful Country are gathered here to work.

As soon as the project announced by Luo Nianzhong was launched, all the talents who understood the situation became excited. As professionals, they all knew how great this project was. Once successful, it would definitely change the pattern of the CPU market.

Being able to participate in this project and personally create a future overlord in the CPU industry, whether it is an improvement in capabilities or extra points on their resume, will allow them to move up to a higher level.

And those industry experts who Luo Nianzhong spent a lot of money to poach saw huge fame.

Materially, Luo Nianzhong basically satisfies everyone. In terms of life, although he has left his hometown, the city of Hong Kong Island is still very suitable for living. Without worries, the entire company is now unified.

After Luo Nianzhong got out of the car, the first thing he saw was the neatly dressed and dashing guard at the door of the building. They were like the security guards of a secret agency, standing there, attracting the attention of people walking on the road. Have these ordinary people ever seen such a battle?

These people were all sent by Luo Nianzhong's former driver, Liang Yong.

After receiving funds from Luo Nianzhong, Liang Baoyong recruited about 500 people from his hometown, all of whom had served as soldiers, and many of them had been on the battlefield.

After some training, Luo Nianzhong spent another 500 million Hong Kong dollars and asked Liang Yong to establish the Weimen Security Company. Except for some with good conditions who were trained as bodyguards, the rest entered Luo Nianzhong's company as security guards.

After walking into the company, I learned why Erikson, the part-time president of Far East Semiconductor Company, did not come to greet me. It turned out that there was new progress in the project being developed by the Far East Software Company next door, and Erikson was giving a seminar there.

This is also what Luo Nianzhong requires. He does not want his company's senior executives to engage in formalism and must put work first when there is work.

The person who received Luo Nianzhong was Herman, the chief architect of Far East Semiconductor. Even though many people have never heard of this name, he has been compared with Gang Leader Qiao. "How are you, are you adapting to the new environment?" Luo Nianzhong first cared about the lives of his employees and was not in a hurry to understand the progress of his work.

"Except for the fact that the building where I work is a little dilapidated and there is no elevator, other software facilities are definitely the most perfect company I know." While Herman pointed out shortcomings, he also praised other places.

This building belongs to the same company as the building next door to Far East Software Company. It has 6 floors and was built in the 40s. At that time, in order to save costs, elevators were not widely available, so they were not installed.

"Haha, please provide customer service. Trust me, you will not be working here for more than three years. By then I will build the most sci-fi headquarters in the world for you to use."

"Really?" Herman was very happy. "Then I'm really looking forward to it."

The two walked up to the third floor of the building while chatting, where a large number of staff were now gathering, and they were making drawings by hand.

Yes, it is done by hand. Today's chip transistors are around tens of thousands. These circuits are all hand-drawn by scientific researchers. Since there are not many circuits, even hand-drawing is not easy to make mistakes.

However, with the development of the times, the number of transistors on the chip has doubled, and EDA tool software has been derived.

Historically, EDA only appeared for the first time in 1986. Luo Nianzhong could not wait until that time, so this became the next project of Far East Software Company.

Looking at the busy staff, Herman's voice sounded from the side. "We already have some ideas and are verifying the feasibility of this idea. I believe it won't take long."

"How long do you estimate it will take to complete the entire architecture?" Luo Nianzhong asked.

Herman thought for a while. "The idea you provided is no problem. Now it depends on whether the process goes smoothly. If everything goes well, it will be physically realized in about a year."

Heman didn't say anything about things that didn't go well, because there was no need. Both parties knew that if things didn't go well, Luo Nianzhong wouldn't believe Heman when he gave him the time, and he might even think that he was deceiving him.

It took one year to achieve physical implementation, and this speed was still acceptable to Luo Nianzhong.

What is physical implementation? To put it simply, it means converting from the initial drawing to logic, and finally forming the physical layout of the transistor circuit.

According to this physical layout, circuit layout and wiring are performed to form the shape, area and position of the transistors on the chip. This process is physical implementation. In layman's terms, the chip design is basically completed. What's left is to see if optimization can be done, such as in terms of power saving.

After the final physical implementation plan is determined, it can be handed over to the wafer factory to carve the actual circuit out of the silicon wafer. After final packaging and testing, it is the chip we see.

After visiting Far East Semiconductor and understanding some of the processes, Luo Nianzhong stopped interrupting and walked to Far East Software next door.

Compared with the database and table projects of Meiliguo Far East Software, the work to be completed at the Hong Kong Island headquarters is much more complicated.

Developing language programming is the task Luo Nianzhong assigned to Far East Software. Through his relationship with Morgan Stanley, Luo Nianzhong bought the license for the elementary C language designed by Ken Thompson of Bell Labs.

Now, Luo Nianzhong's task for them is to improve and upgrade this programming language software, and now to prepare for future Java software.

Today's software and programs use the Pascal programming language, which is also the world's first structured programming language. It was not until the late 80s that it became more portable, with smaller workload, good readability, easy to debug and Replaced by modified C language.

Now Luo Nianzhong wants to seize this opportunity and develop C language and Java, so that all future commercial software made using these two programming languages ​​will have to pay him fees.

The most famous one here is the Android system. Oracle, which acquired Sun Microsystems, which developed Java at the time, sued a large number of profitable Android systems, claiming that Google used several intellectual property rights based on the Java platform on Android.

In the end, the court ruled that Oracle won, and Google needed to pay Oracle $88 billion in patent royalties every year. It is conceivable that these are two hens that can lay eggs continuously, and they are also sharp tools that can jam the neck. Although it is impossible to use them, Luo Nianzhong feels that it is better to have them in his own hands.

When Luo Niazhong came over, Erikson was still presiding over the meeting in the conference room, and there were quarrels from time to time.

The two parties who were arguing fell silent when they saw Luo Nianzhong pushing open the door and entering, and Erikson squeezed out a smile on his sad face.

"Boss, why are you here?"

"What? I can't come to my company yet? Although I can't be of much help to you, I won't be so unkind to you, right?" Luo Nianzhong teased, relaxing the atmosphere in the room.

"What's going on? I heard you guys were arguing just now."

Through Erikson's explanation, Luo Nianzhong realized that it turned out that two groups of people had differences in some concepts and development. Both parties believed that their own direction was the best, so the scene just happened.

After listening to the simple explanations of the two groups, Luo Nianzhong's face became strange. The ideas and effects produced by one party were indeed the C language approach that Luo Nianzhong was familiar with.

And another one named Benjani, his thinking made Luo Nianzhong feel like why is it so similar to C++?
What can Luo Nianzhong say? It can only be said that his thinking is a bit ahead of his time. He just bought the tree and planned to plant apples, and you have already started researching the hybridization of apples?
But this kind of situation is what Luo Nianzhong likes to see. "If that's the case, why not try both?"

Erikson looked embarrassed, "Boss, you know, this will divert our personnel and R&D funds. It is not very suitable in terms of product development efficiency or capital use."

This can be regarded as a misunderstanding of this era. Companies like to stick to a proven or successful path without considering diversity at all.

If you look at the big technology companies that followed, as long as what you are researching is feasible and valuable, you will spend a lot of money on it. What you really want is to cast a wide net and catch more fish.

However, Luo Nianzhong can also understand that the current economy is not good, and the funds invested by these technology companies in research and development cannot be compared with what they later did. Naturally, they can only tighten their belts and choose the most suitable.

"In terms of funding, I will ask Robert to give you an additional $1000 million. As for personnel?" Luo Nianzhong made a helpless expression.

"The company has been poaching a lot of talent. If you can't wait, you have to figure it out yourself."

Luo Nianzhong's words made everyone present very satisfied, and felt that he had come to Hong Kong Island for development.

While other companies are still competing for project funds, Luo Nianzhong's word here is "money."

These two words are more useful than anything else in the eyes of R&D personnel.

(End of this chapter)